Golden Eagle Recipients-Volvo Construction & Sen. Martin Nesbitt
Date Posted: 11/21/2006
ASHEVILLE, N.C.—The fifth AdvantageWest Economic Development Group annual meeting was held at the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa on November 2, 2006. The meeting featured speeches by federal and state officials, an awards ceremony, dinner and entertainment. AdvantageWest board members took the stage to announce winners of the prestigious “Golden Eagle” Awards for Leadership and Community Investment.
More than 500 community and civic leaders from across western North Carolina were present for the program, which featured live entertainment by western North Carolina’s Grammy award winning performers, Doc Watson and David Holt. Presenters included Congressman Charles Taylor, one of several Appropriations Chairmen in the US House, and State Senator Walter Dalton, an Appropriations Co-Chair at the NC General Assembly.
The Golden Eagle Awards, chartered by AdvantageWest in 2002 to recognize leadership and significant investments to western North Carolina’s economy, are awarded annually. Winners are announced during the organization’s annual meeting. AdvantageWest CEO Dale Carroll said, “The award’s namesake is native to the North Carolina mountains and symbolizes independence and strength. AdvantageWest instituted the awards because the organization strives to secure economic independence and strength for the communities we serve, and recipients of this award will be those who have stood above the crowd to help empower western North Carolina.”
The Golden Eagle Award for Leadership was awarded to Senator Martin L. Nesbitt, Jr., for his leadership in the region and state. During his career, Senator Nesbitt served twelve terms in the State House of Representatives and is currently serving his second term in the State Senate. He is a staunch defender of public education, clean air and environmental protections and introduced enabling legislation in the 1993/1994 session that led to the formation of AdvantageWest.
A Golden Eagle Award for Community Investment was presented to Volvo Construction Equipment-North America, Inc. Accepting the award was Vice President and General Manager Dave Million for his leadership with the 300-employee and $55 million excavator product line expansion at the Fletcher facility. This new product line will come to the Skyland plant in 2007 due to winning an international competition for the new jobs and investment.
AdvantageWest President & CEO Dale Carroll said, “Our fifth annual meeting was a tremendous success, and I’d like to thank all the participants for making the evening
possible. Leaders from across western North Carolina came together to collectively celebrate our successes so far, and to review the road we must take to prepare for a new global economy. I would also like to give a special thanks to our board member Craig
Madison for his leadership in the community and for hosting this meeting at his facility,
the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa.”
The meeting was also made possible through the financial support of several sponsors, including premier sponsors Carolina First and Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa, Gold Sponsors McGill Associates, PSNC Energy, and Mountain Air, Event Sponsors The Alpha Group, and Blue Ridge Printing.
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"As a life-long resident of western North Carolina I can’t imagine a more beautiful or diverse place to live and work."
D. Samuel Neill
Attorney-At-Law & AdvantageWest Board Member
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