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Award Ceremony Photos
View photos from the Award Presentation at NASWA's Annual Conference in Seattle, Washington.
Each year, NASWA's President may present an award to an individual or organization to recognize extraordinary service to America's workforce development system.
President Catherine B. Leapheart presents the 2003 President's Award to two individuals--Jon Brock, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, and Roger B. Madsen, Director of the Idaho Department of Labor.
In 1995 after a 29-year career with a multi-national oil well service company, then Governor Frank Keating asked Jon Brock if he would take over management of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission as Executive Director. At the time Jon came into the agency, it was experiencing very difficult times. He approached the job with determination to focus upon trust and integrity and with a strong commitment to serving the customers of the agency--the workers and employers of Oklahoma.
Jon Brock has a great appreciation for the employees of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission. Through objective surveys he learned that the customers of the agency had a strong appreciation for the service they received from OESC. The major task was to convince the employees that their efforts were indeed appreciated by the citizens of Oklahoma. One thing that was obvious, though,was the enormous need for new technology. With Brock's support and working through the Legislature, the agency was able to obtain the funding necessary to provide the technology necessary to propel OESC into the 21st century.
Shortly after he began his tenure with the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, Jon Brock became actively involved with the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA). Over the past several years, Jon has served on the NASWA Board of Directors, Chairman of the Unemployment Insurance Committee and the Communications and Legislative Relations Committee. In 2000, Jon was elected by his colleagues as President-elect of NASWA and served as the leader of the organization from 2001-2002. During his three-year tenure on the Executive Committee as President-Elect, President, and Past-President, Jon has helped the organization achieve unprecedented success at influencing national policy in the workforce arena, including chairing the organization's Unemployment Insurance and Employment Service Reform Workgroup's efforts.
In addition to his general executive leadership, Jon Brock testified before Congress on several occasions on UI/ES reform and funding for workforce services, veterans' employment services, and state progress in implementing the Workforce Investment Act and developing one-stop career centers throughout the country.
Roger Madsen was appointed as Director of the Idaho Department of Labor by Governor Phil Batt on January 2, 1995. He was reappointed by Governor Dirk Kempthorne in 1999. As the Department's Director, Roger has focused his energies on containing costs,improving customer service, building the capacity of the Department staff, and enhancing operational efficiency through automation and improved facilities.
Mr. Madsen has served in numerous leadership positions with the National Association of State Workforce Agencies. In particular, Roger has volunteered to chair many of NASWA's Committees including the Communications and Legislative Relations Committee, the Equal Opportunity Committee, the Unemployment Insurance Committee and the Veterans' Affairs Committee. Roger currently serves on the Board of Directors for NASWA and he and his staff have hosted numerous meetings and conferences. Roger also serves on the Board of Directors for the Idaho Rural Partnership.
Mr. Madsen is a graduate of Washington State University with a double major in Political Science and French. He graduated with a Master's Degree in Political Science from BYU, where he also received his law degree. Additionally, he has a Masters of Business Administration from the American Graduate School of International Management.
Roger served for four years as an Idaho State Senator and has been called upon to lead Gubernatorial task forces on unemployment insurance and workers' compensation. He also served as the Interim Director of the Idaho Commission on the Arts and of the Idaho Disability Determinations Service. He is currently serving as Staff Director of the Governor's Blue Ribbon 2020 Task Force. He also served as an Assistant Attorney General from 1976-1980, and practiced law and served as a business consultant from 1980 until his appointment as Director of the Department of Labor.
Jon Brock and Roger Madsen represent the highest levels of achievement and commitment in the nation's publicly funded workforce development system. The talent, time, energy, and resources that they have committed to NASWA over the past several years are unprecedented. President Catherine B. Leapheart is proud to present Jon Brock and Roger B. Madsen the 2003 President's Award with the gratitude of and respect from all of their colleagues and friends.
The Eagle Award honors individuals who soar to new heights in their efforts to serve employers and workers in the United States.
This year's winner is South Carolina Employment Security Commission Executive Director Roosevelt "Ted" Halley, who has shown exemplary leadership in serving employers and workers in the state of South Carolina.
Ted Halley has served as Executive Director of the South Carolina Employment Security Commission (SCESC) since December 23, 2002. However, in his over 30 years of service to the agency, Mr. Halley has risen through the ranks operating successfully in a number of capacities such as Deputy Executive Director for Employment and Training, Assistant Deputy Executive Director for Employment and Training, Chief Employment Service Field Supervisor, State Job Corps Coordinator and Assistant Local Office Manager, among others.
