Rogers is 2009 ATHENA Award Winner

Contact:
Jessica Thompson, Communications Director
270-781-3200, jessica@bgchamber.com

BOWLING GREEN, KY-The Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, along with Martin Cadillac, is pleased to announce that Joy Rogers is the 2009 ATHENA Award Recipient. The Chamber and Martin Cadillac continued the longstanding tradition of ATHENA Awards by presenting Rogers, who is a senior vice president business services officer at BB&T, with the award yesterday at a news conference held at the Martin Cadillac Building.

Rogers will be formally honored at the ATHENA Luncheon, to be held Thursday, November 12, at Indian Hills Country Club. Registration information for the luncheon can be found online at www.bgchamber.com.

"The Chamber is very pleased to present Joy with the 2009 ATHENA Award," said Chamber Board Chairman Todd Davis. "Joy is an outstanding contributor to the Chamber and the entire community, particularly by using her knowledge and strengths in educating others about financial responsibility. On behalf of the Chamber, I'd like to say 'congratulations' to Joy for winning this award!"

For the past 24 years, the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, with the generous support of Martin Cadillac, has honored local businesspeople for contributing to the advancement of women in the workplace by presenting a well-deserving business leader with the ATHENA Award.  The prestigious ATHENA Award celebrates positive role models in the business world--more than 3,000 women and men to date--on local, state, national and international levels. The ATHENA Foundation is dedicated to recognizing individual leaders that have opened doors of opportunity for women in the workplace and beyond, and this year's recipient, Joy Rogers, embodies everything that this award represents.

"Martin Cadillac has had the pleasure of sponsoring the ATHENA Awards since the Chamber first introduced this program to Bowling Green in 1986. We're committed to honoring those who have dedicated their time, resources, and overall essence to helping women achieve success in the workplace and in society. Joy is a wonderful example of what the ATHENA Award stands for, and we're proud to present her with the award this year," said Amber Martin.

Currently serving as senior vice president and business services officer at BB&T, Rogers holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Western Kentucky University. She is also a graduate of the National Commercial Lending School, and she received her BB& T Business Services Officer Certification in 2008. She has been an employee of BB&T since 1989, having held various positions within the organization such as manager of retail lending, manager of mortgage lending and manager of all indirect lending. Her current position includes a variety of responsibilities: managing and growing her loan portfolio, integrating her services with other BB&T specialties, overseeing her clients' personal financial affairs, and assisting her clients so that they can achieve their long-term financial goals.

Rogers currently represents the Western Kentucky region by serving as a member of the BB&T Business Lender Advisory Group, in which she works with 30 other top performers throughout the company to improve current systems, to review and discuss policy changes prior to execution, and to provide alternate ideas to increase the company's commercial lending efficiency and effectiveness. From 2002 to 2008, she has been repeatedly recognized for being the Top Commercial Business Services Production Officer in the Western Kentucky Region. She has also received the BB&T Sterling Performer Award, which is given to the top performer in the company, in 2002, 2003 and 2008.

Dedicated to her career in the banking industry, Rogers is an appointed mentor to two BB&T employees who are recent graduates of the bank's Leadership Development Program. The program gives young professionals an opportunity to work with someone well-entrenched in the company who can provide professional and personal guidance.

Rogers is founder of Bowling Green Bank Select Woman banking services, an account and services program for working women that includes personal and business services to make women's lives easier. She designed the special deposit account and obtained reduced prices on business and personal services for members of the program.

Outside of her role at BB&T, Rogers is heavily involved in community organizations to improve Bowling Green and South Central Kentucky. She is the founder of Bowling Green/Warren County Safety City, having raised funds and in-kind donations for the construction of the Safety City building and materials for the classroom. After the abduction and subsequent murder of Morgan Violi, Rogers felt the need to provide additional safety education for Warren County's children. In this program, police officers teach safety classes, giving students an opportunity to bond with police officers and to understand that the police officers are able to help them. Once students finish the classes, they enter the "city" to practice what they've learned.  Rogers has served as treasurer and board member of Bowling Green/Warren County Safety City since 1996.

