News

Chamber honors Fred Pittillo, Edneyville leader and adaptable farmer

Steve Dozier presents the G. Ray Cantrell Award to Fred W. Pittillo, a longtime Edneyville civic leader and farmer.

By Bill Moss, Published: February 4, 2016

Fred W. Pittillo, a longtime Edneyville civic leader who has transitioned twice in his farming career to adapt to economic conditions, was honored as the winner of the G. Ray Cantrell Award on Thursday night during the 93rd annual Chamber of Commerce dinner at the Blue Ridge Conference Hall at BRCC.

The business leaders also heard parting remarks from 2015 president Steve Dozier and welcomed 2016 president Fair Nabers Waggoner
An Edneyville native whose family’s farm began with “four or five cows tied to a tree that we milked by hand,” Pittillo has been a dairy farmer, a (short-lived) carrot farmer and a sod farmer. More recently, when the recession swept away demand for golf courses and estate lawns, he plowed up sod fields and replaced them with soybeans
Off the farm Pittillo has served as a volunteer firefighter and on the Henderson County Planning Board, Park Ridge Health Foundation, Mars Hill University Board of Tustees ad Edneyville Community Center Association. He has been a leader statewide and nationally in agriculture promotion, serving on the Farm Service Agency, Edneyville Grange, N.C. Farm Bureau and N.C. Sod Producers Association. An avid collector of vintage tractors, Pittillo is a member of the Mountain Men Tractor Pullers Association.
“My dad grew up on a farm before tractors came into widespread use,” he told the Southeast Farm Press when he was named the Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year in 2009. “Our first dairy enterprise consisted of four or five cows tied to trees that were milked by hand. When I was four, I was given the job of milking a cow named Fancy because she wouldn’t kick. My dad had a team of horses, Pug and Pearl, and I cried and cried when he sold Pug.”
Named for the executive vice president who served as chamber president from 1959 to 1999, the Cantrell Award is a lifetime achievement honor for someone who has made outstanding contributions to the chamber and the community.
Past winners are Duane McKibbin, R.E. Harmon,
Dan Gibson,
Sam McGuirt Jr., Bill Stokes Jr., Bill McKay,
Tom Shepherd, Albert Gooch Jr., Dan Waddell Jr., Herb Young Jr., Jim Crafton,
Bill Lapsley, David Reeves, Bill McGee,
Rob Cranford, Roger Hill,
 Bud Hunter,
Jim Maher and Jeff Egolf.
Other award winners were:

Duke Energy Citizenship and Service Award

For many years the North Carolina mountains “had no voice in Raleigh,” said Craig DeBrew of Duke Energy. “But that has changed, largely due to the dedication and work done by Tom Apodaca.” Chairman of the powerful Senate Rules Committee, Apodaca had “made sure that Western North Carolina is no longer ignored by the powers that be in Raleigh. When we hold our annual Chamber delegation trip to Raleigh, legislators from around the state and department secretaries all know where Henderson County is.” The owner of three businesses, Apodaca has served in the Legislature since 2003. He is a member of the Western Carolina University Board of Trustees and an active supporter of the Boys & Girls Club, Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development and the Chamber of Commerce.
Industrialist of the Year: A 1990 graduate of Appalachian State University with a degree in computer science and applied mathematics, Melanie Matteson has served in a wide variety of roles with her company, Kimberly-Clark Corp., and the community. At the United Way she has served as campaign chair, allocation panel for education, the state United Way board and the loaned executive program. She led the effort by her company to donate 5,200 square feet of office space for the new United Way office. President-elect of the Four Seasons Rotary Club, she has served as president of the N.C. Apple Festival and has served on many other boards and been a volunteer youth tennis coach and manager while raising four children ages 11 to 17.

Camp Industry Leadership Award

Each year the Chamber honors someone who has made significant contributions to the local youth summer camp industry for his or her leadership. Past recipients include Frank Bell, Camp Mondamin; Yates & Marisa Pharr, Owners, Falling Creek Camp; Jimboy and Margaret Miller, Camp Greystone; and John and Jane Dockendorf, Camp Pinnacle. This year’s winner, state Rep. Chuck McGrady, fell in love with summer camps in Western North Carolina as a camper at Camp Sequoyah in Buncombe County, as a young employee at Camp High Rocks in Transylvania County and later at the camp he owned, Falling Creek Camp, in Green River. A lawyer who practiced with a large Atlanta law firm and with two large corporations, McGrady clerked for a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and taught law at Wayne State University before quitting the practice of law 25 years ago for the summer camp business. He served as president and on the founding boards of the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, the Friends of DuPont Forest and Muddy Sneakers, and, notably, as the national president of the Sierra Club. The chamber recognized McGrady, a former Henderson County commissioner and a state House member since 2011, his work on behalf of summer camps, his leadership of the camping industry as a camp owner and as founding director and the first executive director of the N.C. Youth Camp Association.

First Citizens Customer Service Award

The city of Hendersonville won the award for its customer-service oriented changes in how it deals with the public. The city has co-located its city planning and zoning services with Henderson County, put into practice a customer service program for all departments and created a business advisory board to get input on how to better service businesses.

Education Champion Award

The award went to James Heidebrecht, who served on the scholarship committee of the Community Foundation and rallied support for the Bright Futures Fund to make grants available to more students based on financial need. His work and generosity helped grow the fund to more than $300,000. Twelve scholarships have been given. A graduate of Oklahoma State University, Heidebrecht is a CPA and retired controller of Exxon International. Since moving to Hendersonville in 1998, he has been active with Interfaith Assistance Ministry, the Mediation Center, Guardian ad litem and AARP tax preparing for the elderly and needy. Past recipients of the Education Champion Award include Ervin Bazzle, Melissa Maurer, Tom Burnham, Stephen Page, Frank Byrd, Scott Rhodes and Kelly Schofield.
Environmental Sustainability Award: With its revolutionary lighting technology, General Electric has helped businesses and communities across the world save millions of dollars by reducing energy consumption. The LED technology developed at GE Lighting Solution’s East Flat Rock plant has saved the plant $150,000. The plant also recycles cardboard, copper, aluminum and steel and has reduced water consumption by more than 50 percent. The plant plans to install solar panels to further reduce energy consumption. Past winners were the Hampton Inn, Kimberly-Clark Corp. and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Small Business Leader of the Year

Quarterly winners of the award in 2015 were Kelly and Andy Cubbin of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Tiffany Ervin of Elite Repeats, Mark Warwick and Paige Posey of WTZQ radio and Dan and Monique Ruiz of Monte’s Sub Shop. Warwick and Posey won the award for the year for their strong focus on community events, Friday morning broadcast from Jongo Java coffee shop on downtown events, their hosting of the first United Way Radio-Thon and their sponsorship of numerous events.

Ambassador of the Year

David Jordan, an independent associate for LegalShield and a certified identity theft risk management specialist, won the ambassador award for a fourth time. Usually the first person Chamber members see at a registration table, Jordan speaks for the Chamber at Lead meetings. The award goes to the chamber volunteer who accumulates the most points by helping at Chamber events and attending ribbon cuttings, grand openings, Business After Hours events and other activities.

Chairman’s Service Award

A new honor awarded at the discretion of the chair, the Chairman’s Service Award went to Tiffany Ervin for volunteer work above and beyond the usual. As a board member she participated in membership campaigns, event planning and strategic planning, said Dozier, the outgoing Chamber president.