Patsy Smullin receives Governor's Gold Award

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Patsy Smullin, owner and president of California Oregon Broadcasting Inc., received the Governor's Gold Award Friday in Portland from former Gov. Vic Atiyeh.

"Patsy Smullin is somebody that I have known for a long time and have really admired," Atiyeh said in presenting the award. "The company itself is one of the rare independent family companies in the United States, continually of quality beyond most descriptions."

Medford-based COBI was founded in 1953 and is described as the longest continuously independent broadcast group in the West and one of the three oldest in the country. It is the parent company of KOBI-TV in Medford and KOTI-TV in Klamath Falls.

The Governor's Gold Award event recognizes the achievements of Oregon businesses, public and civic leaders, communities and citizens. The awards are presented annually to individuals by former governors Atiyeh, John Kitzhaber and Barbara Roberts and current Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

Smullin, the daughter of COBI founder William B. Smullin, has served as president of the Oregon Association of Broadcasters and on the board of the National Association of Broadcasters. She also has served as a trustee of Willamette University and as a board member of the Southern Oregon University Foundation, the Oregon Children's Foundation Board (SMART), the World Affairs Council of Oregon and AAA Oregon and Idaho.

Others receiving the award included: Dave Frohnmayer, former Oregon attorney general and recently retired president of the University of Oregon; The Standard, an insurance and financial services company in Portland; Hoffman Construction Co.; the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers NBA Championship team; Powell's Books; Michael Nelson, owner of Nelson Real Estate, Inc.; and LAIKA Inc., filmmakers who produced the recent animated movie "Coraline."

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