AdvantageWest Hands Out Golden Eagle and Lone Eagle Awards at Annual Meeting
Date Posted: 11/19/2004
ASHEVILLE—AdvantageWest North Carolina—a public/private economic development organization celebrating ten years of economic development work in western North Carolina— today announced two winners of the prestigious “Golden Eagle” Award and four winners of the new “Lone Eagle” award during the organization’s third annual meeting at the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa.
More than 450 community and civic leaders from across western North Carolina were present for the program, which included a keynote address from Kirk Watson, former mayor of Austin, Texas. Watson is today a leading expert on economic development issues.
The Golden Eagle Awards, chartered by AdvantageWest in 2002 to recognize leadership and significant investments to western North Carolina’s economy, are presented annually by the AdvantageWest board of directors. The board last year also instituted the “Lone Eagle” Award, given to area entrepreneurs who have made a positive impact on their communities. Winners are announced during the organization’s annual meeting. AdvantageWest President & CEO Dale Carroll said, “Our awards this year take on special meaning as we celebrate our ten-year anniversary. AdvantageWest instituted the awards out of recognition for local leaders and business owners who have accomplished great things for their community and our region.”
The Golden Eagle Award for Leadership was given to Janice Brumit, for her leadership in numerous western North Carolina community initiatives, charities, and business organizations. Brumit has volunteered time, expertise and personal resources to organizations such as the United Way and The UNC-Asheville Board of Trustees. In 1994 she was unanimously elected by her peers as chairman of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area management entity board. Previous winners of the Golden Eagle Leadership Award include Gordon Myers, N.C. Representative Wilma Sherrill, and U.S. Representative Charles Taylor.
A Golden Eagle Award for Community Investment was presented to Baxter Healthcare, whose plant outside Marion, N.C. is the largest manufacturing operation in western North Carolina. Baxter has over 2,500 employees at their McDowell County facility. Previous winners of the Golden Eagle Award for investment include Elaine Sammons, Chairman of Sammons Enterprises, which owns the Grove Park Inn, and Michell Hicks, Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian.
Lone Eagle awards were presented to four entrepreneurs, representing the Southwest, Asheville/Hendersonville metro, Northwest and Foothills areas of western North Carolina. For the Southwest, the Lone Eagle went to Payson Kennedy of Nantahala Outdoor Center, one of the nation’s first professional whitewater businesses and the largest private employer in Swain County, N.C. today.
In the Asheville/Hendersonville metro area, the award went to Scott Blackwell of Immaculate Baking. Blackwell started Immaculate Baking in his garage, and has gone on the move into a Henderson County commercial production facility where his business and products have won numerous awards.
In the Northwest region, a Lone Eagle was presented to Joe Miller, founder of Boone-based Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff. Cheap Joe’s is a leading online and catalogue-based art supply store, which grew out of Miller’s passion for art and selling art supplies as a part of his downtown Boone pharmacy.
In the Foothills region, a Lone Eagle was presented to John A. Forlines, Jr., President of the Bank of Granite. Investment guru Warren Buffett has described the Bank of Granite as the nation’s best run bank, and the organization has received numerous awards and commendations for over a century of success and steady community-based growth.
Previous winners of the Lone Eagle Awards include Shane Cooper of DeFeet, Phil Drake of Drake Enterprises, J.W. Davis of Carolina First Bank, and Art & Susan Barbor of Charleston Forge.
AdvantageWest chairman Gordon Myers said, “As we celebrate ten years of AdvantageWest, I’d like to thank all those who have made our success possible; the N.C. General Assembly, our corporate partners, the N.C. Congressional delegation, our board and staff, and local community leaders and business owners like those honored tonight. 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 am proud to have them a part of our team as we move forward into a second decade at AdvantageWest.”
The meeting was made possible through the financial support of several sponsors, including Premier sponsor Carolina First, Gold Sponsor McGill Associates, Silver Sponsor PSNC Energy, a SCANA Company, Event Sponsor The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa, and Gift Sponsor Our State Magazine.
Chartered by the N.C. General Assembly in 1994, AdvantageWest is western North Carolina’s public/private economic development partnership. Governed by a diverse board of directors from across the region, AdvantageWest has leveraged more than $400 million in investments through matching grant programs and regional initiatives.
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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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