Report from the City of Murfreesboro: The City is pleased to announce that Eboni Phillips, a 12-year employee of the Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Department, was recognized for her outstanding work at Sports*Com and the Parks and Recreation Department during the November 7, 2013 meeting of the Murfreesboro City Council for “Succeeding Through Attitudes Reflecting Service Excellence.” 

Many City residents may know and recognize Phillips, who works at the front desk at Sports*Com and kindly greets hundreds of people on a daily basis.  Phillips was accompanied by her husband and their two daughters at her award ceremony. It is an honor to recognize the City’s greatest assets – its employees. Phillips is the second Parks and Rec employee to receive the STARS award. 

This fall, the City received a nomination on Phillips from an out-of-town patron, Ms. Henke, who called the City to recognize Phillips for going above and beyond the call of duty for returning her daughter’s class ring.  Ms. Henke’s daughter had been to Sports*Com over the summer and lost the memento.  The ring was found and turned in to Phillips, who googled the high school and found it to be located in Alabama.  Phillips called the school and left the school assistant her contact information.  The school assistant located the student that lost the ring, and had her mother, Ms. Henke, call Phillips.  Ms. Henke stated that the ring was her daughter’s Christmas present the year before, and it was very special to them.  Phillips then offered to mail it herself personally and to take care of the cost of getting it shipped.  When Ms. Henke contacted the City, she could not have expressed her gratitude more for Phillips’ attitude, service, and efforts in helping get her daughter’s lost ring returned. 

The award-winning Parks and Recreation Department’s staff is constantly returning lost items to the general public, and they go out of their way to make their patrons feel welcomed and special. The entire department is committed to providing outstanding customer service to the community, and they make service excellence their priority. 

Murfreesboro is fortunate to have employees so caring, dedicated and kind.  When the City notified Phillips of her award, she said it meant a lot to her, and that it was very exciting. As she was accepting her award, Phillips stated, “I am beyond honored to have received the STARS award.  I go to work every day and my goal is to make the people happy, and if I haven’t done that, then my job isn’t done.” 

Concerning Phillips, Lanny Goodwin, Parks and Recreation Director stated, “Eboni is always smiling, she is always gracious, and she always goes above and beyond.  I couldn’t be happier than to see Eboni Phillips named as the second STARS award recipient from Parks and Recreation.”

The STARS award is a monthly award given to a City of Murfreesboro employee who exemplifies outstanding service excellence to the public, fellow employees, and the City. If you see great customer service in action or know of an employee that exemplifies service excellence, please nominate that employee for a STARS award today. Our employees work hard every day to serve the community, and we want to recognize their outstanding efforts. 

Information on the STARS award and the application can be found and completed on our website at http://www.murfreesborotn.gov 

Congratulations to Parks and Recreation Department employee Eboni Phillips on the October STARS award!