The Habersham County Board of Commissioners honored Habersham County Emergency Services Director Chad Black with a service award on Monday night, celebrating his 34 years of service to Habersham County.
Black announced his resignation on Dec. 13, which will be effective on Jan. 14. He has been employed with the county since 1988, where he began his work as a part-time paramedic in Habersham County. In 2016, Black retired as Hall County’s deputy fire chief, and in 2017, he became the county’s emergency services director.
“It’s hard to come across someone in the county that everyone respects and loves,” Habersham County Commission Chairman Dustin Mealor said during the presentation of Black’s service award. “You are an absolute integral member of this community. No one has ever said anything bad about you.”
His award was met with applause and a standing ovation from the board of commissioners, county workers, HCES employees, media and citizens attending the commission meeting.
“These five years have been very special, and this has been a very hard decision,” Black said after receiving the award. “I’ll still be part of this community, and any time I can ever help, I’ll be here.”
After Black’s resignation takes effect, he’ll be moving on to a new job as the Executive Vice-President of Governmental Sales and Business Development at Pro-GeneX Laboratories and Clinical Service in Gainesville. He hopes his new position will give him well-deserved time with his family, and a better work-life balance, after committing decades of service to the county.
“We have done a lot of good things and brought this department a long way in four short years,” Black tells Now Habersham. “I’m very proud of that, and the citizens have recognized it and realized how far we’ve come.”
MORE Black: It’s been a ‘blessing’ and ‘honor’ to serve the Habersham community
He says these last few weeks have been emotionally charged as he receives thanks from the citizens he’s impacted over the years and reflects on his career with Habersham County, but he’s grateful for the outpouring of support he’s received.
“The kind words and the support for me and the department— it’s been very heartfelt,” Black says. “I’ve said I’ve cried more in the last week than I’ve cried my entire life. I’m not a crier, but it’s been very emotional . . . I came into work Thursday and there were some notes under my door and some citizens had left a little gift for me. Those things are very much appreciated and mean the world to me. And it just shows that we do have a good organization and we’ve done some good things for the community.”
