[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 31 (Tuesday, March 5, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MATTHEW CONNOLLY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LATHAM

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 5, 2013

  Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate and recognize 
Matthew Connolly for being named a 2013 Forty Under 40 honoree by the 
award-winning central Iowa publication, Business Record.
   Since 2000, Business Record has undertaken an exhaustive annual 
review to identify a standout group of young leaders in the Greater Des 
Moines area who are making an impact in their communities and their 
careers. Each year, forty up-and-coming community and business leaders 
under 40 years of age are selected for this prestigious distinction, 
which is based on a combined criteria of community involvement and 
success in their chosen career field. The 2013 class of Forty Under 40 
honorees join an impressive roster of 560 business leaders and growing.
   Matthew Connolly is the president of his own green builder company, 
Generation Green Builders Company, and resides in the Beaverdale 
neighborhood of Des Moines with his wife Jodi and their two children, 
Malaya Rose and Lane Matthew. Mr. Connolly's path to being a successful 
businessman and family man was anything but easy and required 
overcoming a serious mental illness, schizophrenia. Matt credits his 
ability to maintain his recovery since 2004 on five pillars of 
recovery--medication, therapy, social worker support, family and 
friends, and support groups. Today, Mr. Connolly is running his own 
company and serving as an advocate for mental illness awareness. Matt's 
ability to not only survive, but thrive, amidst his mental illness is a 
testament to his unwavering work ethic and commitment to bettering 
himself and those around him.
   Mr. Speaker, it is a profound honor to represent leaders like 
Matthew in the United States Congress and it is with great pride that I 
recognize and applaud Mr. Connolly for utilizing his talents to better 
both his community and the great state of Iowa. I invite my colleagues 
in the House to join me in congratulating Matthew on receiving this 
esteemed designation, thanking those at Business Record for their great 
work, and wishing each member of the 2013 Forty Under 40 class 
continued success.

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