Henderson County Cooperative Extension had three employees recognized for their work at the recent statewide Extension conference. These employees were singled out from over 600 Extension employees across the state for these honors.

Karen Blaedow – Dr. Joe and Mrs. Lise Zublena Award
Karen was honored for showing significant impact in her program. Among the impacts of her program is her work with the growing local farm markets in the county. There are now seven local farm markets throughout the county. Karen has worked with each of these markets to help them get started and to raise awareness of these markets in the county. Karen has also worked with the tomato industry to
identify varieties with better disease resistance to help improve their yield and profits. Her work with the small fruit industry has helped growers to identify better yielding berry varieties as well. Karen organizes the annual Winter Vegetable Conference held in Asheville each February. Her work is highly recognized, and she is on the Board of Directors of the North American Raspberry and Blackberry Association.

Lia Beddingfield – NC Search for Excellence Award for Administrative Professionals
Lia is the Digital Support Specialist for the Henderson County Extension Center. She was honored for her excellent work in managing our website and social media presence. Lia keeps our website fresh and for the last couple of years, the Henderson County Center has led the state in website views among the 101 Extension Centers across NC. She also manages our five Facebook pages and our Instagram account.
Prior to Lia’s arrival our website views were around 110,000. During her first year at our office that figure climbed to 213,000 page views. Our Facebook pages have similar results getting thousands of views each year. She was able to post relevant news to our clientele during the recent Hurricane. Her posts are very innovative and interesting to our clientele. Lia is a great ambassador for our office.

Abby Whitaker – NC Search for Excellence Award for Agriculture
Abby is the livestock agent for Henderson and Buncombe Counties. Abby was recognized for her work with the livestock industry in both counties. One of the many great programs that Abby manages is working with the Mountain Cattle Alliance. Her work with that group has helped growers to use better practices in vaccinations and feed rations to help them get more money for their cattle. To be sold in the
program, they must meet minimum requirements. Another program is her bull soundness exams to make sure that the farmer’s cows are bred successfully and that the bulls are healthy. Abby works closely with the 4-H programs in both counties. She has done a great job rebuilding the livestock judging program in Henderson County. These youth have quickly become adept with her coaching and have
been successful in state competitions. Her work was also crucial during Hurricane Helene as she helped connect producers with hay and fencing supplies during the days and weeks after the Hurricane.

We are very proud of these fine members of our staff for their excellent work and for the recognition that they richly deserved. It’s great to have an award-winning staff at N.C. Cooperative Extension, Henderson County Center to help serve our clientele in the county.