Leadership Rutherford has named Rutherford County Trustee Teb Batey as the 2017 recipient of the Pinnacle Award, given to someone who has demonstrated significant leadership throughout his or her career.

Batey, a lifelong Rutherford County resident, has served in his current position since 2006. During this time, he and his team have worked to improve efficiencies in order to increase rates of return and significantly reduce the cost of banking services. In addition, he expanded the trustee’s office to a second location in Smyrna and streamlined payment options.

After selling B&B Awards and Engraving, a partnership he started as a junior in high school, Batey pursued a degree in business administration from David Lipscomb University. After graduation, he returned to the family business, Batey’s Office Supply and Photo, to work full time and to complete a Master of Business Administration degree from MTSU.

Batey is a 2015 Leadership Rutherford graduate and has served on many civic and professional boards during his tenure in county government. He was a founding board member of the Tennessee Association of Property Tax Professionals and was chaplain for the County Officials Association of Tennessee. In 2014, he was recognized as the Tennessee Outstanding Trustee of the Year.

A minister for the Milton Church of Christ since 1989, Batey serves on the board for Barnabas Vision and Journeys in Community Living. He has a love of farming and was named the Tennessee Cattleman’s Association’s Beef Producer of the Year in 1988. He and wife Kari live in the Milton Community with their son Houston and daughters Kate and Taylor. The Bateys were forever touched by the love of friends, family, and their great community when they lost their son Paul in 2014.

Batey will be honored at the Chamber’s annual Business at its Best event at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 1, at the Embassy Suites Murfreesboro Hotel and Conference Center. Reservations are $40 for Chamber members and $65 for non-members. To reserve a seat, please contact the Chamber at 615-893-6556 or visit www.rutherfordchamber.org.

The Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, which includes the Convention & Visitors Bureau, Destination Rutherford, Economic Development, Workforce Development and the Business Education Partnership, seeks to promote economic development and a quality of life to benefit all residents of Rutherford County. Programs, events and services are offered to both its nearly 1,600 member organizations and non-members. The Chamber operates out of its main office on Medical Center Parkway in Murfreesboro, which also houses the Tennessee Small Business Development Center, and has branch offices in Smyrna, La Vergne and Eagleville. Learn more at www.rutherfordchamber.org.