WE HAVE had phone calls, emails and faxes all asking the same thing: When are you launching the 2004 Evening Press Business of the Year?

Stop pawing the ground. Get ready. Because the answer is now. Here.

From this moment on is your chance to bring glory to your amazing business and all who work for it.

In the 14 years since the competition began it has evolved into the definitive benchmark for entrepreneurial excellence throughout our region.

Through the lean years, the determined years, and the years marred by floods and foot and mouth disease which devastated so many corporate dreams, this competition has been a testament to the determination and ultimate triumph of hundreds of ventures employing between them thousands of people.

Now our awards will point the way to the new dawn of plenty that is breaking on the regional horizon.

We do not need economic soothsayers to all agree that Yorkshire will continue to lead the UK in the next two years of rapid growth, confidence and new jobs.

Even the hard-hit manufacturing sector is seeing orders rise, according to the latest quarterly Regional Trends Survey published by the CBI and economic advisers Experian.

Nor do we need graphs to confirm what everyone in our business community senses at their workstations, out in the field and at every major corporate event they attend in the region.

There is a throb of constant excitement, an irrepressible energy as palpable as the tangled screech of a bird chorus in the wash, glow and lightness before sunrise.

Hence our theme this year: The Future Dawns.

Does it dawn for you?

Study the 12 categories. There seems to be something for everyone, so why not?

For instance, this year, after a short absence, we resume our search for The Best Environmental Business of the Year.

If you were among the 150 delegates who attended the one-day environmental conference at the Central Science Laboratory in Sand Hutton, organised last month by York-based commercial law firm Denison Till (the category sponsor, incidentally) you will know just how hot is the topic of turning green into gold.

Three other categories, all introduced last year, were so successful they are with us again, namely Retailer of the Year, Best Business and Education Link and the ultimate individual accolade, the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Otherwise there are the stalwart old favourites - Small Business of the Year, Growth business of the Year, New Business of the Year, Young Business Entrepreneur of the Year, e-commerce Business of the Year, Progress Through People, Best Use of New Technology and Business Personality of the Year.

Here, in a nutshell are some main facts: Closing date for entries? July 30, 2004. Venue for the glittering final? The Voltigeur Suite in the Knavesmire Stand at York Racecourse. When? Thursday November 18. Awards host? Yet again, broadcaster Colin Hazelden.

Who qualifies? All businesses, from sole traders to plcs, based in the circulation area of the Evening Press, radiating from York to the North York Moors and Goole in the south; and from Whitby, Scarborough and Bridlington in the east across to Harrogate in the west.

But hang on... you say you're too busy being successful to find the time to enter? That's nonsense, as the record-breaking numbers of top-quality entrants year after year bear witness.

It would be a bad business decision to ignore the amazing return for your effort! The moment you enter you are a winner, not just because your submission is a valuable exercise in taking objective stock, but also because every entry will be scrutinised for a profile of your venture in the Evening Press's daily business news pages.

What is more it will be echoed on our dedicated website at www.eveningpressbusinessawards.co.uk. and stay there for at least the duration of the competition for literally all the world to see. That is part of our award-winning website, www.thisisyork.co.uk, which attracts more than one million page impressions each month.

Given that entry is FREE, can you really afford not to take advantage of such a genuine something-for-nothing deal?

Besides, we have made the entry process simpler than ever before. All you have to do to enter the prestigious competition is choose up to two of the 12 categories, decide how you meet the guidelines and tell your story in your own words - up to 1,000 for each of them.

Then, if you are using the electronic entry form on our dedicated website, cut and paste into the submission box, fill in the other required data and hit the submit button.

Or, if you would prefer a hard copy of the entry form, contact Sky Ferrey, Evening Press Business Awards 2004, PO Box 29, 76/86 Walmgate, York Y01 9YN or email sky.ferrey@ycp.co.uk.

Anyone who legitimately enters any category (or categories) will also be considered for the overall Evening Press Business of the Year accolade.

Entries must relate to successes measured by the organisation or individual in the last 12 months.

The hard copy must be typed or completed clearly in ink using one side of each A4 page only, and must be accompanied by the completed entry form.

Supporting documents are not to be sent. Please do not fold, staple or bind your entry. Previous winners may enter.

Employees of the Evening Press and all other publications within York & County Press are ineligible to enter.

Also ineligible are those who work for any of the sponsor organisations.

Updated: 09:51 Tuesday, June 01, 2004