General Ed Crowell is YMCA Man of the Year
General Ed Crowell was named the 2018 YMCA Man of the Year. The decorated serviceman and a celebrated business-man served 35 years in the United States Air Force. He retired from the USAF in 2009 after serving as Commandant of the Air War College and Vice Commander of Air University, both located at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery. He has received the U.S. Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the third highest honor given by the service branch, among many other awards.
Crowell holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Alabama State University, an M.B.A. from Troy State University, and during his military service, received degrees from the Squadron Officer School, the Air War College and the Air Command and Staff College.
Crowell has served on the YMCA of Greater Montgomery Metro Board for nine years and is currently active on the YMCA Executive Committee, YMCA Christian Emphasis Committee, Chair of the Human Resources Committee, and most recently Co-chair of the Diversity Inclusion Global Committee. He is passionate about providing exceptional service to the youth of Montgomery through his YMCA work.
He is a member and chairman of countless boards outside of his YMCA work as well. including Troy University Board of Trustees (Trustee), State of Alabama Ethics Commission (Chair-man), Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama Board of Directors and United Way Annual Campaign (Chairman) to name just a few.
For 67 years, teens of the Montgomery Student YMCAs have shown their appreciation to the men and women dedicated to serving youth in the community by planning and executing the YMCA’s Man of the Year annual program held the first Monday of December at Trinity Presbyterian Church. At the banquet, students pay tribute to the nominees, one of whom is selected as Man of the Year.
This year’s program, co-chaired by Quinn Lee of LAMP and James Tolbert of Montgomery Academy, featured 11 nominees and a guest speaker, Gen. Paul Hankins, YMCA of Greater Montgomery’s 2017 Man of the Year.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Beasley Allen Attorneys Among 2018 Super Lawyers & Rising Stars
Beasley Allen is proud to announce 27 firm lawyers received special recognition by Super Lawyers rating service for 2018. Twenty lawyers were named to the 2018 Super Lawyers list, including the firm’s Principal and Founder, Jere L. Beasley, as well as Principals J. Greg Allen, Michael J. Crow, J. Cole Portis, Daniel W. “Dee” Miles III, Andy D. Birchfield Jr., Rhon E. Jones, Benjamin E. Baker, Jr., David B. Byrne III, Kendall C. Dunson, R. Graham Esdale, Christopher D. Glover, Benjamin L. Locklar, Ted G. Meadows, P. Leigh O’Dell, W. Roger Smith III, C. Gibson Vance, Navan Ward Jr. and Frank Woodson. This marks the first year Benjamin L. Locklar and Frank Woodson were selected for inclusion and the 10th year J. Cole Portis, Daniel W. “Dee” Miles III and Andy D. Birchfield Jr. were selected.
In addition, eight Beasley Allen attorneys were included on the Super Lawyers “Rising Stars” list, which recognizes the top up-and-coming attorneys – those who are 40 years old or younger or who have been practicing 10 years or less. Beasley Allen’s Rising Stars are Andrew E. Brashier, Alison Douillard Hawthorne, Danielle Ward Mason, J. Parker Miller, and for the first time, Jon Ryan Kral, Stephanie S. Monplaisir, Leslie Pescia and Tiffany Roberts.
Financial Advisor Receives Prestigious Designation
Branch manager Robert Broach with Parsons Broach Financial Services has received the prestigious Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFA) designation. Broach, a financial advisor with Raymond James Financial Services, received the CPFA designation after demonstrating the specialized knowledge required to act as a plan fiduciary or to help plan fiduciaries manage their roles and responsibilities. The CPFA credential — developed by some of the nation’s leading retirement plan experts — shows the designee’s knowledge, expertise and commitment to working with retirement plans. “Due to the increasing complexity of regulations in the retirement planning world as well as expanded fiduciary duties and laws that focus the spotlight on fiduciary responsibilities, I felt it important for me to continue to develop my skills and knowledge in order to help our clients maintain the most effective retirement plan possible,” Broach said.
AWARDS & HONORS
Beasley Allen Recognizes Firm’s Leading Lawyers
In December, Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C., announced Chris Glover as the firm’s Litigator of the Year for 2018. The annual recognition is presented to the attorney who demonstrates exceptional professional skill throughout the course of the year and best represents the firm’s ideal of “helping those who need it most.” Glover is the Managing Attorney in the Atlanta office in addition to his practice in the firm’s Personal Injury and Products Liability Section. He handles complex product liability cases involving serious injury or death and has handled several cases against manufacturers of light and heavy trucks and automobiles. Glover’s work opening and managing the Atlanta office has led to tremendous growth over just a few short years.
In addition to selecting the firm’s Litigator of the Year, Beasley Allen recognized excellence in its four sections, naming the Lawyer of the Year in each. Honorees for 2018 are Stephanie Monplaisir, Personal Injury and Products Liability Section Lawyer of the Year; An-drew Brashier, Consumer Fraud and Commercial Litigation Section Lawyer of the Year; Joseph VanZandt, Mass Torts Section Lawyer of the Year; and Ryan Kral, Toxic Torts Section Lawyer of the Year.
