This is the second time in her 20 years being a part of the Andalusia Office Professionals Association that Kim Arrington has received the Club Member of the Year award.

Arrington has been the fuel department secretary at PowerSouth for the past 20 years.

“I started in the business field 20 years ago and at that time AOPA was a club for secretaries,” Arrington said. “Then we changed the name and incorporated all of the office professionals. That was the reason why I wanted to join the club.”

She said that she has always liked working with people and that is why she wanted to go into the business profession.

“I started out 20 years ago, working the switchboard for PowerSouth,” Arrington said. “Now I am department secretary. I like to just work with people and I love doing the office work. I don’t mind working with paperwork and computers. It keeps me busy because there is always something to do.”

In her 20 years of experience, Arrington said that the main thing that has changed has been the technology.

“Especially with the phone system,” Arrington said. “Back then, we had the switchboard system and I would have to answer maybe 1,000 phone calls a day and have to transfer them, but now you can dial the person you’re trying to talk to directly. When I moved to secretary, the computer systems and programs now help you do your work so much quicker.”

For those that are looking to get into the business profession, Arrington said that they need to make sure they continue their education.

“They need to make sure they are taking those classes so they can learn everything they can,” Arrington said. “They need to understand to communicate. Communicating is the main thing so they need to know to be off their phones and communicate face to face with people.”

Arrington said that she was completely shocked.

“I won the first ever award whenever they presented it 20 years ago,” Arrington said. “So I wasn’t expecting to win it again so when they awarded it I was in shock.”

She and her husband, Neil Arrington, have two children and two grandchildren.