WHEREAS, Barbara Thomas, director of training for K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc., of Abingdon, has been named Woman of the Year for 2011 by the National Grocers Association's Women Grocers of America; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Thomas has worked for the company, which does business as Food City, since she was a student at Grundy County High School and continued to work for the grocery company while at East Tennessee State University; and

WHEREAS, in 1979 Barbara Thomas was hand-selected by company founder Jack Smith to run the newly established training program; she began by developing a program and manual for cashiers and courtesy clerks; and

WHEREAS, training policies and procedure manuals soon were implemented for other departments at K-VA-T Food Stores, and today, the company's almost 13,000 employees are required to complete a series of online training courses; and

WHEREAS, throughout her career with K-VA-T Food Stores, Barbara Thomas has encouraged and supported other employees, taking an interest in their hopes and goals and helping to guide and advance their careers; her managerial training programs are recognized as among the best in the country; and

WHEREAS, in assisting K-VA-T Food Stores employees in reaching their full potential, Barbara Thomas worked with local educational institutions and other business and community organizations to establish training and GED programs for Food City associates; and

WHEREAS, in addition to her mentoring work with many young associates, Barbara Thomas helped to develop the company's food safety program; she created a centralized training center for cashiers in the company's Knoxville Division operating area; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Thomas spearheaded energy conservation efforts at K-VA-T Food Stores, reducing same-store energy usage by 5.1 million kilowatt-hours in the program's first year, and she helped achieve a 6.5 million kilowatt-hour reduction in the just-completed second year of the program; and

WHEREAS, as director of training, Barbara Thomas supervises six full-time employees and up to 20 assistant manager trainees; her dedication to K-VA-T Food Stores has included spending hundreds of hours volunteering at company-sponsored charitable events; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Thomas has coordinated the Food City Best Bagger competitions for Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee; one of her proudest moments was when a winner of a Best Bagger competition later became a store manager for the company; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Thomas has worked to advance the careers of untold numbers of Food City employees during her 37 years of employment; she personifies some of the best attributes of a loyal, dedicated, and talented employee; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Barbara Thomas for being honored as the Woman of the Year for 2011 by the National Grocers Association's Women Grocers of America; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Barbara Thomas as an expression of the General Assembly's congratulations and respect for her dedication and devotion to her company, her community, and her fellow employees.