This is the first year the business awards have been held, but as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, only a limited number of people could attend the award ceremony, which was held upstairs at the visitor information centre on Friday, September 18.

To allow the public to follow the proceedings and excitement of the announcements, the event was live streamed to Facebook.

The awards ceremony has reached 1000 views since Friday, providing a strong indication of local business support and interest.

Glen Innes Severn Council general manager Craig Bennet said council delivered the Highlands Hub business platform earlier this year for the local business community to use as a digital hub to connect with one another, promote their products and services, share their successes and explore the marketplace.

"These awards are a fantastic business supporting business initiative," he said.

The awards were broken down into four categories with three winners in each.

Deepwater Brewery, Rhubarb & Rose, and The Coffee Incident were the winners of the Best Local Customer Experience award.

The Sage and Clover, Colours on Grey, and Bruce Family Butchery won the Best Local Digital Transformation category.

The Makers Shed, The Local Glen Innes, and GLENRAC were awarded for the category of Best Local Business To Business Supporter.

The winners for the final category of Best New Local Business Encouragement award went to Moveology New England, The Furry Cow, and Insignia Company.

Glen Innes mayor Carol Sparks congratulated the winning businesses.

"It has never been a more important time to support one another than now, during COVID-19 and into the future," she said.

"Well done to the businesses that took the time to nominate other businesses for the awards.

"We support new businesses coming to our region and in these trying times it has been encouraging to see new businesses opening over the last 12 months."

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Each of the 12 winning businesses will receive a Local Digital Marketing Pack to boost their business by utilising digital tools and social media.

Daniel Hayden from Glen Innes From Above will team up with Cassandra Hill, a local marketing consultant, to plan, shoot and deliver content for the winners, with one-on-one help on how to best use digital and social channels.

Council's manager of economic development Margot Davis said she looks forward to seeing what will be produced.

"Congratulations to all of the winners," she said.

"It's been a fantastic collaboration with Cassandra and Daniel, and we look forward to sharing the content and continuing to support local businesses."

Winning businesses will be contacted by Cassandra who will set up face-to-face meetings to start delivering the Local Digital Marketing Prize Package.