Scholarships awarded, consumer advocate Dale Cardwell speaks at May luncheon
Congratulations were in order at the Office Depot-sponsored May 21 Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon. The Chamber recognized 13 scholarship recipients and congratulated them on academic achievements in high school and college. Eleven winners were in attendance.
Most scholarship recipients received a $1,500 scholarship, and Caroline Patterson, Benjamin Hartmann and Danielle Haynes received $2,000. A total of $21,000 was awarded.
Following the scholarship presentation, consumer advocate Dale Cardwell took the podium.
“We’re in for a treat today,” Chamber President Joe Thomas said. “We’ve got a journalist that was born here down in Birmingham, moved to Kentucky and got on the national stage due to some investigative journalism.”
During his presentation, Cardwell discussed the importance of helping consumers find the best businesses. Cardwell’s career started off in investigative journalism, where he learned the importance of seeking out the truth.
“I realized that I wanted to stand for something as opposed to roll over for anything because as an investigative reporter,” Cardwell said, “if you’re worth your salt, you’re going to have a moment in your career where you have to make up your mind – am I going to do the right thing, or am I going to play the game?”
After investigative journalism grew stale, Cardwell started seeking out ways to use his skills to help others. Through work with Atlanta-based consumer advocate Clark Howard, he worked to expose scams and provide information.
“What I found was that I wanted to help make a difference in people’s lives. I didn’t want to tell them how rotten the world was,” Cardwell said. “I wanted to help them make smart decisions, and together Clark and I did a lot of good.”
But even that grew tiresome. Cardwell said it got to the point that he could throw a stone and hit a corrupt business, so he decided to help point out the best companies instead. In 2009, he kicked off TrustDale.com, which investigates and reviews businesses on the points of reputation, price, quality and customer service. Through this service, he said he helps both sides of the equation.
“Consumerism is a two-way street,” Cardwell said. “A consumer deserves to get a great product at a fair price, but a company deserves to sell a great product at a fair profit. It’s called economy – it’s the way our system works.”
In addition to TrustDale.com, Cardwell continues as an on-air consumer advocate with TrustDale TV and TrustDale radio. He lives in DeKalb County, Georgia with his wife Angie and has two grown children, Adam and Jessica.
The next Chamber luncheon is Thursday, June 18. To attend, make reservations no later than Monday, June 15 by filling out a form at hooverchamber.org/luncheon/reservations. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m., and the luncheon begins at noon. The cost is $20 in advance or $22 without prior reservations. Hoover Country Club is located at 3140 Club Drive.