Lancaster Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce Announces Laura Tussing as ATHENA Award Recipient

The Lancaster Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce Laura Tussing as the 2021 ATHENA Leadership Award (ATHENA Award) recipient. Laura is the 35th recipient of this award in our community and joins a long line of exceptional and passionate women. Laura was presented the ATHENA award on Thursday, August 19th at the ATHENA Leadership Award Banquet, held at The Mill Event Center in Lancaster. From the time Robert D. McGraw had the foresight to start this award in 1985, the award has been presented to a woman or man who is honored for professional excellence, community service and for actively assisting women in their attainment of professional excellence and leadership skills.

Laura did not know she would be receiving the ATHENA Award ahead of time so when her name was announced at the banquet, she was awestruck and touched. During her speech she emphasized her love for the community and said “What a wonderful community to live in and to serve alongside all of you. There really is no better place to work, to raise a family, to enjoy your life. I really can’t think of anything better.” Laura also shared a quote from her father, who would always say, “The journey is the goal.”

Laura Tussing is the current chief experience officer and regional president of Park National Bank. She was also recently inducted as the president of the Rotary Club of Lancaster. Laura is very active in the community, serving on several boards. A few of these are the current chair for the Fairfield Medical Center Board, the past president of the YMCA Board and a member of the Lancaster Festival Board.

The Emerging ATHENA Award was also presented during the banquet. This award is given to an Ohio University–Lancaster/Pickerington student who is beginning to demonstrate the qualities of the ATHENA Leadership Award through her leadership and involvement at OU-Land throughout the community. This year’s Emerging ATHENA Award was presented to Rachel Hizey.

Rachel Hizey is a student at Ohio University – Lancaster. Rachel serves in student leadership at the university through Lambda Pi Eta, Theta Kappa Honors, and Alpha Phi Omega.Through these organizations, she has won several awards. Rachel helped organize several events on campus including Freshman Help Stations, holiday toy drives and a Take Back the Night rally.

To commemorate this momentous 35th Annual ATHENA Award, the keynote speaker during the banquet was ATHENA International founder, Martha Mertz. Ann Playter, the current president of ATHENA International, was also there to present the McGraw Family and the Chamber of Commerce with special certificates commemorating 35 years of the ATHENA Award in Lancaster. Since this banquet is also an opportunity for past ATHENA recipients to come together and connect, the Chamber also gifted all of the past recipients with a commemorative book: 35 Years of ATHENA in Lancaster, Ohio. This book features the history of the ATHENA Award in our community, bios from the past recipients and photos from previous banquets through the years.

The Chamber would like to sincerely thank the McGraw family for sponsoring the award, as they have done for the past 35 years. If you would like to learn more about the ATHENA Award in our community you can contact the Chamber at 740-653-8251.

The Lancaster Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce supports a prosperous business
environment that enhances life in our region by providing value-added programs and
services that contribute to our members' success.