BREAKING NEWS 1
Published 12:00 am Friday, January 9, 2015
North Mississippi Community Foundation’s The Dan Maddox Man of the Year honoree is William Pride of Batesville. The announcement was made by the Foundation last week.
In honoring the Batesville car dealer the NMCF noted, “Born and raised in the small community of Ballentine in Panola County, he understands the challenges of rural life and knows about starting with nothing and turning it into something. Pride started out in 1985 repairing cars at his house and, now, owns Pride Hyundai in Batesville.”
The NMCF news release stated, “As a business leader, he serves on the state board for the Better Business Bureau. He founded the Panola County Community Foundation Endowment with a goal of $300,000 to assist Panola County non-profits. Pride is deeply involved with the local Boys & Girls Club and served as the president of Panola Partnership, working to increase economic development in the county. The Batesville Junior Auxiliary honored him as the King of their annual charity ball. He served on the Community Foundation of Northwest MS board for six years.
“I like to make things happen,” Pride said adding, “One of the things my father used to tell me was to just keep taking one step forward and always give 110 percent”. Pride, his wife, daughter and son are all employed in the family’s car dealership.
Pride’s award is named after Dan Maddox who began his career in the credit and finance industry and whose legacy includes the donation of RCA’s famous Studio B to the Country Music Foundation, creation of the Presidential Scholars Program at Belmont University, and founding of the Shikar Safari Conservation in Africa.
Dan Maddox and his beloved wife Margaret devoted their lives to entrepreneurship, adventure, and service. Their legacy lives today in the Maddox Foundation of Hernando. The Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi was established in 2002 with a generous grant from the Maddox Foundation. It is an independent not-for-profit organization founded in 2002 that serves eleven Mississippi counties: Bolivar, Coahoma, DeSoto, Leflore, Marshall, Panola, Quitman, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate and Tunica.
CFNM currently manages 135 donor-established funds and has distributed $11.2 million to support 420 charitable organizations and activities recommended by its donors, as well as charitable programs established by CFNM.
