Kalispell Chamber of Commerce President, Joe Unterreiner, Chosen for National Award

The National Association of State Workforce Agencies announced today that
Joe Unterreiner, President of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, was chosen
as the 2002 recipient of the prestigious William Heartwell, Jr. Award. The
William L. Heartwell, Jr. Award is given annually to an individual outside
the workforce development system who has made a significant and substantial
contribution to the system

The award criteria requires that an individual :
* have made contributions that benefit the broad spectrum of the
workforce system and/or its one-stop operations, as well as the system’s
customers, and have had a national and/or statewide impact;

* have a record of public service achievement that can serve as an
inspiring example of excellence for the practioners of the emerging
workforce systems; and have made a contribution that may have taken one or
more years to reach fruition.

In January, 2001 Unterreiner, as Chamber President, applied for and was the
recipient of a national grant, Workforce 2020, through the US Chamber of
Commerce to engage the business community in efforts to improve the access
and availability of the workforce.

Workforce preparedness has been a top priority of the Kalispell Chamber
over the past years. The Chamber of Commerce has created partnerships with
the Flathead Job Service Workforce System, the Flathead Valley Community
College and School District #5 to better integrate employer needs with
educators and service providers.

Past recipients of the Heartwell Award include United State Senators,
Congressional Representatives, Governors and captains of industry.