First paying job: “Selling snow cones at the county fair. I was 14, maybe. It was always the week of my birthday and, even then, I had to work on my birthday.”

Bobbie Hawkins believes in going above and beyond.

Born and raised in Coolville, Ohio, near Parkersburg, Hawkins earned an associate of science degree in business from Ohio Valley College in Parkersburg in 1995 and followed it up with a bachelor of business administration degree in accounting from Harding University in Arkansas in 1997.

She worked first in banking — One Valley Bank (now BB&T) in West Virginia, then a bank in Ohio — before she landed in 2000 at the Morgantown architectural and engineering firm Alpha Associates.

Her first position was administrative assistant, but over time she carved out a new position as business development manager.

“The way that we were doing marketing wasn’t effective,” Hawkins said. “I saw a need and matched my strengths to that need.”

She promotes Alpha’s role in designing an important positive first impression.

“For example, the Welcome Center at I-68, we designed that building, and I think that our involvement in that leaves a very good first impression on people coming into West Virginia,” she said.

Hawkins is an active participant in community improvement. She is a graduate of Leadership Monongalia and now serves on the organization’s planning committee; she also is on the board of the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce, where she serves on the tourism committee.

Hawkins serves as vice president of the board of Ronald McDonald House, chairing a special events committee that has helped increase community involvement in and philanthropy to the charity.

Because of the influence of her own childhood 4-H experience, Hawkins leads a 4-H club in Morgantown “Through Mrs. Hawkins’ involvement with students and service projects, a very lucky portion of the youth in Monongalia County have had the opportunity to be nurtured and influenced by a business professional,” wrote nominator Tim Rhodes.

Her commitments demonstrate her passion for going above and beyond.

“‘All other duties as assigned’ is what makes you succeed,” she said. “It’s what makes you stand out as an individual in your work environment and your community.”

Hawkins lives in Morgantown with her husband, Ed, and stepson, Nick.