ORIGINALLY WRITTEN
The Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce has nominated three of its members for the 2006 Chamber Business of the Year.
The businesses are: Golden Heritage Foods, for its coordination of efforts to help victims of Hurricane Katrina; the City of Hillsboro, for improvements to local streets, airport and the water treatment facility; and Parkside Homes, for its innovation in the area of aging adult housing.
Golden Heritage Foods organized emergency supplies for victims of Hurricane Katrina in the Baton Rouge, La., area. The company facilitated the transport of four semi trucks loaded with supplies, water and food to the Gulf Coast area as part of its effort to help Katrina victims.
“We congratulate them on not only their efforts, but also for providing a way for the broader community to respond to the enormous needs of people in the Gulf Coast region,” said Christy Wulf, executive director of the Hillsboro Management Board and Chamber secretary.
Parkside Homes was the winner of design awards from the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging and the American Institute of Architects for the design of its new care facility.
“The officials at Parkside Homes Inc., have given dignity, respect, privacy, and choice back to their residents along with the new facility,” Wulf said.
Each stand-alone licensed-care facility includes 12 private patient rooms nestled into a “Household” model that promotes a sense of a family-style residential living. They include family rooms, quiet social seating and library areas, formal seating and music areas, a country kitchen area with adjacent dining room, and a back porch large enough for all residents and staff to enjoy.
“The improvements both completed and in progress by the City of Hillsboro are helping to make our community better every day,” Wulf said.
Many of the projects have been funded partially by grants.
The completion of the water facility project puts the city among the elite of small towns in Kansas, Wulf said.
Also among the improvements are new water lines and drainage for Tabor College, drainage improvements for two blocks of Adams Street, as well as water lines and new street that includes diagonal parking on the west side.
The city is in the process of providing utilities and streets for the new Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church and adjoining residential development.
A project to improve the taxi ways and construct a heli-pad at the Hillsboro Municipal Airport was recently completed.
“All of these nominees for Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year are worthy of the honor, and are helping make Hillsboro a better place to live and work,” Wulf said.
