CLENDENIN, W.Va. — The new executive director of the Greater Kanawha Long-Term Recovery Committee will be recognized for her volunteer efforts during the aftermath of the June flood.
The U.S. Small Business Administration announced Wednesday Susan Jack will receive the 2017 Phoenix Award for Outstanding Contributions to Disaster Recovery by a Volunteer.
Jack told MetroNews the award sheds light on the flooded West Virginia communities, not on her.
“I don’t want it to be about me. I want it to be about this community, Elk River and these volunteers that come all over the country to help us,” Jack said, adding volunteers have traveled as far as the state of Washington.
The flood destroyed homes, schools and businesses on June 23, 2016 and claimed nearly 23 lives.
Jack, a flood survivor from Clendenin, has been working to rebuild homes and provide materials to those in need. She said her job is easy because she can relate to others who’ve lost everything.
“I’m very emotionally attached to the whole situation which probably helps me in terms of being able to coordinate and operate as the executive director of the Long-Term Recovery Committee because I get it,” she said.
“Everybody’s got a story,” she said. “A lot of us are lucky to be alive.”
Leah Joan Heimbach, president of Healthcare Management Solutions LLC in Fairmont, will also receive an SBA award for Graduate of the Year.
Awardees from across the country will be recognized at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. April 30-May 1.
Jack and Heimback join the 2017 National Small Business Week awardees for 16 different categories ranging from exporting, outreach, contracting, lending, disaster recovery to manufacturing and research and development.
“I am beyond excited that West Virginia has two national award winners representing our great state this year,” said SBA West Virginia District Director Karen Friel in a news release. “Small businesses are the backbone of our economy in West Virginia and the fact that we are being recognized by the agency at a national level not once but twice demonstrates that West Virginia small businesses are the best of the best.”