Kansas Big Brothers wins business excellence award
Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters
Inc. was recognized
Tuesday with a business excellence award from the Kansas Department of Commerce.
The nonprofit organization is one of four winners in
the southcentral region. Overall, the department of commerce awarded 28
companies the business excellence award as part of business appreciation month.
The other southcentral region winners include:
• Sharp Realty & Auction in
Augusta.
• Intrust Bank in El Dorado.
• Countryside Feed LLC in
Hillsboro.
Bob Fettke, regional project manager with the Kansas
Department of Commerce, presented Kansas Big Brothers the award during a
reception Tuesday evening at its Sedgwick County office in Wichita.
“A lot of what they do goes beyond working with kids,”
he says. “There’s a well-rounded participation in the community.”
Nearly 180 businesses statewide were nominated in one
of four categories, including manufacturing and distribution, service, retail
and hospital and nonprofit.
Dawn DeArmond, president and CEO of Kansas Big
Brothers Big Sisters, says winning the award is a reflection of the efforts of
the organization as a whole, its board members and donors.
“We are so honored that the Kansas Department of
Commerce is recognizing the value of the services we provide to Kansas kids,”
she says. “Being a nonprofit, it’s important for us to be recognized as a
business.”
Kansas Big Brothers serves more than 6,500 children
annually.
“There’s never a shortage of children that could use a
good mentor,” says board member Phil Neff, who has been a big brother for the
past three years. Neff is a retired president and CEO of the Willis Group of Kansas.
As part of business appreciation month, the department
of commerce also honored more than 150 businesses statewide with merit awards.
Source: bizjournals.com