Purnell, McDaniel, Toyota Kentucky, Gray Construction receive awards
▪ DelCotto Law Group paralegal Heather Purnell recently earned a two-year extension of her current designation as a Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam Registered Paralegal. In 2012 Purnell earned the designation of PACE Registered Paralegal. She is one of 23 paralegals in Kentucky to earn this distinction. In addition to maintaining the credentials, Purnell also serves as Certification Ambassador for the Greater Lexington Paralegal Association.
▪ Toyota’s Kentucky plant, which began production of the Lexus line last fall, has received the Platinum award – in a tie with Toyota’s Kyushu 2 plant (Lexus ES, RX) in Japan – in the 2016 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study. The award recognizes the highest-performing assembly plants in the world for initial quality.
The Kentucky plant is the first in the U.S. to build Lexus, and the line represents an investment of $360 million and 750 new jobs. To prepare for the launch, Lexus members trained for months before ever touching an actual car, collectively logging more than 1.5 million training hours.
This is the 11th J.D. Power award for the Kentucky plant since 1990. The plant has earned four Gold awards from J.D. Power (1990, 1993, 1994, 2000), in addition to three Silver awards (1991, 2001, 2006) and three Bronze awards (1992, 1997, 2009).
▪ The following businesses have been recognized by Commerce Lexington as 2016 Salute to Small Business Category award winners.
Business Success Award: MCF Advisors
Green Initiative Award: Lexington Habitat for Humanity
Legacy Award: Plastic Surgeons of Lexington
Miority Business Award: A Cup of Common Wealth
Nonprofit Award: Living Arts & Science Center
Young Entrepreneur Award: LexEffect Events + Management
▪ Gray Construction has received a distinguished National Design-Build award. The Design-Build Institute of America announced that Champion Petfoods Kentucky DogStar Kitchens, designed and built by Gray, is the recipient of a National Design-Build award in the Industrial, Process and/or Research Facilities category.
Canadian-based Champion Petfoods selected Gray to design and build its first kitchen in the United States.
Situated on 85 acres of farmland, the 371,000 square-foot facility named DogStar, is located in Auburn, and includes a distribution center, offices, and meeting spaces to support kitchen operations. It was designed, constructed and commissioned within 14 months.
Compiled by Dorothea Wingo
This story was originally published August 14, 2016 at 10:45 AM with the headline "Purnell, McDaniel, Toyota Kentucky, Gray Construction receive awards."