By TIM CHANDLER -- Courier-Times editor
tchandler@roxboro-courier.com
“It was an overwhelming thing.”
Those were the words of Roxboro MedAccess physician and co-owner Dr. Dan Phillips after he learned he had been named the North Carolina Jaycees State Boss of the Year during the Jaycees’ statewide Distinguished Service Awards Banquet last weekend in Chapel Hill.
“It was kind of cool to be recognized,” Phillips said Tuesday. “I really don’t know what to say. It is not something I sought after. I have just been doing what I think is right.”
In March, Phillips claimed the Boss of the Year honor in Person County during the Roxboro Jaycees’ annual Distinguished Service Award Banquet.
The award is given to the employer of a Jaycee member who has given service to his or her family, church, community, nation and the Jaycees organization.
Phillips has taken four medical mission trips to Haiti since the 2010 earthquake, and is an active member and chair of the board of deacons at Olive Branch Baptist Church.
“It was really cool to be recognized [at the state level],” Phillips said. “As I told the crowd, it’s not something you do all by your self. I have been blessed by the Lord with the ability to be a doctor, to serve in a small community and to be part of mission trips to Haiti,”
Phillips added. “I have been blessed with a chance to do something really cool and also to help other people. It’s just a fun thing for me to do.”
When Phillips was tabbed Boss of the Year locally in March, he was among the award recipients referenced by North Carolina Jaycee President Jennifer Salmon, who spoke at the Roxboro Jaycees’ banquet.
“You have given back to the community by just giving of yourself, and that says so much about the individuals you all are,” Salmon said. “If we all would just give back just that little bit, can we all imagine what this world would be like?”
Kyle Puryear, president of the Roxboro Jaycees, said Phillips was very deserving of the award he received. “Dr. Phillips deserved to be honored for his work and his service to the community,” Puryear said Tuesday. “The Jaycees’ 2012 State Boss of the Year Award couldn’t have gone to a more deserving person.
“[Phillips] is a dedicated leader in the community who is well-respected by his peers and employees,” Puryear added. “The Roxboro Jaycees congratulate him on winning the statewide award and thank him for making a difference in Person County.”
The award, Phillips said, caps off a banner year for he and Roxboro MedAccess.
“We’ve been so blessed with our business this year and with this award,” Phillips said. “The practice is growing. It’s really been a great year for us.” And, a year that Phillips does not attribute to luck. “I don’t believe in luck,” Phillips said. “I do believe in being blessed and I have been really blessed.”
Earlier this year, Roxboro MedAccess was named the 2012 Small Business of the Year at the annual Roxboro Area Chamber of Commerce banquet.