In 2024, a new effort to recognize the unsung heroes in the local community was created, sponsored and hosted by the PlanNorth Team.
With very few avenues to shine the light on those who lead by example, exhibit high levels of work ethic and integrity, and lift their teams up by their actions and words over time, the heart of this effort was to find those people through an open community nomination process and make sure that they know how much their contributions matter.
Community members were asked to provide references, a short essay and a quote which embodied their nominee. A non-local selection panel reviewed the applications, and PlanNorth’s employees and families were ineligible to nominate or receive the award. The nominations were open to those who live in Washington County.
Recipients of the Copper Star received a stainless steel handcrafted dog tag, with a copper star design, and featured the year “2024”. The winner of the Copper Star Award was given the opportunity to make a donation to a nonprofit or charity of her choosing through a donation underwritten by PlanNorth.
2025 Copper Star Award Event Information
In 2024, a new effort to recognize the unsung heroes in the local community was created, sponsored, and hosted by the PlanNorth Team. In its second year, the Copper Star Event was moved to the fall and hosted at The Barn at Pleasant Hill. Following tradition set in 2024, Recipients received hand-crafted dog tags created by Scott Sommerlatte Originals.
With very few avenues to shine the light on those who lead by example, exhibit high levels of work ethic and integrity, and lift their teams up by their actions and words over time, the heart of this effort is to find those people through an open community nomination process and make sure that they know how much their contributions matter.
Honorees for 2025:
Betty Wilson, Blue Bell Creameries, B’s Bling & More
Ella Dallmeyer, Faith Mission
Elle Steele, Alton Elementary
Gena Wilimitis, Miracle Farm Boys Ranch
Holly Johnson, Washington County
Jonathan Purvis, Burton High School
Robert Jensen*, Dozer and Field Services
Samantha Gaskamp, Germania
*One Honoree was selected as the Copper Star Award Winner, to receive a $1000 Community Donation underwritten by PlanNorth. The Award winner will gift the donation to the local nonprofit of their choice.
2026 Award Nominations are now open at https://www.plannorth.com/copper-star-award-nomination-form/. For a copy of the 2025 Nomination form, please email carlie@plannorth.com or stop by PlanNorth’s office at 107 S. Baylor Brenham, 77833, to pick up a copy.
PlanNorth Contacts:
Katie Burch, 979-251-4145 (cell), katie@plannorth.com
Carlie Zorn, 979-451-1556, carlie@plannorth.com
The purpose of PlanNorth is to create wonderful opportunities for INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE through a design community. Whether that’s career advancement, support in professional development, the ability to focus on a specialty area, or balancing parenthood with career…we believe that in this environment lies the opportunity to develop your potential in an incredible way. At PlanNorth you will be working with smart, hardworking people on meaningful projects and creating space for our biggest gift in life: our families, friends, and time.
PlanNorth is team of experts in Architecture. Every day we push ourselves to next-level creativity,
innovation, and accuracy. Our Top Twenty culture is built on having fun, sharing what we know, treating our projects like they were our own, giving back generously, and uniting people during a challenge. Our firm is built one elite-level industry expert at a time, with an unparalleled commitment to the success of every building project and each individual team member.
Fundamental to the PlanNorth culture is to give back generously. The industry benchmark for architectural firms is a widely recognized goal of giving back 1% through In-kind services only. PlanNorth’s average In-kind contributions to the community are more than double the industry goal.
2021 Community Contribution Effort
To wrap up a vibrant summer of learning, PlanNorth interns led the way on a full-time community contribution effort during the last week of August. Masters-level soon-to-be architecture graduates participating in PlanNorth’s summer internship program were given the opportunity to experience all the things that a professional architect would do to kick off a project: Meeting with the owners, identifying needs, creating a project plan, meeting with local authorities, and designing concepts to satisfy the owner’s objectives.
Three recipients in the community were chosen by PlanNorth to participate in the program: Mt. Rose Missionary Baptist Church (the oldest African American Church in Brenham), Faith Mission, and small business and local hotspot, The Yard.
Each organization was chosen based on merit and its history of giving back to the community over time. For one solid week, PlanNorth’s interns on payroll worked solely on these projects under the direction of principal architects on staff and presented their designs to the recipients at the end of this packed week of fun and learning! Each recipient group received digital files and drawings for their use in growing their organizations, projects, and capital campaigns. They also received letters of recommendation from local established business owners and leaders.
