Breaking News – City of Laurens Takes Top Award at South Carolina Municipal Association Annual Meeting

The city of Laurens was well represented at the South Carolina Municipal Association Annual Meeting. The conference was held July 22-24, 2021 at Hilton Head Island, SC. Representing Laurens at the conference was Mayor Nathan Senn and City Council members Marian Miller, Sara Latimore, Alicia Sullivan, Cassandra Campbell, and Martin Lowry.

Saturday morning during the Achievement Awards Presentation, the City of Laurens and Main Street Laurens received the Main Street South Carolina Excellence on Main Street Award which is the highest award presented each year by Main Street SC.

The City of Laurens also won three other awards.

• The Excellence on Main Street Award for the creation of the Back Street Park
• The Outstanding Special Project Award for the Pride of the Piedmont Mural
• The Gaines Jontz Rehabilitation Award for the rehabilitation and creative re-use of a historic building – the Midtown Building

“Out of the 271 municipalities in our state, just a handful won recognition by the Municipal Association.  Out of those, only one city received three awards – one of which was the highest award given by Main Street SC – and that one was the City of Laurens,” said Mayor Senn. “I think this tremendous honor serves as validation of our efforts and shows what great cities can do when community organizations like Main Street Laurens, the city government, and individual citizens all support each other and work toward a common goal.  And, the City of Laurens is just blessed to have so many leaders who share a common vision of the path forward for our city.”

Pictured left to right: Mayor Senn, Councilors Miller, Lowry, Latimore, Sullivan, Campbell, and Main St Dir. Irick

The annual conference is much more than awards.  The three-day event is filled with educational sessions and featured speakers.  This year was different because it was all plenary sessions rather than breakout classes.  One session, Hope Inspires Action: Leading Positive Community Change, discussed tangible ways to bring hope to cities, and how hope is key to a healthy community. Another session, Hot Takes on Hot Topics addressed recent changes about local fees and complying with recent changes in case law.

“We have learned a lot about ways we can continue to innovate to improve quality of life, and just as importantly, to respond to the challenges we will face because of recent changes in the law, etc.,” said Mayor Senn.

Well done, Laurens, well done!