Copyright 2006 The Sun Herald

Distributed by Knight/Ridder Tribune News Service

April 11, 2006 Tuesday

SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS

ACC-NO: 20060411-BI-0411-Shade-tree-radio-owner-wins-honor

LENGTH: 416 words

HEADLINE: Shade tree radio owner wins honor: First with Katrina news<

BYLINE: Ryan Lafontaine, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.

BODY:

Apr. 11--HANCOCK COUNTY -- As Hurricane Katrina began loosing its stranglehold on South Mississippi, dazed locals came crawling out from their hiding places in search of information.

Katrina had plucked power poles from the ground. Phones were kaput. Static was all that crackled through battery-powered radios for about two hours. And then, there was this:

"Hancock County has suffered extreme devastation and damage assessments have already begun," a voice said through the static on the radio. "The Bay St. Louis bridge and train bridge have been completely destroyed."

It was the voice of 40-year-old Brice Phillips, who has run a nonprofit radio station in the county for nearly a decade. Since that afternoon, WQRZ 103.5 FM has remained on the air 24 hours a day, broadcasting vital information to survivors.

Before the storm, Phillips loaded his van with transmitters and extra equipment and relocated the small amateur station to the county's emergency operation center in Bay St. Louis.

After the storm, Phillips rigged his car battery to the station transmitter and began broadcasting search and rescue information. Weeks later, FEMA officials handed out more than 3,000 radios to locals, telling them to listen to Phillips for instructions on where to get food, water and ice.

For his service, Phillips has won the U.S. Small Business Association's Phoenix Award. Since 1998, the SBA has presented the Phoenix Award to business owners and people who displayed courage and resourcefulness during a disaster.

"It's been an honor," Phillips said. "We have made a lot of waves in the industry, and hopefully that will change things in the way radio stations in the country service the public."

Tish Williams, executive director of the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, also will receive a Phoenix Award for "outstanding contributions to disaster recovery by a public official."

Williams was on the phone almost as soon as they were working. She secured a temporary office and Internet access for the chamber, and she made contact with dozens of chambers nationwide, prompting them to adopt Hancock County.

Williams and Phillips will be honored Thursday during National Small Business Week at the SBA's two-day conference in Washington.

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LOAD-DATE: April 13, 2006