Penny Townson
TESTIMONIAL
Penny Townson
Field Consultant
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Penny Townson lives in Decatur and works for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as a Field Consultant. She works with local power companies, community leaders and state, regional and local economic development partners to help attract and retain quality jobs and investment to the region.
Penny and her husband are raising three children under the age of 10.
Q: Where do you live?
I live in Decatur, about 20 miles west of downtown Huntsville, about a 25-minute commute by car.
Q: Where are you from and how did you get to the Redstone region?
I’m originally from Memphis, TN but after going to Auburn University for both undergraduate and graduate school, I fell in love with Alabama. After a short stint in Nashville working for the State of Tennessee, I moved to North Alabama and joined the local economic development office. Eight years later I jumped at the opportunity to join the TVA ED group and work regionally covering North Central Alabama.
Q: If you raised/are raising kids, please share about their education experience:
My family is still very much in the trenches of parenting with a 3, 7, and 9 year old. My youngest is following in the footsteps of the older two in a full-time church-based daycare since he was three months old. This daycare accommodates working families with 7 a.m. 6 p.m. hours and only closes during a handful of holidays throughout the year. Utilizing a nationally recognized curriculum, my kids have all been well prepared for kindergarten in the public schools.
Growing up in Memphis, private school was the best option for academic rigor and is still the priority for our family’s education. While my two oldest are currently in the Decatur City Schools system, we are open to staying where we are or switching to any of the surrounding school systems based on their individual interests as they grow. The public schools in North Alabama provide both the rigor we demand and the diversity the real world expects, meaning we feel confident in our options to meet each of our children’s needs.
Q: What is an ideal weekend for you?
Any weekend I can spend outside with a good book watching my family play, is life-giving. Plus, running the kids down while they play baseball or soccer makes it a lot easier to slip away for time with my husband at night. We have the best time exploring new restaurants and wandering downtown in Decatur, Huntsville, and Athens. We’ve also started becoming regulars at the Orion because they keep bringing in some incredible talent that appeals to all our friends.
Come Sunday, it’s time to prep for the work week and knock out the grocery shopping. If everyone has been well behaved, I’ll let them come with me to Trader Joe’s and Costco, but sometimes I save those trips for myself. With any luck, we can kick off the new week at the Trash Pandas to enjoy time together outside. Between the great food, playground, and grassy hill- my family loves our time at Toyota Field and the quick 15 minutes home means everyone is refreshed and ready to tackle the week.
Q: What is one thing you would like Space Command personnel to know about the region?
This area has farms, downtown condos, stately manors, and a neighborhood just like the one you grew up in and they are all within a 20-minute drive of each other.