Awards were given in four categories — Public Education, Environmental Education, Business of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
The Public Education Award was given to the Cleveland/Bradley County Chamber of Commerce, Cleveland Utilities, the Cleveland Daily Banner, the Chattanooga Times Free Press, East Tennessee Radio Group and WCLE Mix 104.1.
Executive director Joanne Maskew said this award is given to organizations or businesses that have a commitment to educating the public on environmental issues.
The Environmental Education Award was given to Elsie Yates. Yates is a member of the KAB education committee and assists students and scouts in planting gardens while learning about the environment.
“There are so many local businesses that could be nominated for the Business of the Year award,” Maskew said. “But the ... board of directors was in agreement that Schering-Plough (now known as Merck) was the winner of this award.”
To win, a company must be located in Bradley County and either be committed to protecting the environment or plan to use vacated property for beautification of the area.
One of the reasons the Merck Cleveland site won was officials’ commitment to recycling.
“In 2009, the Cleveland site recycled 70 percent of all process and facility waste materials,” Maskew said. “The site is on track to achieve the same level of results in 2010.”
After thanking the group for the award, Rich Appeldoorn of Merck said, “We certainly realize that business has a responsibility to the community to provide for recycling ... to make sure the community looks good.”
The most difficult award for the board to choose, according to Maskew, was the Volunteer of the Year Award. It is based on a person’s commitment to KAB during the previous year. This year it was awarded to Linda Melton.
Melton said if everyone did a little “we would have a lot more accomplished when it comes to litter cleanup and the environment.”
The Cleveland Bradley County Keep America Beautiful also accepted nominations to the board of directors for 2010-11. Nominations included attorney Philip Jacobs, Kyle Hinch of Lee University’s Leonard Center and Evie West of the Cleveland Police Department.