Rogers also co-founded the Community Reinvestment Development Committee and served on the committee for several years. Several different financial institutions came together for this committee, which focused on ways to provide affordable housing for the low to moderate income sector. Rogers has also taught several 'Yes, You Can Own a Home seminars for the Bowling Green Housing Authority to educate citizens about homeownership and to equip themselves with the tools necessary to position themselves as successful homeowners.

A 1994 graduate of Leadership Bowling Green, Rogers has been a member of the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Committee since 2007; she has served two consecutive years on the Chamber's Infrastructure Committee; and she has been a new partnership recruiter for the Chamber for four years. She is also a current member of one of the Chamber's CEO Roundtable groups.  She has been a member of the American Business Women Association for four years and has assisted with several fundraisers for that organization. She has been a member of Networking Women for four years as well.

Rogers has served for four years as a fundraiser for United Way, meeting with many business owners to assist in those companies' fundraising campaigns. She also served on the Allocation Committee for United Way for five years.  She has been a member of the Bowling Green Junior Women's Club for five years and has served on various fundraising committees for the Junior Women's Club. She has been a Junior Women's Club representative to the organizations which receive donations from the club as well.

She is currently a board member for the Cross Ridge Home Owner Association, which applies for snap grants to improve the neighborhood and completes other neighborhood projects, such as welcome packets for new residents, Christmas decorating contests, block parties, yard sales and neighborhood watch programs.

A member of Living Hope Baptist Church, Rogers devotes time to her church as well. She served a three-year term as a trustee during which she assisted in establishing a financial plan to enable the church to expand its current facility and extend its community reach. She is currently a committee member of the Living Hope Property Acquisition/Liquidation Committee, which is responsible for acquiring and selling property as the church needs, and has been successful in assisting negotiations to acquire property on Lovers Lane and the Holy Spirit Catholic Church campus.

Rogers has been a Plan B Sunday School teacher for the past four years, teaching preschool children at Living Hope. She and her family served as a host family for all new members of Living Hope for three years. With this program, they welcomed new members into the church and provided those individuals with information about Living Hope.  She has also been a member of Living Hope Small Group since 1997.

Other programs and organizations with which Rogers has been involved include volunteering at Joshua's Place for two weekends per month for a year cooking, cleaning and serving food to youth; participating in numerous fundraisers for the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and Bowl for Kids' Sake; and volunteering for "One Great Day" to repair homes for the elderly, paint playground equipment, plant flowers at schools and provide services for nursing home residents. She has been a member of the Parent Teacher Organization at Natcher Elementary School for four years and regularly assists in fundraising activities for the school.

Past ATHENA Award recipients are

• Romanza Johnson (1986)
• Betty Lovenstein (1987)
• Peggy Loafman (1988)
• Ann Elliott (1989)
• Doris C. Thomas (1990)
• Vickie Elrod (1991)
• Joyce Wilson (1992)
• Nancy Dixon (1993)
• Sarah Glenn Grise (1994)
• Dr. Lynn Chism (1995)
• Deborah Williams (1996)
• Sandy Jones (1997)
• Dr. Georgia Childress (1998)
• Robin Hunt (1999)
• Pearl Taylor (2000)
• Ann Puckett (2001)
• Mary Cohron (2002)
• Regina Parsley-Byrd (2003)
• Ann Jewell Patterson (2004)
• Kim Thomas (2005)
• Heather Rogers (2006)
• Regina Webb (2007)
• Amy Milliken (2008)

Congratulations again to Joy Rogers, recipient of the 2009 ATHENA Award!

Registration is currently open for the 2009 ATHENA Award Luncheon, which will be held on Thursday, November 12, at 11 a.m. at Indian Hills Country Club. Register online at www.bgchamber.com.

Incorporated in 1935, the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce is the driving force for economic development in South Central Kentucky. As one of only 336 chambers nationwide to be accredited by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the fourth largest chamber in Kentucky, the Chamber serves as a premier business advocate for its more than 1,300 partners. Its primary goals are to promote growth and success in the business community, reaching its small business partners and those in large industries alike. With leadership programs, governmental relations projects, educational initiatives and involvement opportunities, the Chamber aims to support the community and its neighbors in order to enhance the business climate and continue to grow the region.