NCO’s Bruner named Chamber Ambassador of the Year

Andrea Bruner (pictured), executive administrative specialist at Network of Community Options, Inc., has been selected as the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Ambassador of the Year for 2024.

Bruner was presented the award at the Chamber’s Annual Meeting and Gala, held Friday, Jan. 24 at the Batesville Community Center.

In making her comments, Chamber CEO Crystal Johnson noted Bruner’s years of service to the community starting with her tenure at the Batesville Daily Guard.

Bruner graduated from Arkansas State University with a degree in journalism and minor in history and accepted a position at the Batesville Guard staff in 1999 as a reporter covering the business and education beat. She went on to earning progressive promotions to eventually become managing editor before retiring from the newspaper in 2019 in order to spend more time with her family, although she continues to freelance and is a part-time writer for White River Now.

“My mission,” she said, “has been to tell the stories about our area and its people – to tell the truth always and to shine a light on things that otherwise might not be told.”

Her contributions to the field of journalism in Arkansas led to her being featured as part of the Dr. Joel Gambill Distinguished Speaker Series, hosted by the ASU School of Media and Journalism, in the spring of 2022. Over the course of two days, she was able to share insights with current students and answer their questions.

In 2020, a friend asked her to come to work at Batesville Preschool during the Covid pandemic, and there she worked the next two years before joining the team at NCO, Inc. in 2022.

Bruner said she has learned a lot in working with individuals who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, and that she never knows what each day will bring.

“I love that my job is something different every day, but the goal is always the same: to serve our clients, their families, and our employees. Seeing the joy on their faces when they accomplish a new skill or visit with friends at one of our NCO events really makes the job all the more rewarding,” she said.

Bruner said when NCO, Inc. Executive Director Lisa Pinkston asked if she would be interested in joining the Chamber Ambassadors, Bruner recognized this was an opportunity to welcome new businesses, support existing ones and promote the Chamber, all while watching the community grow.

“As Ambassadors, we get to contribute to the success of Chamber events like ribbon cuttings, groundbreakings and the Annual Business Expo, and we are there to celebrate the community’s milestones and accomplishments,” Bruner said. “We’ve seen so much progress in the past 20 years, building Batesville and Independence County into a vibrant hub for outlying communities. I appreciate the work our Chamber does and am proud to be a small part of that.”

Bruner and her husband, Gary, are the parents of a daughter, Kaylee, who attends Batesville Junior High School. The family are members of North Heights Church of Christ in Batesville, where Bruner teaches children’s Bible classes.

Bruner is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a past member of the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville Foundation Board and a former coach for the Batesville Kiwanis Youth Cheerleading program. She works with the Cord-Charlotte Preservation Group as well as the Independence County Crisis Coalition and is a judge at the annual Independence County Spelling Bee.

She enjoys spending meaningful time with her family, attending her daughter’s basketball games, reading, and scrapbooking.

Image: NCO