The Regional Industry Support Enterprise (RISE) recently held its Working Group Appreciation Breakfast, where RISE President and CEO Anna Chafin presented the inaugural RISE Cornerstone and Champion Awards.
The RISE Cornerstone Award recognizes an organization that has proven to be a cornerstone of RISE’s programs and initiatives through its participation and support. The 2025 Cornerstone Award was presented to Georgia Southern University (GSU) and was accepted by GSU President Dr. Kyle Marrero.
“I am just so appreciative of RISE as an organization whose mission is to be the key facilitator of industry services and workforce development in the Savannah Region,” said Marrero. “We are proud and thankful for this and will continue to help every way we can with our other partners in the region: Savannah State, Savannah Tech, Ogeechee Tech, and all of our other partners that develop that workforce.”
The RISE Champion Award recognizes an individual who has gone above and beyond in their support for RISE and participation in its various programs and events. From their presence at virtually all RISE events to their involvement in small groups helping to plan events and initiatives, the RISE Champion is someone who has made RISE a priority. The 2025 Champion Award was presented to Beth Harn-Via with Brasseler USA / Henry Schein.
“I’m very appreciative of the award,” said Harn-Via. “I’m also appreciative of RISE and everyone who sends people my way. I hope to continue to be a Champion – we have a region, and we want to bring the talent here, but we also want to keep the talent that’s here to stay, and we want to develop our future talent, and I hope to continue to be a part of that.”
More than 100 people attended the breakfast, representing all the RISE Working Groups: education (K-12 and higher education), childcare, military, housing, transportation, marketing and underrepresented. In addition to allowing RISE to show its appreciation for everyone who participated in its working groups throughout the year, the event also served as an opportunity for people involved in different sectors of workforce development to meet and make new connections.
“Our working group members have been so helpful to us throughout the year that we wanted to do something nice for them to let them know how much we appreciate them,” Chafin said. “These working groups are where we discuss our various programs and initiatives, and the feedback we receive from people in the groups has been critical to the success of everything we have done. We are just very thankful for everyone’s participation, and we look forward to continuing to work with them all in 2026.”
The event was sponsored by Colony Bank, Marchese Construction and Buddies and Blessings and was held at the Georgia QuickStart Advanced Manufacturing Training Center.