GOODWILL/GOODWORKS RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD
Mississippi Goodworks (the contract arm of Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi) was awarded the 2009 AbilityOne Small Contractor of the Year Award by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This award recognized contractors that provide outstanding support and service to all clients and customers.
From left: Quinton Robinson, director of USDA, office of Small
Disadvantaged Business Utilization; Ron Russell, CEO/president
Goodwill Industries/Goodworks of Southern Mississippi and
Graduate of USM; Alma Hobbs, deputy assistant secretary for
administration of USDA; Kevin Shea, acting administrator for APHIS of USDA; and Tina Ballard, executive director for the committee for Purchase from People who are Blind or Severely Disabled.
MAYOR A.J. HOLLOWAY NAMED AMBASSADOR OF GOODWILL 
BILOXI MAYOR A.J.HOLLOWAY was named the AMBASSADOR OF GOODWILL FOR 2008 by Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi and its sister organization Mississippi Goodworks at the March 18, 2009 Awards Banquet in the Great Southern Club in the downtown Gulfport Hancock Bank Building.
The AMBASSADOR OF GOODWILL award is bestowed annually by Goodwill/Goodworks on an individual who has displayed leadership in the economic and social development of South Mississippi. Mayor Holloway recognized the opportunity, particularly when the casino’s first came into the Biloxi area, of channeling the hundreds of millions on dollars flowing into Biloxi into quality-of-life improvements for the people. Four new public schools were built, including a state-of-the-are high school, with an $80 million investment in public education; tens of millions were invested in new municipal facilities such as police and fire stations, libraries, community centers, parks, playgrounds and ball fields; fees were abolished for youth leagues; new roads were built and decades-old ones were rebuilt; a $35 million affordable housing initiative was undertaken in east Biloxi; and residents throughout the city saw their property tax rate drop by 50 percent. Holloway was using revenue from a casino-resort industry that reenergized the local economy, creating 15,000 jobs, generating $6 billion in development, boosting the number of annual visitors to the community from a million a year to between 8 and 10 million a year, and accounting for billions in new revenue. As Biloxi entered the 21st Century, the city was enjoying the most prosperous time in its 300-year history—that is, until August 29, 2005, when Hurricane Katrina, the worst natural disaster to ever strike the United States, decimated Biloxi and surrounding communities. Katrina claimed 6,000 of 25,000 homes and businesses in Biloxi, and more than 15,000 were left without jobs in the gaming industry alone. Undaunted by the catastrophe, Mayor Holloway marshaled city depatments, used state and federal aid and went about the business of clearing the city of debris in the days after the storm and set about a long-term recovery program. Said Biloxi Mayor Holloway in 2007: “Future generations are going to look back on this chapter in our history as a time when we made the right decisions…when we cherished and protected our culture…and we did things to improve and enhance our quality of life. They’re going to see this as an historic time." |
