MEBA Celebrates 20 Years of Service
May 19, 2011
Midlands Education and Business Alliance Celebrates 20 Years of Service to the Midlands
Dr. Jasper Salmond Receives Service Leadership Award
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| Pictured from l to r: State Superintendent of Education Mick Zais, Dr. Jasper Salmond, Mr. George Zara, and Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin. |
Midlands Education and Business Alliance (MEBA) celebrated 20 years of service to the Midlands by hosting A Salute to Service and Leadership in Education on May 19, 2011, at The Summit Club. Columbia Mayor and past MEBA chairSteve Benjamin served as the keynote speaker. The event also recognized Dr. Jasper Salmond as the recipient of MEBA’s first Service Leadership Award. The award was established in commemoration of MEBA’s 20th anniversary and recognizes an individual who exemplifies MEBA’s mission to build connections among education, business, community and faith to promote economic development and enhance the quality of life in the Midlands. Community leader, public servant and champion of public education, Salmond is the longest serving member of MEBA’s Board of Directors.
George Zara, current chair of MEBA’s Board of Directors and president and CEO of Providence Hospitals, presided over the event. Mayor Benjamin offered remarks about MEBA’s record of success and Dr. Salmond’s contribution to MEBA and the Midlands community. “For over half a century, Dr. Jasper Salmond’s example of thoughtful and bold leadership has helped mold the future for thousands of our children and defined what it means to be a true public servant,” said Benjamin. “He is a giant in the Midlands education community, and we are so thankful for him.”
Jamie Devine, vice chairman of the Richland One Board of School Commissioners, and Jim Reynolds, a past Chair of MEBA’s Board of Directors and president of Total Comfort Solutions, offered remarks about Salmond’s leadership and community service. On behalf of their students, Sherry Rivers, principal of Heyward Career and Technology Center, and Cleve Pilot, dean of students for Richland One Works, presented Salmond and his wife, Thelma Brooks Salmond, with hand-made gifts as a token of their appreciation for his many contributions to Richland School District One.
For more than two decades, MEBA has worked to connect businesses, communities and education systems in Richland, Lexington and Fairfield Counties, providing career planning and other services to 7 colleges and universities, 9 school districts, 160 schools and more than 100,000 students. MEBA coordinates the efforts and activities of more than 250 volunteers from business and education and is proud to be a model for building partnerships to create pathways from school to college and career. Our success is the result of these partnerships and the leadership and dedication of our board, volunteers and staff. To learn more about MEBA’s recent successes, download a copy of our 2008-2010 progress report here. For more about MEBA, please visit our website at www.mebasc.com.
View photos from MEBA's Salute to Service and Leadership in Education.
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