TTU College of Business Board of Trustees presents alumnus, leadership awards
The Tennessee Tech University College of Business Board of Trustees recently presented its top alumnus and leadership awards.
The Louis Johnson Alumnus Award was presented to Virginia Plummer and the Outstanding Business Leadership Award was given to Garry Floeter.
The College of Business Board of Trustees Louis Johnson Outstanding Alumnus Award was established in 1980 to recognize graduates of the College of Business who have made significant contributions to business through any outlets worthy of social achievement. The award is named after the founding dean of the college. The Outstanding Business Leadership Award is given annually to recognize individuals or organizations that have merited success through contributions in business relations.
Virginia Plummer
Virginia Plummer, a 1943 business management graduate, has played an important role in the history of the College of Business, TTU and the Cookeville community. As a student, she was an assistant to former professors Herman Pinkerton and C. V. Bruner, and to former university President Everett Derryberry. After teaching business courses at Smith County High School in Carthage for two years, she returned to TTU as secretary to the president and part-time instructor. In 1951, she received her master’s degree from the University of Tennessee, and then returned to TTU as a full-time instructor.
Plummer retired in June 1982 after teaching 39 years and 10 months, 37 of those years at TTU. She remains involved in campus activities, serving on the College of Business Board of Trustees and the board of the Friends of the Library Foundation. In 1997, Plummer and her husband, Bruce, endowed the Virginia and Bruce Plummer Scholarship for business students.
Plummer’s fund-raising endeavors are legendary in the Cookeville community. Whether it is nuts for Cookeville Evening Lions Club, tickets for the Friends of the Library Gala, funds for the Red Cross, or subscriptions to the Herald-Citizen, Plummer always strives to do her best.
She has served as the former president of Tennessee and Putnam County Retired Teachers Association and Cookeville Evening Lions Club. For her outstanding service to Lionism, Plummer has received numerous recognitions at the club, district and state levels.
In 2000, the university awarded Plummer the Alumni Association’s Outstanding Service Award.
Garry Floeter
Garry Floeter, president and CEO of Cookeville Heating and Cooling Mechanical, went to work for Contractors Heating and Cooling in Nashville in May 1968. He moved to Cookeville shortly thereafter to manage and operate Cookeville Heating and Air Conditioning. At that time, he had two trucks and three employees. CHC Mechanical now has more than 80 employees.
Under Floeter’s leadership, CHC Mechanical Contractors earned many local and national awards over the years, including the Middle Tennessee Associated Builders and Contractors’ 2009 Construction Award of Excellence, Southeast Construction Magazine Best of 2009, and Association of General Contracting Tennessee Chapter Safety Excellence Awards.
In August 1968, Floeter put college and scholarships on hold to enlist in the Tennessee National Guard. He did basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and technical training in Wichita Falls, Texas. From 1968 through 1975, he served as a medical technician with the 118th Aero Evacuation Squadron serving on numerous aircraft responsible for transporting wounded from South East Asia back to the United States.
Floeter is a member of the College of Business Board of Trustees. He is also a member of the Cookeville/Putnam County Chamber of Commerce, for which he helps direct the annual Christmas parade. He is a member and past president of the Cookeville Noon Day Lions Club. He oversees one of the club’s most significant projects: testing the eyesight of every elementary student in Cookeville. Floeter has personally coached and his company has sponsored several teams in the Ponytail Softball League. He has served on Cookeville’s Tax Equalization Board. As a pilot, he has volunteered to transport blood for the American Red Cross.
