Chamber hands out awards
TORI J. NORRIS/THE GREENVILLE STANDARD
Mayor McLendon giving his State of the City update. (Tori J. Norris/The Standard)
The Greenville Area Chamber of Commerce held their annual Member Banquet last Thursday at the LBW Community College Mitchell Conference Center.
Four awards were presented to members during the banquet. Mayor Dexter McLendon had the honor of presenting Superintendent Amy Bryan with the John D. Murphy Award. This award is presented to someone who has made a noticeable contribution to the county’s growth.
Archie Woodruff was recognized as the Distinguished Citizen of the Year for his efforts in revitalizing downtown Greenville. He has been taking older buildings in the city and remodeling them in order to provide them a new look.
The Distinguished Business of the Year was presented to Dunklin & Daniels Funeral Home. The funeral home, owned by Don Daniels and his son Damon, has been serving Butler County for more than 120 years. Since purchasing the business in 2004, the Daniels family has assisted more than 1,800 families.
American Family Care was recognized as New Business of the Year.
During the banquet, Mayor McLendon gave his annual State of the City update. Mayor McLendon asked for interim City Clerk, Dee Blackmon and interim Fire Chief Tim Warrick to please stand. He announced in the crowd, which included both of their families, that at the next city council meeting, they would be sworn in to their positions permanently.
McLendon continued with his address by giving updates on the road paving project. “We have paved six miles in Greenville,” said McLendon. “This was a total cost of 3 million dollars, which the city only paid one million for and ADOT paid two million.”
“It takes a lot of money to run a city,” said McLendon. “We have to prepare for growth by improving our infrastructure.” The city is working toward a water tank and water and sewer projects to prepare for this growth, especially at exit 128 on the interstate.
“I am frequently asked, “When is Zaxby’s coming?” said McLendon. “They are coming, but there are more important challenges we have in Greenville and that is our schools and hospital. These are a lot more important than Zaxby’s.”
McLendon expressed the importance of the new workforce development program in the Butler County School System. “Companies want to come here,” said McLendon. “We have to make sure we have people prepared to work.”
He continued adding that our hospital is extremely important to Butler County. “The city is committed to do whatever we have to for our hospital to be successful.”
Alabama Community College System’s Director of Workforce and Economic Development, Jeff Lynn was the speaker for the evening.
The main focus of his presentation was that workforce and economic development are tied together.
“We have to take care of companies,” said Lynn. “And this will bring in more companies.”
