Trice gets HERO award for SGTC service

Staff Writer The Americus Times-Recorder

AMERICUS —  Shirley Trice, ARAMARK food service director at South Georgia Technical College (SGTC) in Americus, was recognized as the winner of the “Hero of the South” award recently at the ARAMARK Southern Region “I Thrive” 2010 Summit in Young Harris.

Trice was presented with the award by Tom Dorer, president of the Southern region for ARAMARK, in front of around 150 ARAMARK employees at the summit. Trice was selected for this award from 400 managers from 75 different colleges and universities from five states.

“We are so proud of Shirley,” said South Georgia Technical College President Sparky Reeves. “Shirley has done a wonderful job with our cafeteria and with the many different catering needs that we have at the John M. Pope Industrial Technology Center and throughout our campus. We have made a lot of changes to the cafeteria over the past year and she has been very instrumental in many of the improvements to our cafeteria service.”

Janice Davis, vice president of administrative services at South Georgia Technical College, oversees the student activity and student life portions of the college and she commended Shirley for her work with the students.

“Shirley certainly is a HERO and we are very glad that she belongs to us,” said Davis.

“With all of the construction and changes to the program at South Georgia Technical College in Americus, South Georgia Tech has come a long way in the past 10 months,” said Erich Geiger, district manager for ARAMARK higher education. “Many of the special touches that have been implemented are a direct result of Shirley’s efforts. We all know that many times, it is Shirley herself that makes things happen; filling in where ever there is a need. She is always willing to help on campus and at other events. When students want changes, she makes them and does all the little things to help make the living and learning environment at SGTC special.”

The ARAMARK Hero of the South award was given to Trice based on the overall management of her operation, unique student activities, development of a department “team” and catering focus along with her alignment to the SGTC missions and goals.

Trice has been with ARAMARK for around 28 years. She started at Georgia Southwestern State University in 1983 as line server and worked her way up to assistant food service director in 1995. She came to South Georgia Technical College in 1999 as the food service director, and has been at SGTC for 11 years.

“I love my job,” said Shirley Trice. “Probably the best or most gratifying part of my job is making customers or clients happy. That carries over from the student body to the catering aspect of my job. The students are the number one reason for me being on campus and I enjoy forming relationships with them. There are some challenges, but the good outweighs the bad.”

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