Oby’s Recipient of Good Neighbor Award

Oby’s was recently selected as a co-winner for the Mississippi Restaurant Association’s representative in the National Restaurant Association’s Good Neighbor Award in the Small Business Category. The annual Restaurant Neighbor Award honors restaurants for outstanding community service. The Restaurant Neighbor Award is just one component of the National Restaurant Association's Cornerstone Initiative, which promotes the restaurant industry's role as the cornerstone of the economy, of career-and-employment opportunities, and of community involvement.

The prestigious national award honors restaurants that go above and beyond in community service and aims to inspire other restaurateurs to get or stay involved in their local communities. Oby’s competed along with 2 other restaurants from Mississippi with other restaurants in the nation for the award. Three national winners — one for large businesses with sales more than $2 million, one for small businesses with sales less than $2 million and one Humanitarian of the year —received a $5,000 award to help the restaurant continue its community programs, plus an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. to receive the award at the National Restaurant Association’s Public Affairs Conference in Washington, DC, in September.

State winners were honored at the opening ceremony of the Public Affairs Conference, were recognized in a booklet highlighting their community service activities and received a commemorative plaque to display in their restaurant. “We were excited to receive the Good Neighbor Award for the state of Mississippi,” says Don O’Bannon, owner of Oby’s. “Our passion for helping the arts in the Starkville community is something we enjoy throughout each year, and we greatly appreciate the honor of being recognized by other restaurateurs in the state.”