Environmental Progress - Fall 2003

Employees of the Month

Editor's Note: Each month the Illinois EPA recognizes outstanding employees for making quality part of every job they do. Three recent honorees are listed below.

Dave Myers was Employee of the Month for August 2003. Dave works for the Bureau of Land, Leaking Underground Tank Section, Unit A. He was recognized for his excellent understanding of the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) program, both in the technical aspects as well as in budget/billing related activities, and his ability to review projects accurately in a timely fashion.

In the past year, Dave participated in several work groups including the Training Needs and the Pollution Prevention and Sustainability work groups. He recently volunteered for the Budget Assessment work group. He helped organize and present Pollution Prevention and Sustainability training, with the Office of Pollution Prevention, for the Division of Remediation Management. Dave's work as the training coordinator for the LUST section involves organizing field activities appropriate for project managers to attend, and coordinating with consultants for project managers to visit sites to learn more about various technologies. This initiative gives project managers the opportunity to improve their understanding by seeing field activities that are part of remediation projects.

Judy Thomas, Division of Administration, was the EOM for September 2003. Her award recognized her consistent high level of competence for nearly 30 years in answering employees' questions regarding payroll, timekeeping, retirement and insurance. She has mastered these areas completely.

When the Payroll and Timekeeping area faced another early retirement offer in 2002, Judy's desk was flooded with questions and requests. She performed benifit calculations, helped with information, and assisted co-workers in determining whether retirement was their best option. Information for more than 100 retirees from the IEPA was filed with the state employees' retirement system, each with vacation accrual transactions calculated and paid as part of the retirement package. Months after the Dec. 31 deadline, Judy was still fielding benefit related questions, while regular payroll transactions were processed effectively and efficiently.

Bill Walkenbach was the Agency EOM for October 2003. Bill works for the Division of Administration where he has been invaluable over the years in planning, setting up and constructing events as diverse as training sessions, blood drives, meetings, cookouts and a host of other special events.

Bill deserves special commendation for his work with the Agency's annual State Fair participation, working through the planning, construction, and setup phases, then throughout the run of the Fair. Bill is a professional year round, but his talents and attitude really shine just before and during the Fair, where he regularly saves money for the Fair committee by constructing items that otherwise would have to be purchased. His efforts even include keeping large ferns alive and healthy in the maintenance shop all year so they brighten the Agency's exhibit year after year. Bill can even work the Agency's annual chili cook-off and be a contestant at the same time.