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Immediate past chamber chairman Jay Edelen presents the Heck Ford Award to Phyllis Karavatakis on Thursday at Chatmoss Country Club. |
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Friday, July 17, 2009
By GINNY WRAY - Bulletin Staff Writer
Local banker and community activist Phyllis Karavatakis is the first woman to receive the Heck Ford Award, the highest honor presented by the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce.
The award was presented at the chamber’s Annual Meeting and Leadership Recognition Dinner Thursday at Chatmoss Country Club. It is named for the late Heck A. Ford, who was known as the area’s one-man chamber of commerce.
“Tonight, for the first time ever, a Ms. Chamber of Commerce will be honored for her leadership, commitment and dedication toward this region’s economic well-being,” said chamber Chairman Jay Edelen.
Also honored were Kim Adkins, executive director of the West Piedmont Workforce Investment Board, who received the Chairman’s Award; and Henry County Administrator Benny Summerlin, who received the Fred Herring Award from C-PEG, the Chamber’s Partnership for Economic Growth.
Karavatakis is a senior executive vice president of Carter Bank. Through her job, “she has been a part of every major community development project in an effort to create and sustain jobs in our region. She has helped countless families afford homes or to take a chance on a new family business venture,” Edelen said.
She is president of the board for the Southside Business Technology Center and is treasurer of the Southern Virginia Recreation Facilities Authority.
She also was a founding board member of C-PEG after the sale of the Retail Merchants Association. Karavatakis “was a primary architect of the creation of an organization whose responsibility is to raise private funds for economic development and cultivate an environment where our existing industries can continue to grow,” he added.
“She is a former chairman of the board for the chamber, where her tenure was a hot bed of community activity. I have been told adversity is the ultimate test of real leadership. This individual … managed this adversity with ease and grace. She gave everyone around her a renewed confidence and strength,” Edelen said.
Karavatakis is compassionate in her work, with her co-workers and in her civic responsibilities, and she has helped cultivate other community leaders, he said.
Karavatakis responded that she came to this area 31 years ago, has seen its highs and lows, and believes the area is ready to rebound. She mentioned New College Institute, the Smith River Sports Complex and other efforts that will play a role in making the area grow again.
Edelen also presented the Chairman’s Award to Adkins for having the biggest impact on the chamber in the past year.
“Through (Adkins’) leadership and vision, the West Piedmont Workforce Investment Board has identified business as its primary customer. It has partnered on numerous projects with all three chambers in the region and has become a regular participant in meetings that engage economic development representatives from around the area,” he said.
Adkins has led a bi-state initiative to reduce skill gaps, increase the pool of skilled workers, enhance the readiness of the potential work force, increase 21st-century skills of the existing work force and increase the number of workers with certificates and credentials, Edelen said.
That effort developed into a regional leadership group of local, regional and state officials in economic development, education, work force development and partners, he said.
“This, in turn, led to the management team for a Regional Innovation Grant (RIG) through the U.S. Department of Labor. The RIG, which is a planning grant, resulted in the West Piedmont Workforce Investment Board’s collaboration with other WIBs, including WIBs in the bordering state of North Carolina, to conduct a skill gap analysis, asset mapping and other analytical needs, as well as a strategic bi-state approach in work-force development. Our region secured a $250,000 planning grant due to her efforts and has positioned itself for future grant funding from the Department of Labor due to the strategic plan and efforts that have emerged from the RIG,” he said.
The WIB also has encouraged collaboration of private foundations, K-12 education, higher education and public work-force partners in becoming one of only two rural sites funded by the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, Edelen said.
“The effort (the Dan River Regional Collaborative) serves about 150,000 people in Pittsylvania, Halifax and Henry counties and the cities of Danville and Martinsville. The collaborative’s goal is to promote career advancement by raising the skill levels of the existing work force and to address employment barriers for those who remain unemployed, particularly those citizens from low-income backgrounds. To date, the collaborative has utilized the three-year $300,000 investment from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions to leverage over $1 million,” Edelen added.
Adkins is the former president of the chamber, and Edelen credited her with laying the groundwork and helping the current president, Amanda Witt, to make the organization successful.
Guy Stanley, president of C-PEG, presented Summerlin with the Herring Award, name for the late Fred T. Herring, who was active in the chamber and C-PEG before he died of cancer in 2001. It recognizes a “person who has given unselfishly to the community through their volunteerism and dedication to the economic growth of Martinsville-Henry County,” Stanley said.
Stanley noted that Summerlin has “played a major role in every economic development event since the day he took office. He was particularly important in the negotiations with RTI International, making numerous trips to company headquarters in Niles, Ohio, to help ensure the company would come to Henry County.
“It was this man’s vision about our future economic development needs that started the acquisitions of the new industrial park land in Henry County, the Bryant property adjacent to the Patriot Centre and the Commonwealth Crossing Business Park, formerly known as the Roma property,” Stanley said.
Summerlin is a member of the YMCA Board, the 911 Board, the Southern Virginia Recreation Facilities Authority and the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corp. board of directors. He also has had experience with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and Henry County Public Safety.
“He does everything with a great eye toward detail and accountability, and with absolutely no desire to be the guy out front. He truly works every day toward making Martinsville-Henry County a better place than he found it. In 20 years, when Commonwealth Crossing, the Patriot Centre and the Bryant property are filled with tenants creating jobs and tax base, Benny Summerlin’s true value to this community will be understood,” Stanley added.
Summerlin responded that while he did not know Herring, “it’s a great honor” to receive the award. |
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