Alabama Power Earns EEI Emergency Recovery Award
The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) recently presented Alabama Power with the association’s “Emergency Recovery Award” for its outstanding power restoration efforts after severe weather and tornadoes in March 2018 and a derecho wind event in June 2018.
The Emergency Recovery Award is given to select EEI member companies to recognize their extraordinary efforts to restore power to customers after service disruptions caused by severe weather conditions or other natural events. Alabama Power received the award during EEI’s Winter Board and Chief Executives Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida.
An EF-3 tornado struck Alabama on March 19, with a damage path of 34.29 miles, and resulted in 31,071 service outages in Alabama Power’s territory. Due to their tireless work, Alabama Power’s crews restored service within two and a half days of the storm, dedicating 70,600 man- hours to the recovery. The June 28 derecho wind event featured complex thunderstorms that resulted in wind damage along a track nearly 400 miles long, resulting in 230,038 service outages in Alabama Power Company’s territory. Alabama Power’s crews restored service to 100 percent of customers three days after the storm, dedicating 86,016 man-hours to the recovery.
“The dedication of Alabama Power’s crews to restore service throughout Alabama after severe weather, tornadoes and a derecho wind event illustrates our industry’s commitment to customers,” said EEI President Tom Kuhn. “Alabama Power’s crews worked tirelessly in hazardous conditions to quickly and safely restore power. They are truly deserving of these awards.”
Chamber “Impact Makers” Honored
The Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce announced the 2018 Impact Makers at the Chamber’s 146th Annual Meeting on December 11. The Impact Makers campaign was a way for the Chamber to honor and recognize member businesses within the community who are making an impact in the following areas: talent (education, workforce development, recruiting and maintaining young talent); economy (creating and preserving jobs, small business development, economic development and corporate recruitment); image (transforming Montgomery’s image and quality of place for locals, business owners and visitors); community (fostering collaboration among elected leadership, engaging business stakeholders and business owners to increase community capacity); and military (making Montgomery the “Best Hometown In The Air Force” by supporting military neighbors and families and helping develop new industry verticals that sustain Max-well-Gunter Air Force Base and enrich the entire River Region).
More than 50 nominations were made and over 7,000 votes were cast to determine the category winners, which are:
- Beasley Allen, Large Business
- Faulkner University Jones School of Law, Mid-Size Business
- Fleet Feet Montgomery, Small Business
- Family Sunshine Center, Non-Profit Winner
- Kim Traff, RSVP Magazine, Individual
Montgomery Nursing Home Wins Excellence Award
Capitol Hill Healthcare has been recognized as a 2018 recipient of the Pathway to Performance Excellence Award for its commitment to improving the lives of residents through quality care. The distinction is the introductory level of three progressive award levels through the Alabama Performance Excellence Award Pro-gram. The program promotes quality and high performance for businesses and organizations in the state. Capitol Hill was one of five recipients for this award.
“The examiners and judges were very impressed with the commitment Capitol Hill has made to performance excellence,” wrote Linda Vincent, Executive Director of the Alabama Performance Excellence Program, in a letter announcing the honor. The award criteria are based on the core values and criteria of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. This internationally recognized framework helps organizations across different business sectors improve organizational effectiveness and achieve strategy-driven performance.
Four Star’s Top Employees Recognized
Four Star Freightliner, Inc. invited employees from all six of its locations to the Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort to be recognized during the company’s annual Year End Employee Celebration in early December.
For the second year in a row, Kenneth “Woofie” Woodruff, who works as a road technician out of the Tifton, Georgia, location, was named the top revenue-producing technician for 2018.
A new award was added to the mix this year called the “Quick Draw Champs.” Four Star Freightliner wanted to recognize the parts department that had the shortest ring time and that was eager to answer the phone and help customers. This award went to the Montgomery parts department headed by its manager Judson Coburn.
River Region Businesses Among CCAA-BCA Winners
The Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama and the Business Council of Alabama recently announced the 12 “Alabama Small Business of the Year” and “Emerging Small Business of the Year” award winners during the CCAA-BCA annual meeting. Winners were awarded at three levels, Gold Award, Silver Award and Bronze Award in four different categories, Emerging, 1-10 employees, 11-50 employees and 51-100 employees.
In the 1-10 employee category, the Gold Award recipient was Sandra Nickel Hat Team Realtors located in Montgomery. Brown Studio Architecture located in Montgomery was recognized as the Silver Award recipient in the 11-50 employee category. In the 51-100 employee category, the Gold Award recipient was River Bank and Trust out of Prattville. ELSAJA, Montgomery was a finalist in the “Emerging Small Business of the Year” category (operating less than five years).
Those recognized in the “Alabama’s Small Business of the Year” awards presented annually by the BCA and the CCAA are considered to be the state’s very best small businesses based on a variety of civic and professional standards. The Emerging Small Business of the Year award is the fourth award given each year.
