They range from a flower and gift delivery service to a company developing health cures for the 21st century.

Telstra Business Group managing director and Telstra Business Awards ambassador Deena Shiff said the finalists were weathering the current financial crisis through a combination of strong customer focus, innovation and robust business processes.

“As economic conditions get more difficult, the role of these awards couldn’t be more important, and the SA finalists are rising to the challenge,” Ms Shiff said.

“Rather than wallowing in the doom and gloom of the financial situation, these businesses from Port Adelaide to Mount Gambier see the financial crisis as a new opportunity. With the right business models in place, they are being even more aggressive in pursuing new business.

“A number of them are doing so by breaking new ground with their world-leading innovations and even saving lives in the process.”

The winners of the South Australian awards will be announced on July 16, and the winners of each category will proceed to the national awards to be announced in Sydney on August 20. There is more than $400,000 in cash and prizes to be won.

Kelly Baker, managing director of Edible Blooms, said the global financial crisis had opened up new markets for her business.

“We pre-empted a drop in consumer spending, and with the majority of our products priced at over $60, we made a decision to expand our range under $50. Popularity for this low-end range has soared and the increase in new customers has facilitated total revenue growth,” Ms Baker said.

The founder of small Adelaide biotech Vaxine, Professor Nikolai Petrovsky, said his company was “at the forefront of global efforts to create new vaccines to counter the major threats posed by HIV, SARS, avian influenza and more recently swine influenza”, while EVRsafe Technologies CEO Shane Faulkhead said its integrated toxic gas detection system was the only one of its kind in the world, and could save hundreds of lives each year.