LANDMARK'S South West wool agent Matthew Chambers is one of three national finalists for the National Council of Wool Selling Brokers of Australia (NCWSBA) 2019 Wool Broker Award.
Formerly a local farmer and shearer, Mr Chambers is based at Boyup Brook but covers the whole South West for Landmark.
He also runs the South West Wool Centre in Bridgetown, buying small clips and oddments.
Mr Chambers will attend the NCWSBA annual general meeting and forum in Melbourne on Thursday, August 22, where he and the other two finalists will make presentations on which they will be assessed by an independent panel of three judges.
The award winner will be announced later that evening at the Wool Week dinner to be held at Melbourne's RACV Club.
The other finalists for the Wool Broker Award are both from Victoria - Samantha Wan from Elders, who was also a finalist last year, and Russell Macgugan from Australian Wool Network.
It is the first time Mr Chambers has entered the NCWSBA Wool Broker Award.
The award has been presented since 2012 and recognises excellence in service to woolgrowers, auctioneering or innovation by an outstanding wool broker employee who is working for a NCWSBA member and has been in the wool broking industry for 10 years or less.
NCWSBA executive director Chris Wilcox said the winner's prize will be a fully-paid trip to attend the 2020 International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) congress to be held in Tongxiang, Zhejiang Province, China, next May.
Arrangements will also be made for the winner to visit wool textile industry processors, manufacturers and retailers in China, Mr Wilcox said.
For the first time, the other finalists will be presented with a suit length of fine wool fabric produced by Reda, a leading Italian wool company, he said.
The 2019 Wool Broker Award was sponsored by Australian Wool Testing Authority Ltd (AWTA) and Sheep Central.
The independent judging panel selected Mr Chambers and the other finalists last week from a field of five after reviewing their applications.
The NCWSBA annual general meeting will also hear a presentation from 2018 Wool Broker Award winner, Landmark's Bendigo, Victoria, wool account manager Candice Cordy, on her trip to Venice to attend this year's IWTO congress and to woollen mills in northern Italy.