During his tenure at SCESC, Mr. Halley has championed efforts that have sought to improve the capability and quality of South Carolina's workforce while reacting to the specific needs of South Carolina's business community. He has been a leader in the agency's transition to the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). As Executive Director of the agency responsible for administering WIA in the state, Mr. Halley has encouraged increased collaboration with all partners in South Carolina's Workforce System, both on the state and local level.
Over the past couple of years, SCESC has sponsored or co-sponsored well over 30 job fairs or employment expos across the state that have helped bring good, qualified jobseekers together with a variety of employers from every job sector. WIA partners, other state agencies, media outlets and private businesses have come together to do their part to help bolster South Carolina's economy and job market with excellent results. Mr. Halley's leadership and support have opened new windows of opportunity to build on the idea of increased public-private partnerships encouraged by the WIA legislation.
Since the inception of the statewide job fairs,the NBC television affiliate in the state capital of Columbia has begun a weekly segment focusing on agency job listings and those of our partners and has continually publicized the services available through the One-Stop Workforce Centers throughout the state. WIS-TV has produced stories on the types of jobs available and has presented success stories of clients helped through the One-Stops. With Mr. Halley's blessing, the local area Directors and the WIA Administrators around the state have developed similar relationships with a number of other radio, TV and newspaper outlets.
Mr. Halley's three year membership representing the Employment Security Commission on the South Carolina Rural Development Council (SCRDC), a non-profit arm of the South Carolina Department of Commerce, illustrates his concern for the more rural and impoverished areas of South Carolina and their particular job concerns. The SCRDC works with those counties in South Carolina classified as having the least resources and whose populations are characterized as being the most distressed in terms of economic development. During Mr. Halley's tenure on the council, the SCRDC has leveraged approximately $300,000 to support efforts to help people with job needs in these counties. In the last two years, Mr. Halley and his fellow council members have helped Allendale County, one of the state's most impoverished counties, establish a center in Allendale-Fairfax High School that has brought workplace skills and other One-Stop services to more than 700 people. This effort is helping jobseekers in Allendale County gain the skills and training they require to meet employer demands in the area while also providing support for transportation, daycare and other needs critical to making steady, successful employment a reality.
Mr. Halley just recently initiated a needs assessment of the major partners in South Carolina's Workforce System to explore whether or not a statewide workforce summit should be initiated to address the economic concerns of the state's 269 municipalities. SCESC is proposing collaboration with public and private concerns throughout South Carolina to tailor a workforce summit specifically to the problems and needs outlined by the state's mayors and municipal officials. This would be a first-of-a-kind summit for the state.
These are just a few examples of how Ted Halley and his administration at the South Carolina Employment Security Commission are exhibiting better collaboration with its partners and working harder than ever before to truly make a positive difference in the lives of South Carolina's jobseekers and employers.
Ted Halley has been a leader in assisting employers and workers with their workforce development needs. It is with pride that the National Association of State Workforce Agencies presents Roosevelt "Ted" Halley with the 2003 Eagle Award for Distinguished Service to America's Employers and Workers.
The William L. Heartwell, Jr. Award is given annually to an individual outside the workforce development system who has made a significant and substantial contribution to the system. This award is named for former ICESA (now NASWA) Executive Director, William L. Heartwell, Jr., who retired in 1987.
This year's distinguished recipient is John J. Heldrich, Founder, John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, a leader with an exemplary record of public service to his community, state and nation.
John's 41-year executive career with Johnson and Johnson more than prepared him to become a leading spokesperson of corporate New Jersey in forging a strategic alliance between government and the private sector for the purposes of building a world-class workforce. As the Chairman of the State Employment and Training Commission (SETC), John helped identify and analyze critical issues relating to the workforce, supported innovative programs that advance collaboration among governmental agencies, and reported to the Governor on the progress made and the issues that continued to need attention in the areas of employment, training and education.
Under his leadership the SETC delved into critical issues surrounding welfare-to-work, school-to-work, gender equity, and literacy. And under his leadership, the Unified State Plan for New Jersey's Workforce Readiness System provided guidance that led the state in becoming the first in the nation to create state and local workforce investment boards. It was these boards that served as a model for the boards mandated by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
But most impressive was his founding and generously funding the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers, State University of New Jersey. The Center is committed to identifying ways that make American workplaces more responsive, relevant, and productive, and to sharing that knowledge widely.
The Center, an organization devoted to transforming the workforce development system at the local, state and federal level, provides an independent source of analysis for reform and innovation in policy-making and employs cutting-edge research and evaluation projects to identify best practices.
