The Fayette Citizen-Business Page
Wednesday, September 16, 1998
Local business owner tabbed as best in the state

A Fayetteville business owner has been named the American Worker of the Year by Dickies Workwear.

Matthew Earnest, 25, runs his own landscaping business company. Earnest was chosen as the winner after Dickies officials read his nomination form from his mother.

According to Earnest's mother, he started the business at 13 and has kept it going. She added he has a soft spot for his elderly customers and often does extra chores for them and has also gained respect of veteran businessman in the community for his work.

Earnest received $500 in cash and prizes for his state win and was entered into the national contest with the other state winners.

"Reading all the entries each year reaffirms what we've always believed about American workers," said Jon Ragsdale, director of marketing for Dickies. "Sometimes we think we have the toughest job of all-picking just one person from each state."

National winners were 40-year-old Anna Allen, a former welfare mother who now owns a successful day care business in Michigan, and Dr. Leon Pandracky, a Pennsylvania optometrist who works with the poor in his small-town practice.

The winners were selected from thousands of entries from across the nation. Entrants were asked to write 75 words or less about why their nominee deserved recognition.

Dickies started the awards seven years ago to honor hard working people around the country. The national winners each won a 1998 Chevy Silverado truck and a trip to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville in October for the awards ceremony.

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