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Home / Washington Business - July/August 2003 / Walla Walla’s Gerri Coleman Wins 2003 Bruce Briggs Award |
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Walla Walla’s Gerri Coleman Wins 2003 Bruce Briggs Award |
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Written On: July/August 2003 |
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Gerri Coleman, owner of Express Personnel Service, Walla Walla, is the 2003 Bruce Briggs Community Service Award winner. The award was presented at the annual Association of Washington Business Spring meeting in Spokane on May 22.
Gerri is a life-long Walla Walla resident. She serves on AWB’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors.
The Bruce Briggs Award is AWB’s highest honor for community service. Past winners include Bruce Briggs, Olympia; Mike Porter, Tacoma; and Patrick Quigg, Hoquiam.
Gerri has long history of state service
Gerri has a long history of state service. She is one of three employers on the state’s Workforce Education and Coordinating Board—a position she was first appointed to by governors Mike Lowry and Gary Locke.
From 1993 to 1995, Gerri served as president of the Washington State Job Service Employers Committee and in 1996 she represented Washington at the National Employers Conference in Washington, D.C. She also served as a Children’s Home Society of Washington board member for eight years.
Her community service started in 1976 when she chaired the Bicentennial Committee. She went on to be president of her PTA, Blue Mountain Boys Ranch Auxiliary and Rotary Club. She also spearheaded the “Wings over Walla Walla Air Show” as its executive director.
Chamber selects her as woman of year
Gerri has been active in the Chamber, and was named “Woman of the Year” by the Walla Walla Chamber of Commerce in 2000. That same year AWB honored her with a “Heavylifter Award” for her work statewide.
She has a passion for education. She chaired the HOPE (Help Offer Private Education) fund drive which helped raise $50,000 for the area’s Catholic schools and is an adviser to school-to-work and alternative education programs in the Walla Walla school district and Walla Walla Community College.
“Gerri loves Walla Walla and it shows,” said Cory Hewitt, a long-time friend who runs the county fair. “Her community service is life long and very broad based. She assumes leadership positions and is committed to whatever she does.”
AWB President Don Brunell said the Walla Walla Chamber put it best: “She does not look for credit, but looks for ways to show appreciation to others. Gerri is always running at full speed—it is amazing to watch what she can accomplish.”
Gerri and her husband, Rick, live in Walla Walla.
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