2022 Woman of the Year Awards

New River Valley Express Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association Presents 2022 Woman of the Year Awards Christiansburg, VA.

The American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) New River Valley Express Chapter announced the recipients of their annual Woman of the Year awards during their monthly luncheon at the Holiday Inn Christiansburg Blacksburg on Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

Each year the chapter membership submits nominations for the awards and a three-member committee chooses two award recipients—one from among the chapter membership and one from the business community.

The ABWA Community Woman of the Year for 2022 is Laura Beth Weaver, Executive Director of the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley. Laura Beth embodies and promotes the mission of the WRC, to implement individual and social change for a violence-free community in the New River Valley region of Virginia, by providing programs and services to adults and children who have experienced sexual or domestic violence, and by providing education, training, and prevention programming to the public and to allied professionals.

The ABWA Member Award recipient for 2022 is Teresa Echols. Teresa is the former owner of Tan ‘N Tone, Christiansburg, VA. She has been an active member of ABWA for 10 years and currently serves as the VP of Finance of the local chapter. As a long-time member of ABWA, Teresa serves as a mentor to fellow ABWA members, as well as to the successor of her former business. Teresa has been an advocate of giving back to the community and civic responsibility and is very grateful to the community for all the support it gave to her business. As owner of Tan ‘N Tone, Teresa supported numerous events to give back to the community including churches, schools, Montgomery County Christmas Store, Habitat for Humanity, United Way of the New River Valley, and Montgomery County Animal Care and Adoption Center, just to name a few. Teresa was a member of several business and civic organizations, including the Jaycees, Blacksburg Downtown North, YMCA, Blacksburg Chamber, Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and the Virginia Tech Hokie Club. Teresa is a member of Blue Ridge Church, where she has volunteered in several positions and serves as a member of the prayer team.

To find out more about the New River Valley Express chapter of the ABWA, please visit our Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/ABWANRVExpress.

Founded in 1949 by Hilary A. Bufton Jr., a Kansas City, Missouri businessman, ABWA has thousands of members in chapters and Express Networks nationwide. ABWA has dedicated more than half a century to women’s education and provides workplace skills and career development training for its members.

–Submitted by Jennifer Kennelly, VP-Public Relations & Marketing, New River Valley Express Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association