Keep America Beautiful (KAB) welcomed Virginia Beach to its expanding nationwide, community-based network of affiliates, Tuesday, February 25, in City Council Chambers. Susan Burkhardt, KAB Affiliate Marketing and Training Senior Director, addressed the Virginia Beach City Council to make the announcement. As part of the KAB network, Virginia Beach will have access to the latest knowledge, resources and strategies used nationwide to improve communities in measurable ways.
To gain affiliation, the City of Virginia Beach and the Virginia Beach Clean Community Commission (VBCCC) attended two trainings with Keep America Beautiful Trainer, John Deuel, who helped to establish the administrative components required for affiliation. In between these training sessions, the group worked diligently throughout the year to accomplish many other requirements for affiliation, including a Focus Area Survey and a Litter Index to assess the overall appearance of the city as well as community procedures and partners for litter prevention, waste reduction, recycling education and beautification and community greening.
Also in attendance Tuesday evening were Keeping Virginia Beach Beautiful Executive Director Linda Minner, Keep Virginia Beautiful Executive Director Mike Baum, Public Works Interim Director Phil Davenport, and Parks and Recreation Director Michael Kalvort. Also recognized at the certificate presentation were VBCCC Chair and Vice-Chair, Dan Baxter and Larry Banks, respectively, and Commissioners Nancy Degges, George Denice, Scott Kellam, Anne Mannarino, and Jennifer Powell.
The VBCCC will serve as the governing body of the Virginia Beach KAB affiliate. “We are proud to be providing our support to this KAB affiliation,” said Dan Baxter, VBCCC Chair. “We look forward to combining their brand recognition and tradition of excellence with our efforts in Keeping Virginia Beach Beautiful.”
Virginia Beach is the 8th askHRgreen partner from Hampton Roads to join the KAB network. The cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and York County are also affiliates of KAB. This strong network of KAB affiliates in Hampton Roads shows the dedication our region has to preserving the beauty and character of our region for years to come.
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Credit: Virginia Beach City Photograph by Craig D. McClure
The entire askHRgreen team extends their heartfelt congratulations to the City of Virginia Beach and the VBCCC on their KAB affiliation!