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2013 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 641
Commending Benton Communications, Inc.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 11, 2013
Agreed to by the Senate, January 17, 2013

 

WHEREAS, founded and incorporated in October 1987, Benton Communications, Inc., is a Falls Church, Virginia-based small business that founded the Falls Church News-Press in 1991 and that is now celebrating its 25th anniversary; and

WHEREAS, the anniversary is a significant milestone for the company president and founder and editor-in-chief of the Falls Church News-Press, Nicholas F. Benton, who has guided the company since its inception and the Falls Church News-Press to over 21 years of consecutive weekly publication; and

WHEREAS, the Falls Church News-Press as a product of Benton Communications, Inc., has twice been named Business of the Year by the City of Falls Church in 1991 and 2001 and received the City’s Business Contribution to the Community Award in 1997; and

WHEREAS, Nicholas F. Benton has been honored with the Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce’s Pillar of the Community award in 1992 and 2003; named to the Virginia School Boards Association’s Media Honor Roll in 1988, 2005, 2010, and 2012; and was the recipient of the 2005 Hodding Carter Outstanding Journalism Award presented by the Northern Virginia chapter of the American Society for Public Administration, a Community Service Award by the Falls Church Citizens for a Better City in 2009, and an OUTstanding Virginian Award by Equality Virginia in 2012; and

WHEREAS, in 2005 Nicholas F. Benton established the Diversity Affirmation Education Fund in his name as an arm of the Falls Church Education Foundation to promote acceptance of diversity by students in the Falls Church City Public Schools; and

WHEREAS, Benton Communications, Inc., acting as the Falls Church News-Press, sponsors an annual food drive, an annual scholarship for high school seniors intending to pursue careers “enfranchising the disenfranchised,” a citywide annual holiday party, and numerous other community causes and activities; and

WHEREAS, committed to improving the quality of life for all the citizens of Falls Church, Benton Communications, Inc., Nicholas F. Benton, and the Falls Church News-Press have employed and trained many young people from the community and provided an effective vehicle for numerous local businesses to advertise and grow their enterprises; and

WHEREAS, Benton Communications, Inc., Nicholas F. Benton, and the Falls Church News-Press have been advocating for affordable housing, quality education, support for the disenfranchised, and human rights and equality, among other issues; the Falls Church News-Press is one of the few general interest community newspapers in the nation to publish a weekly column dedicated to gay and lesbian justice issues; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend and congratulate Benton Communications, Inc., on the occasion of its 25th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Nicholas F. Benton on behalf of Benton Communications, Inc., as an expression of the General Assembly’s appreciation of the company’s many achievements and best wishes for continued success.