Lenoir wins communications awards

News-Topic, Lenoir, N.C.
·3 min read

May 11—LENOIR — The city of Lenoir recently won two Excellence in Communications Awards from North Carolina City and County Communicators (NC3C).

Lenoir won second-place in "General Composition — Writing" for the article "Single-family homes going up in Lenoir." The city also won second place in "Social Media — General Use on a Single Platform" for the City of Lenoir Facebook page. Communication & Public Information Director Joshua Harris submitted the award entries on behalf of the city.

The awards were announced Thursday, April 28 during NC3C's annual conference held in Greenville. The NC3C Excellence in Communications Awards recognize great local government communicators and foster achievement among members by showcasing top-level work. All award entries were judged by professional communications peers from the Minnesota Association of Government Communicators.

Lenoir Mayor Joe Gibbons said getting information out to the public about city services and programs is vital to the operations of the city government.

"Communications is very important to local government; we need to let people know about street closures, events, and programs," Gibbons said. "We're very proud of our Communication Department and appreciate the job that Communication Director Joshua Harris does. He works very well with our department heads and staff to keep our residents and public informed. We're honored to win these awards from NC3C and look forward to winning more in the future."

"Single-family homes going up in Lenoir" is the last of a three-part series on housing. The article focused on new construction in the city, obstacles that housing developers face, and ways city staff work to help bring new homes to the community. The social media award was given for staff's efforts to grow the city's audience on Facebook. In 2021, the city's Facebook followers grew by 22% and all other Facebook metrics increased significantly.

"To win an award in this field of outstanding communicators is a real accomplishment," said NC3C President Stacie Galloway, communications manager for the Town of Apex. "The NC3C board extends our sincere congratulations to those working so hard to reach their communities in creative and effective ways."

First place in "General Composition — Writing" went to the city of Gastonia for "First City horticulturist takes Gastonia beyond 'garden variety'." First place in "Social Media — General Use on a Single Platform" went to the City of Fayetteville for "Brave The Fire: Educating and engaging with personality."

The city of Lenoir has won four NC3C Excellence in Communications Awards. In 2020, Lenoir won second place in the "Digital Technology — Website" category for the city's website redesign, and first place in the "Digital Technology — Audio" category for Lenoir's radio public service announcements.

NC3C is a professional association of municipal and county communicators in North Carolina. Harris has been involved with NC3C since the organization was founded in 2007 by 27 local government communicators. He has served multiple terms as Treasurer, President-Elect, and President, and is currently Past President for the group. Today, NC3C has more than 120 members across the state. Visit www.nc3c.com to learn more about the organization.