Several local officials have received recent appointments and awards.

New Hanover County manager Chris Coudriet was appointed vice chairman of the Medicaid and Indigent Care Subcommittee of the National Association of Counties (NACo), the organization announced in a recent news release.

The subcommittee is involved in all matters pertaining to health care delivery and financing, including indigent care, health care for the uninsured, Medicaid, Medicare, long-term care, local public health programs, mental health, substance abuse and developmental disabilities.

Coudriet will also serve on NACo’s Healthy Counties Initiative Advisory Board and its International Economic Development Task Force, the release continued.

New Hanover County commissioner Beth Dawson was recognized at the N.C. Association of County Commissioners’ annual conference for attaining practitioner status in the Local Elected Leaders Academy (LELA), the county announced in a recent news release.

The academy, a partnership with the School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill, the N.C. Association of County Commissioners and the N.C. League of Municipalities, offers local elected officials the knowledge and skills needed to lead and govern their communities, the release stated.

“As an elected representative of the citizens of New Hanover County, I am committed to providing informed and effective leadership for all of our citizens as we face economic challenges, and balance decisions for responsible growth while protecting and enhancing our quality of life,” Dawson said in the release. “LELA offers learning opportunities that help elected officials understand our responsibilities for the delivery of services to the citizens we serve.”

Dawson, elected to the board of commissioners in 2012, serves as its vice chairwoman.

Wells Fargo Insurance Services recognized Brunswick County’s risk manager, Eileen Gardner, for program excellence in risk management, the company announced in a recent news release.

Gardner has reduced the county’s worker’s compensation program costs by 50 percent over a five-year period, and has achieved an “experience modifier of .67 over a three-year period,” Keith Richards, commercial client executive with Wells Fargo, noted in the release.

“Roughly translated, that means Brunswick County is performing better than 33 percent of its peers in similar organizations,” he said in the release.

“Eileen is very pro-active with training and preventive safety measures, and she works very well with the medical providers and other professionals,” Richards continued. “But even after an injury occurs, she genuinely cares about the employee, and [about] getting him or her returned to work and returned to work in his or her pre-accident condition.”

Thomas Wolfe, a New Hanover County commissioner and member of the county’s ABC board, was elected president-elect of the N.C. Association of ABC Boards, the county announced recently. The action took place during the association’s 2014 annual conference.

The association represents more than 168 county and municipal ABC boards operating throughout North Carolina, and, according to the release, works with its members to promote responsible alcohol sales, provide the highest level of service and generate revenue for North Carolina communities.

Wolfe has served on the New Hanover County ABC Board since 2010. He began his tenure on the N.C. Association of ABC Boards in 2013, the release stated.