The Cabarrus County Communications and Outreach team recently scooped several honors at the North Carolina City & County Communicators (NC3C) 2025 Excellence in Communications Awards, showcasing their solid commitment to effective, diverse community engagement. The team, which serves as the county's communicative backbone, gathered three first-place awards across a range of media formats.
Among the top accolades, the county's Special Video Programming was awarded for its intimate portrayal of a Cabarrus County EMS Paramedic's struggle with addiction, bringing to light personal trials within the frames of public service. Additionally, their podcast "Did Y’all Hear? A Cabarrus County podcast" and the inventive "Brews + Bites + Budget" session at Southern Strain Brewing also secured first-place spots, according to an announcement from the Cabarrus County.
Not settling for gold alone, Cabarrus also took home two second-place awards for their CabConnect newsletter and the forward-facing FY25 Annual Report aptly named "Powered by Our People." This sweep served as a testament to the varied and inclusive initiatives the team spearheads to keep the gears of local governance running smoothly and transparently. "This team truly delivers and I’m extremely proud of the work they do,” Jonathan Weaver, Communications and Outreach Director, was quoted saying in the Cabarrus County release.
The honors were rolled out on April 10, during the NC3C's annual conference in Asheville, pitting the creativity and diligence of nearly 47 government organizations against one another in a judged contest by the Minnesota Association of Government Communicators. In competing against nearly 180 award program entries, the Cabarrus team’s multi-faceted approach to digital platforms, multimedia storytelling and community engagement programs evidently set a benchmark for excellence.
