Remarks for Secretary Lyndo Tippett
Western Piedmont Council of Governments Meeting
Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2006
Hickory
Good evening.
I know my appearance here may be a surprise to most of you since I'm not on tonight's agenda, but I'm one prone to like surprises.
I got word that y'all had free food and drinks, so I figured what the heck and decided to crash the party.
Thank you for letting me stay and join tonight's festivities.
The Western Piedmont Council of Governments is a valuable partner to the North Carolina Department of Transportation and I am grateful for the work you do, among your many programs, to help meet the transportation needs of this region.
You know better than anyone the demands and challenges faced by this region and the potential solutions that will best provide for its needs.
We must all work together to ensure that we have the resources we need to continue to carry out our common mission of serving the citizens of this region and throughout North Carolina.
And that brings me to the real reason I'm here tonight-to honor an individual that has truly demonstrated an ongoing commitment to the Western Piedmont Council of Governments and the citizens of this region.
Doug Taylor is deeply committed to working together to achieve mutually beneficial goals, and his wisdom, skills and dedication to fostering open and effective regional cooperation have benefited this area immeasurably.
Doug was the first full-time employee hired at the Western Piedmont Council of Governments in September 1970 and has served as its executive director since 1971.
During his 35 years as executive director, he has worked tirelessly to make advancements in nearly every aspect of this region, creating new opportunities for citizens and improving overall quality of life.
In the area of transportation, Doug was instrumental in the creation of two programs centered on cooperative regional planning by local governments-the Greater Hickory Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Unifour Rural Planning Organization.
He has served as the Technical Coordinating Committee Chair for the Greater Hickory MPO since its inception in 1982, and has worked closely with the Unifour RPO and NCDOT to develop a regional transportation planning process and provide citizens throughout the region with a multi-modal transportation system.
A civil engineering graduate of N.C. State University, Doug has long been a strong supporter of transportation and has played an integral role in helping to achieve transportation goals for this region.
He has certainly been an invaluable resource to NCDOT, and I cannot thank you enough, Doug, for your ongoing efforts.
In addition to his work to improve transportation, Doug has helped establish a federal program to increase home ownership for first-time homebuyers.
Currently in its ninth year, a consortium of all 28 local governments has worked together to offer down-payment assistance to more than 1,300 families through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's HOME program.
The local program has ranked first in the state and near the top nationally.
He has also been involved with Future Forward Economic Alliance, an economic development effort that meets quarterly to improve the economic outlook for businesses and local governments in the 12-county area of Western North Carolina.
Under Doug's leadership, the alliance has worked to implement strategies focusing on lowering high-school dropout rates by increasing career options, obtaining grants to develop state-certified sites for economic development, analyzing locations for industrial or mixed-use development and conducting market research to identify high-growth, high-wage industries across the wider region.
Doug has also worked regionally to develop innovative, regional approaches to environmental issues, including his efforts through the Catawba River Study Committee and the Unifour Open Space Committee.
These achievements have been made possible by Doug's overarching commitment to building regional cooperation and a high level of trust among local, state and federal officials and to making the Western Piedmont Council of Governments one of the premiere council of governments in the state and throughout the Southeast.
Additionally, Doug has worked to better the Hickory community through activities in the civic, religious and recreational arenas.
Most importantly, Doug is a wonderful husband, father and grandfather.
At this time I would like to present Doug with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, signed by Gov. Easley, for his dedicated service to the citizens of our state.
This award is North Carolina's highest honor, and it is not given lightly.
On behalf of the citizens of this state, I'll read the official toast.
"Here's to the land of the long leaf pine,
The summer land where the sun doth shine,
Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great,
Here's to "down home," the Old North State!"
Congratulations, Doug, and thank you for your service to the state of North Carolina.
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