Karen Cariss named the Australian young entrepreneur of the year

Karen Cariss, PageUp People CEO was named the Ernst and Young 2008 Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year at a gala event last night.

Held at Wharf 8 in Sydney, the ceremony brought together finalists from across Australia to announce the national winners of 5 key categories; Products, Services, Technology and Emerging Industries, Young Entrepreneur and Social Entrepreneur.

Cariss, one of 83 regional finalists and 30 national finalists, was recognised for her entrepreneurial spirit, innovation, personal integrity/influence, financial performance, strategic decision and national/global impact in building PageUp People into what it is today.

Having started PageUp People in 1997 as a university student with her now husband Simon Cariss, Karen has been instrumental in the rapid growth of the business.

Throughout the last decade, PageUp People has grown from being a small software development firm to now providing integrated talent management solutions to some of the worldís largest organisations and competing on a global scale.

The last year alone saw Cariss execute several radical business strategies, including the opening of several international offices, signing a partnership agreement in China, an acquisition, diversifying the core offering and personally, celebrating the birth of her first child.
Despite being humble in receiving the award, Cariss was thrilled to be recognised in such a style.

ëI feel honoured to be in the same company as the other national finalists and am just thrilled to receive this award.

The award means a lot to me personally and I would like to use this stage as a chance to thank my family and friends, staff and clients for their support over the last 10 years.í

PageUp People has received numerous accolades in the last decade, including being listed on the BRW fast 100 for three consecutive years, receiving the B3000 Innovation Award, SmartCompany50 Awards and Karen has personally been listed on the BRW Top 50 Female Entrepreneurs.

Karen joins an impressive list of Ernst and Young Australian Young Entrepreneurs of the Year winners, including Carolyn Creswell of Carmanís Fine Foods (2007), Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar of Atlassian (2006), Shelley Barrett of ModelCo (2005) and Sonia Amaroso of Cat Media (2003).