The Town of Garner was among 39 jurisdictions to earn recognition recently in the North Carolina City & County Communicators (NC3C) 2026 Excellence in Communications Awards. The Town won four second- and third-place awards for smaller-population jurisdictions. 

Here is a summary of the awards, which were earned for work completed during the 2025 calendar year:

• Second place in the category of single social media post for an update about improvements at Town parks. Communications Specialist Bella Soltz created the post.   
• Third place in the category of reels/shorts for a video about Garner Fire-Rescue merging with the Town. The reel used humor to inform the public about the historic unification of the Town and Garner Fire-Rescue at the start of fiscal year 2026. Ms. Soltz created the post.
• Third place in the category of special programming for a video that was part of a multimedia approach to the 2025 Garner Juneteenth Celebration. This innovative project involved the weaving in of video clips with live elements of the celebration. The clips also were published on YouTube and broadcast on the Town’s public, educational and government channel as a short documentary. Communications Media Coordinator Kyle Kettler filmed and edited the project. The Garner Juneteenth Committee provided creative input.    
• Third place in the category of external newsletter for the Town's printed quarterly newsletter, Garner Update. This was a new product launched in 2025 to meet residents’ requests for more information provided in a print format. Ms. Soltz writes and designs the newsletter with editing support from Communications Director Rick Mercier.      

“These awards are a testament to the outstanding work that our Communications team—in collaboration with all of our departments—does throughout the year to inform our residents and to build confidence and trust in the Town government,” Mercier said. 

This year, a record-setting 266 award program entries were judged by professional communicators from the Minnesota Association of Government Communicators. 

The Communications team and Garner Juneteenth Committee will be recognized for their award-winning work at the May 19 Town Council meeting. 

Communications Specialist Bella Soltz and Communications Media Coordinator Kyle Kettler pose with their 2026 Excellence in Communications Awards from North Carolina City & County Communicators.