In early 2003, over 500 leaders and staff from higher education, labor, workforce agencies, government, and the policy community joined Governor James McGreevey and the John J. Heldrich Center for a half-day summit on the policy challenges facing New Jersey's workforce. In announcing New Jersey's plans to consolidate all workforce development programs and services under a single organizational umbrella, the Governor indicated that he was committed to fulfilling the vision that John Heldrich had articulated for many years of having a single entry point for the workforce development system.
Among his many other activities, John provided a strong voice in developing a state funded program to address the basic literacy needs of New Jersey's workforce. He also assisted in the creation of the Gender Parity Council in Labor and Education,the Youth Taskforce and the State Council for Adult Literacy Education Services.
His vision,commitment to strategic thinking and focus on results have made significant and substantial contributions to the broad spectrum of workforce investment system issues.
The James F. Walls One-Stop Employee of the Year Award honors a one-stop employee whose conduct demonstrates his or her outstanding dedication to customers and fellow employees, and extraordinary service to his or her community. The award was created in memory of its namesake, and employee of the South Carolina Employment Security Commission, who was killed while performing his duties.
Greg Gizewski is a role model to his fellow employees because of his dedication and leadership throughout his service to the workers and employers of the state of New York.
Greg is a one-stop employee information specialist at the Tompkins Workforce New York One-Stop Career Center. His responsibilities include being the first line for customers coming into the center, assuring they are served with the highest quality customer service and their needs are met in the most efficient manner. He is a full-time specialist paid for by the Tompkins County Workforce New York Partner System and is the only staff that is available at the center each day of the week. The rest of the resource room staff is workforce development partner staff on a rotation schedule to cover the resource room duties of providing core services to a universal population.
Greg does so much more than what is in his job description. He is the motivation for the center staff, the community, and the customers.It is obvious that he enjoys every minute of every day here, sincerely wants to help every customer realize their dream, wants every new staff person to feel like part of our family and achieve success, and is fiercely loyal to Workforce New York and the Ithaca community.
Greg sets short-term and long-term goals for himself and the Center. He is an avid believer in continuous improvement and has made the resources room a better place to work and a more efficient operation. Some of his individual accomplishments include:
Member and Chair of a One-Stop work team to develop customer flow procedures. He and the work team developed a training plan and conducted the training for center staff.
Development of a procedure for the "specials board" to be sure customers know what activities are going on at the one-stop.
Member of the work group to identify the mission statement at the Center. He helped create the simple words that identified what makes every day at the Center a success.
Mastered the One-Stop Operating System (OSOS), which is the Center's operating system and database.
Member of several committees and boards throughout the community promoting affirmative action and workforce diversity. These are:
Participation as a motivational speaker at the area schools (on his own time) promoting the concept of overcoming obstacles in life and encouraging students to "think first."
Greg is an astounding worker. He received a Bachelor of Science in Advertising/Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in Art. In addition, he worked to complete a Computer Aided Design Certificate. What makes his whole attitude and accomplishments that much more significant is that Greg is a quadriplegic. He fell off a roof at 16 and broke his neck and crushed his spinal cord. He is in a motorized wheelchair and has very limited use of his arms. He wants no special treatment and gets none.
He has been instrumental in assisting the Center's management to provide all necessary accommodations for people with disabilities and is quick to let them know if something needs to be done to assure these individuals can come into the center and, as important, be as self-directed as possible in their job search.
Greg is a perfect example of the dedicated and conscientious workforce professional who demonstrates on a daily basis the exceptional qualities of an employee deserving of national recognition. It is with pride that the National Association of State Workforce Agencies presents Gregory Gizewski with the 2003 James F. Walls One-Stop Employee of the Year Award.
The Merrill Baumgardner Award is presented annually to an individual who has demonstrated excellence in the field of automation in a state workforce agency. The award was named in honor of Merrill Baumgardner, Ohio Bureau of Employment Services, in recognition of his fifty-five years of state service, thirty-one of which were spent as data processing manager for the Ohio Bureau.
This year's recipient is Ms.Susan Jordan, Director, Department of Information Technology (DoIT), South Carolina Employment Security Commission.
Susan's keen ability to assess mission, organizational and operational requirements set her objectives. Her vision, leadership, planning, introduction of open communication, and demand for team play, and her insistence that every employee is valued, included and heard, have made a great impact.
