Travelers Rest City Administrator named Chamber's 'Business Person of the Year'

TRAVELERS REST, S.C. -- The Greater Travelers Rest Chamber of Commerce announced the 2012 Business Person of the Year at a banquet held at Green Valley Country Club on Tuesday evening.

Sponsored by TD Bank, the award honors a business person who works beyond their normal capacity to make the community better.

This year's award recipient was Travelers Rest City Administrator Dianna Turner, it was announced by Mindy Edwards, membership chair at the Chamber.

"[Turner] is committed to the future development of Travelers Rest and goes above and beyond in that pursuit," said Edwards. "She does more than make [her] team function; she makes our community function."

Turner, who received her BA from Winthrop University and her Masters of Public Administration from Clemson University, has worked in local governments for over 18 years, including the last seven in Travelers Rest. Previously, she worked with the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce, the Appalachian Council of Governments, and the City of Landrum, SC.

"Turner networks with prospective new businesses and promotes Travelers Rest daily by hosting Leadership Greenville classes and by being involved in our newly formed Chamber, the Travelers Rest Lions Club, and the SC Managers Association," Edwards said.

After receiving the award, Turner thanked her team at City Hall and expressed gratitude for being bestowed with this year's honor.

"Thank you so much," she said. "You don't know what this means to me, because I already feel so incredibly blessed to be here. What a wonderful seven years it has been."

Known for her role in the continued development of downtown Travelers Rest, Turner said she was proud of what had been accomplished so far and emphasized that there was still work to be done.

"I'm immensely proud of what we have done downtown," she said. "What a showcase -- and we are not stopping. We have so much more to do, and I look forward do doing it with all of you."

Prior to the announcement, Furman President Rod Smolla spoke at the event.

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