City of Talladega Blog

(Talladega, AL) Talladega City Manager Seddrick Hill Sr. presented city proclamations naming August 28, 2023, as “Jena Smith Day” and “Marquita Young Day.”

The proclamations were presented during an Alabama Industries for the Blind (AIB) event honoring Jena Smith as the winner of the 2023 Peter J. Salmon Direct Labor Employee of the Year and Marquita Young as the winner of the 2023 Samuelson Career Achievement Award during its annual Blind Worker of the Year luncheon on August 28, 2023.

Smith began working at AIB in 2010 after completing a vocational training program at AIDB’s E. H. Gentry Facility and currently works on AIB’s necktie line, a production line that sews all neckties worn by the United States Military.

For Marquita Young, Alabama Industries for the Blind has played an important role in her career development. Young joined the production team at AIB in 2011 and later began job shadowing AIB staff members as part of the Upward Mobility Program. She was subsequently promoted to the position of Product and Inventory Technician.

Smith and Young were also presented State Resolutions by Alabama State Representative Steve Hurst and Alabama State Senators Lance Bell and Keith Kelly.

AIDB Trustee Ronald Garrett presented AIDB Board of Trustees Resolutions to Smith and Young. AIDB Trustee Clarence Haynes presented the National Industries for the Blind (NIB) Award Letter to Smith and Young. Vice President of Instructional Programs Dennis Gilliam, Ed.D., presented each award winner with an award from the AIDB Foundation.