AN EYE FOR tourism opportunities and a commitment to empowerment have helped two entrepreneurs in the rural town of Queenstown are the monthly winners in the Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year Competition. Entrepreneurs Mike and Breyten de Beer operate a filling station, Masepa Motors and a Steers/Debonairs fast food outlet in Queenstown. The fast-food outlets, which cater for long-haul bus passengers, recently introduced a home delivery service for the people of Queenstown. Business Partners has been involved with setting up the businesses since 1999 when funding was made available to buy Masepa Motors adjacent to a Steers fast food outlet they were operating. During September further funding was made available for the entrepreneurs to buy the building from which the three businesses operate. In April 2002 the Debonairs Pizza outlet was started. The Steers/Debonairs outlets recently introduced a home delivery service to residence. "We identified a need in 1999 for long distance bus companies to have a convenient and safe location for embarking and disembarking their passengers. The decision to buy the property was an easy one, since it afforded us the opportunity to provide facilities such as ticket offices, rest rooms and waiting rooms", says Mike de Beer. "The service station premises were completely revamped and enlarged to include two separate driveways for cars and businesses. All our staff employed have been properly trained, with historically-disadvantaged employees making up the majority of the workforce. A major effort is also made to train our employees into supervisory and management positions", says Mike. The Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year competition was initiated in 1988 as part of a campaign to promote entrepreneurship in South Africa. It gives recognition to the innovation, perseverance and creativity of people who start and run small or medium businesses.