Bright n’ Beautiful Presents 2022 Community Star Award to Laurel Small Business Alliance
‘Build a Better Laurel’ group honored for its Main Street Cleanup Initiative
Billings, January 20, 2023 Bright n’ Beautiful, the Keep America Beautiful affiliate for Yellowstone County, is proud to announce that the Laurel Small Business Alliance is the recipient of its 2022 Community Star Award. Bright n’ Beautiful established the annual honor in 2018 to celebrate people who make valuable contributions to the beauty and well-being of Yellowstone County.
Laurel’s Small Business Alliance is being recognized for launching and sustaining its inspiring Laurel Main Street Cleanup to cheerfully address litter problems around downtown.
“We all see it, now let’s do something about it!” reads a typical call for volunteers to participate in the Saturday morning effort. “Picking up trash is great exercise, a good time to catch up with friends and, who knows what you might find? Let us work together in taking better care of our home.” Volunteers come together on the first weekend of the month in the spring, summer, and fall. They are hard to miss in their high-visibility yellow ‘Laurel Proud’ t-shirts as they pick up litter, clean up graffiti, trim trees and pull weeds to make their patch of Montana paradise shine.
“Laurel is a vital and dynamic community—the pride of Yellowstone County. Laurel’s Small Business Alliance’s Main Street Cleanup is a fine example of the way Laurel folks come together to solve problems,” says Joanie Tooley, Executive Director of Bright n’ Beautiful. “It’s inspiring to see people of all ages take notice and take action to address litter. They’ve found ways to have fun doing it, too.”
“Right now, we are a smaller group, but we are mighty,” says Lisa Dietz, an active member of the Alliance. “We are proud to be a group of doers. Within a few months of forming, we came up with the Laurel Main Street Cleanup idea and started banding together every first Saturday. We are grateful to partner with Bright n’ Beautiful; they have been a big part of our success. We are honored to be the recipient of this award and are so thankful for our community support.”
The 2022 Bright n’ Beautiful Community Star Award was presented to members of the Laurel Small Business Alliance by the Board of Bright n’ Beautiful at one of the Alliance’s regularly scheduled meetings at Laurel’s Main Street Perk on Friday, January 20.
About Laurel Small Business Alliance
Laurel’s Small Business Alliance seeks to bring business owners together to network, support each other and grow the community. It has quickly grown to encompass over 20 local businesses. The group meets every other Friday to share ideas, discuss issues and problem-solve the challenges that face all small business owners. Any Laurel small business owner is welcome. Follow Laurel’s Small Business Alliance on Facebook at Build a Better Laurel, #LaurelProud.
About Bright n’ Beautiful
Bright n’ Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, is a nonprofit organization in Yellowstone County that strives to maintain a clean, green community through programs and initiatives such as Great American Cleanup, Adopt-a-Spot, Keep Your High School Beautiful, Christmas Tree Recycling and the Community Star Award. We collaborate with volunteers and organizations throughout the county to end littering, promote recycling and beautify the communities we serve. Learn more at www.bnbyc.organd www.kab.org.
