Blount receives Riggs Award; Van Buren achievements noted
by June 9, 2011 10:05 pm 85 views
Mary Jan Blount was honored with the 2011 Iverson Riggs Memorial Citizen of the Year Award in front of a crowd of at least 400 attending the 56th Annual Meeting and Banquet of the Van Buren Chamber of Commerce.
“We began turning down reservations on Monday,” said Jackie Krutsch, president of the Van Buren chamber.
The Thursday event, held at the Van Buren High School, (June 9) began at 4 p.m. with a business fair of 35 exhibitors. The banquet, which included a buffett dinner provided by Honeybaked Ham, began at 7 p.m.
REGIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Marty Shell, immediate past chairman of the Van Buren chamber board, was on the agenda to speak of the achievements of the past year. In an interview prior to his comments, Shell said one achievement is exemplified in the large crowd gathered at the banquet.
“These past 24 months have been awful,” Shell said of overall economic conditions. “You know, around the country, there have been chambers that have had to just shut their doors. But you can see here, the Van Buren chamber and our other local chambers are going strong. … I think that says something about our communities.”
Shell, who is president of Five Rivers, a barge and transportation company in Van Buren, said many of the 2010 accomplishments are the result of regional collaborations, such as the Regional Intermodal Transportation Authority (RITA) and the Fort Smith Regional Economic Development Alliance (FREDA).
RITA was formed in August 2009 with the broad goal to maximize the use of all forms of transportation — rail, barge, air, interstate — so as to reduce shipping costs and increase service options for regional business and industries. Start-up funding for RITA came from $325,000 in Arkansas General Improvement Fund secured primarily through the efforts to then Rep. Rick Green, R-Van Buren.
The Fort Smith Regional Alliance includes six counties in Arkansas (Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Sebastian and Scott) and two counties in Oklahoma (LeFlore and Sequoyah). The alliance was formed in May 2010.
“With FREDA, the important thing is that we can speak with one voice to promote economic development,” Shell said.
IVERSON RIGGS AWARD
Blount received the Riggs award for her more than 35 years of volunteer work in Van Buren.
The Iverson Riggs award was created in 1987 to honor the founder and publisher of the Van Buren Courier newspaper. According to the chamber, it is a special honor that allows the chamber to pay tribute to someone who has “worked tirelessly for the betterment of others.”
Blount’s leadership activities are numerous and include the Business & Professional Women, Women’s League of Van Buren, Financial Women’s International, Van Buren Boys & Girls Club, Girls Shelter, the Van Buren Education Foundation and the Crawford County Mentoring Program.
She was elected to the Crawford County Quorum Court in 2006, and has been in the banking industry 35 years, now working as vice president at Citizen’s Bank & Trust.
Cathy Riggs Gifford had this note about Blount in the presentation speech: “Her commitment to improve the quality of life in our community is immeasurable. You can find her leadership skills at her church, civic organizations, government agencies, mentoring programs, children and adult literacy programs, girls softball and much more.”
