Two local businesses and a volunteer organization were recognized at the annual Greene County Partnership Gala on Friday.
GEA Connect, the internet broadband division of the Greeneville Energy Authority, was recognized as the Large Business of the Year. Radio Greeneville WGRV-WIKQ-WSMG was recognized as Small Business of the Year; and AidNET was recognizes as the Volunteer Organization of the Year.
Greene County Partnership President Jeff Taylor told those in attendance that GEA’s decision to develop a high speed internet service for Greene County was invaluable for the community. Taylor praised the efforts of former CEO Bill Carroll, the late Chuck Bowlin, and current CEO and President Dwayne Wells. Wells was on hand to receive the award. GEA has their fiber optic network available to almost all of the Greeneville city limits, and has begun extending their coverage to parts of the county.
Radio Greeneville was recognized for their coverage of the floods of Hurricane Helene. During the days around the flood, the stations aired daily news conferences where authorities kept the public informed on roads, bridges, water supplies, and more. During the one month period around the disaster, Radio Greeneville sent out over 1,600,000 text messages and had over 1.8 million minutes of listening just to their on-line audio. Their Facebook page reached over 7.5 million people. Ron P. Metcalfe, President and General Manager of Radio Greeneville, accepted the award on behalf of the staff of WGRV-WIKQ-WSMG.
AidNET of Greene County was recognized as the Volunteers of the Year, with Jeff Idell and Wendy Peay accepting the award. AidNET was formed in 2001 in response to the tornadoes that killed eight people on the night of April 27. AidNET helped coordinate rebuilding efforts after the tornadoes. It was re-activated after the September flooding to help accept donations and use those funds to help bridge the gap between FEMA payouts and actual losses for those in Greene County.
Jeff Taylor was also recognized for his five years as the President and CEO of the Partnership. John Loven was recognized for the three years he has served as Chairman of the Board.
