[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 186 (Tuesday, November 14, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1564]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING DEBBIE WILLIAMS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JAMES COMER

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 14, 2017

  Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Debbie Williams of 
Monroe County, Kentucky for her philanthropy in the revitalization of 
downtown Tompkinsville and her entrepreneurial achievement in 
attracting new private investment into the Tompkinsville/Monroe County 
area.
   Debbie Williams' first experience in business in Tompkinsville was 
with Page Brothers--her parents' clothing store located on Main Street 
which operated next door to my father's dental office until 1979.
   Like most of rural America, the 1980's and 1990's saw a massive 
exodus from downtown retail and office storefronts. Most rural Kentucky 
downtown areas were filled with vacant, aging buildings badly in need 
of repair.
   Around 2010, Debbie Williams took her entrepreneurial success as co-
owner of Bluegrass Dairy and made it her passion to purchase many of 
the depressed, vacant downtown Tompkinsville storefronts and renovate 
them. She purchased the building where Page Brothers was located and 
opened Family Circle Clothing Store. Mrs. Williams also opened and 
operates Brass Bell in downtown--a home furnishing store.
   In two other buildings purchased by Debbie Williams, she has 
partnered with young entrepreneurs to provide funding for The Flower 
Cart and Moments in Monroe which are two new start up businesses.
   In addition to her downtown Tompkinsville investments, Debbie 
Williams also owns Spinout Body Shop and Monroe County's only motel--
The Tompkinsville Inn.
   Despite Tompkinsville being a small town in an economically 
depressed region, thanks to Debbie Williams, Tompkinsville is now a 
hotbed of new investments, and it has one of the most beautiful 
downtown areas in Kentucky.
   Debbie Williams is not just a female entrepreneur success story, she 
is a hometown hero for her downtown revitalization efforts and her 
achievement in attracting new private investment into the great town of 
Tompkinsville, Kentucky.

                          ____________________