Business, member of year, Community Champion also named at annual meeting
The Gilmer Chamber honored Merle Howell Naylor, director of the county’s Family Connection office, as its Citizen of the Year (COTY) for 2019 during the chamber’s annual meeting held Thursday, Jan 16, at Ellijay First Baptist Church.
In his induction speech, Steve Purvis, owner of Huffs Drug Store and the chamber’s 2018 COTY, introduced Naylor as an accomplished lady, who has served the community in almost every imaginable way.
“Having spent her entire life in service of some sort, this year’s Citizen of the Year is a shining example of everything good and special about caring people living and serving in a community they love. Having been active in the Lions Club for 20 years, she’s served as president, secretary, chairman of the finance committee and she is currently serving as a committee board member. She is a Hall of Fame recipient of that club (as of) 2017. At various times, she has served on the boards of Isaiah House, New Beginnings, Kids Kottage, the Domestic Violence Task Force and the Chattahoochee Tech adult literacy program, among others,” Purvis said.
“I thought it was summed up best when one of her colleagues wrote, ‘She is a blessing to our club and to Gilmer County. She is involved, dedicated and caring. She is an advocate.’”
Naylor, who also served as the county’s first female commissioner and board of commissioners chairman, said being selected for the award is one of the greatest honors of her life.
“It really is like receiving the Oscar for Gilmer County,” she said of the chamber’s COTY Award, which is presented to an individual who has demonstrated a high level of service through professional, community and civic involvement.
Naylor said she’s known and respected the 33 individuals who’ve previously received the award.
“The reason this is so much of an honor is that so many of the past recipients, some who have passed away, have meant a lot to me. I look at the audience and see so many folks who are past recipients,” she told those in attendance. “Every year, (1996 COTY) Emma Lou Stover collects blankets and throws for children for Christmas, so they will be warm. Ben Arp (2005 COTY) sponsors an orphanage in Vietnam and he goes every year. Ralph Cox (2016 COTY), every year his Sunday school class gives me donations so I can buy storybooks for children.”
Naylor also recognized 2013 COTY Kent Sanford for “being a liaison for his church and sponsoring 28 children every year for Christmas,” as well as 2015 COTY and Ellijay Lion Sam Burrell for the hours spent planning a special parade and honorary event each Veterans Day.
Gilmer Family Connection is the local office of Georgia Family Connection. The statewide network’s purpose is to cultivate public and private collaboration at the local level while developing ways to curb such as child abuse and neglect, teen pregnancy and truancy.
Pointing people toward the outreach resources they need and helping children and young people have been high points of the job for Naylor. Throughout the 13 years she’s been the office’s director, Naylor has led the Gilmer Family Connection Christmas Campaign that provides toys and gifts to children newborn to age 16 whose families qualify for the assistance.
“I had been chairman of the board for Family Connection before I was director, so I already knew about the organization. I accepted the job because I’ve always loved helping people. That drew me in,” she said. “I knew it was a job where I could help people and make a difference in the community. There’s something new every day.”
In her speech, Naylor referenced two annual Family Connection-sponsored events for Gilmer High School students that are made possible with help from community volunteers. One enforces the importance of financial responsibility and education, while the other demonstrates the consequences peer pressure situations like drinking and driving and drug abuse can have on teens.
“We have Reality Day coming up March 31 and the Teen Maze in August,” she noted.
Business, member of the year awarded
Accepting the chamber’s 2019 Business of the Year Award, Chattahoochee Technical College President Dr. Ron Newcomb said 32 Gilmer High students currently participate in the tech school’s dual enrollment program at GHS.
“Dual enrollment in Gilmer has gone from 16 to 32, (which is) a lot of people getting college-level credit before they leave high school,” Newcomb said.
“I’m so impressed with Gilmer County. Y’all get along and are focused on trying to get from here to there. You don’t find that everywhere,” he added.
While presenting the award, Denise Ray, CEO of 2018 Business of the Year Piedmont Mountainside Hospital, said the tech school, which has eight Georgia campuses including one in Pickens, helps build a workforce for the future.
“They’re very well known in the community. They partner with the chamber and with the school system. They provide valuable education to our community. They have an increased commitment and, because of that, they are able to provide education at the high school for dual enrollment so that children can get both their high school work (done), as well as credit for college, and never have to leave the campus,” Ray added.
In a review of 2019 chamber business, John Marshall, outgoing chamber board chairman, said 110 new members joined last year. The year was highlighted by the opening of both the chamber’s new Downtown Ellijay Welcome Center and business incubation center The Collaboration on River’s Edge, or CORE, he added.
“(These) two projects both began several years ago, but we were able to officially celebrate their beginnings in 2019. During its first nine months of operation, over 5,500 people came through the doors. That’s an average of more than 600 per month and nearly 40 per day. We can’t wait to see the numbers after this facility has an opportunity to operate for a full 12 months,” Marshall said about the new welcome center.
“CORE has already proven to be an invaluable asset to our community by fulfilling its mission to be part business incubator, part resource center and part collaborative work space that provides space for entrepreneurs, startups and growing businesses,” he added.
With a traditional passing of the gavel, Marshall introduced 2020 chamber board chairman Chris Wang, of Chris Wang State Farm Insurance, who welcomed 2018 Member if the Year Sally Daniels to help present the outstanding member award to Tiffany Watson, proprietor of local print ink/toner supplier Endless Ink.
“A member of the year is someone who says ‘yes’ to everything, carries that chamber banner proudly and is a true ambassador in our community for the chamber. Every time we needed a volunteer she was there,” said Wang as he introduced Watson.
First Community Champion named
Gilmer Charter Schools Superintendent Dr. Shanna Downs was the inaugural recipient of the chamber’s new Community Champion Award.
Gilmer Chamber President Paige Green said the new award will be presented to an individual, nonprofit, organization, governmental entity or other qualifying agency in recognition of overall commitment to Gilmer County through collaborative efforts, philanthropy, investment or humanitarian efforts.
“Dr. Downs came to the Gilmer County Charter School System at a time when her leadership was most needed. It has been her passion and her commitment that has brought our school system back to our community. She’s instilled a trust back into the system (and) has brought a level of professionalism and high expectations. Most importantly, she has kept what matters most at the heart of it all — our children,” Green said.
Accomplished speaker
The event’s guest speaker, Al Lopez, spoke about how being sent to live in America by his mother when he was 11 provided opportunities for him to move up ladders in the corporate business world, eventually working in high level leadership roles for such companies as Sara Lee, Frito Lay and Dole.
“My mother put my brother and me on a plane bound for the United States from Honduras to live with my father in Chicago,” said Lopez in his speech. “The painful lesson was (she) was willing to accept seeing us far less in the future because she knew we would have a much better chance to succeed in the U.S.A. She taught me the most valuable lesson in life — to get ahead, it is sometimes necessary to disrupt the way things are.”
Lopez, who now lives in Canton, is the founder of Alma Coffee, which he operates alongside his daughter and son-in-law. The farm-to-table coffee company has a bean roasting facility in Holly Springs and a coffee shop in Woodstock. Lopez said the family brand of coffee is sustainably and responsibly grown in his home country.
“Life is more about making an impact than making income,” he noted.
Selling the coffee directly from the Honduran farm to such businesses as the New Orleans-based PJ’s Coffee Company has provided Lopez an opportunity to improve the lives of those who care for, and harvest, the crop.
“Through our efforts at disrupting the traditional coffee supply chain and making improvements, we have built a business behind three essential principles. First, we aim to improve lives. Second, we aim to farm on a sustainable basis. Third, we aim to produce extraordinary coffee,” he said.