She has refined and delivered the mission, vision, values and goals of a previously fractured technology infrastructure within the agency. In fact as Director of DoIT, Ms.Jordan was immediately tasked with consolidating four separate units: Electronic Data Processing, Imaging Services, Information Technology Services and Unemployment Insurance Technology Support Services. She delivered a department of one hundred staff that is highly respected and whose services are in unprecedented demand.
Creativity, teamwork and productivity are high and tremendously improved, while errors extremely low. She has modernized and standardized the agency's technology, and improved knowledge and skill redundancy and retention. In the last three years of her leadership, she and her team have expanded internal services and reduced costs, supported the agency's delivery of Internet accessible UI Initial Claim Filing and ES Registration system, completed the design for a new paperless UI Tax System, and lead the project delivering South Carolina's Virtual One-Stop, while satisfying the overall needs of the South Carolina Employment Security Commission and twelve Workforce Investment Boards. Furthermore, Susan and her team participated as one of the first two agencies to contribute to the state Business One-Stop (BOS), leading to a state-level initiative to incorporate more state agencies in the BOS. Finally, under her guidance the DoIT justified and won funding for and implemented a long overdue mainframe processor, disk and storage tape replacement.
Susan has received recognition for her contributions to business solution and technology advancement within the states. She also serves in support of the state's emergency response program, and the Governor's Homeland Security Office. She is an accomplished professional and agent of responsible business and technology change and advancement.
Susan Jordan fully embodies the ideals of the Merrill Baumgardner Award. She is a tireless worker who is appreciated by her administrator and admired by her staff. Her dedication will pay dividends for years to come, not only for the state of South Carolina, but to the national workforce system in general.
The William J. Harris Award was established to recognize excellence in the field of equal opportunity (EO) and to honor a workforce agency administrator and the EO workforce agency director for outstanding accomplishments within the agency. The award is named in honor of William J. Harris who served with distinction as Director of the Directorate of Civil Rights for the United States Department of Labor. The award recipient must have made significant contributions towards the understanding and achievement of equal opportunity and nondiscrimination for all employees and customers. Special recognition is also given for innovation and comprehensiveness in specific elements of state equal opportunity programs.
This year's winner is the District of Columbia's Department of Employment Services, under the leadership of the Honorable Gregory P. Irish. Gregg Irish has served as Director of the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services since 1998. His department plans, develops and administers employment-related services including employment services, unemployment insurance, job training and workers' compensation for the metropolitan Washington area through a network of 10 One-Stop Centers.
Under Mr. Irish's leadership, the DC Department of Employment Services has implemented numerous awareness programs, policies and training seminars to improve service delivery. Mr. Irish has taken an innovative approach to ensure that the equal opportunity polices of his Department are part of everyday service delivery and that quality customer service is maintained.
Mr. Irish has supported mandatory training seminars for frontline employees on issues involving sexual harassment, service delivery to persons with disabilities, and cultural sensitivity. Diversity training has been provided to 300 employees.
Mr. Irish exhibits a proactive stance on measures requiring that one-stop career centers are accessible to the disabled community. Through his leadership, improvements in accessibility to the District's employment services have been undertaken by removing physical barriers and acquiring special equipment. TDD numbers are included on the Department's letterhead and on staff business cards.
Mr. Irish provides invaluable support to the EO office by ensuring that administrative policies are in place to guide employees as they provide service to the community.
Valerie E. Kitchings has been the Department of Employment Services' Equal Opportunity Officer since 2001. Prior to that, she served as an attorney in the Department's Office of General Counsel. Since becoming the EO Officer, Ms. Kitchings has been instrumental in proposing measures to enhance staff's awareness and sensitivity towards customers.
With the backing of Mr. Irish, she has planned and delivered the numerous equal opportunity-related training opportunities now afforded agency staff.
On behalf of the agency, Ms. Kitchings serves as liaison to several offices under the auspices of the mayor to promote issues and programs serving the District of Columbia's diverse populations.
Due to aggressive outreach efforts to educate and by provide mechanisms to address issues before they become problems, the Department has experienced a significant drop in the number of EO Complaints filed.
Valerie has streamlined and abbreviated the duplication in the equal opportunity efforts and policies and provided staff with step-by-step instructional procedures.
The District of Columbia is fortunate to have a leadership team who gives equal opportunity the high priority it deserves.
The Vladimir Chavrid Memorial Award was established in the early 1970s by the District of Columbia Chapter of the International Association of Personnel in Employment Security (IAPES) with the endorsement of the IAPES International Board. It was designed to memorialize Mr. Vladimir Chavrid, a former employment security official, who was an early pioneer in the Labor Market Information (LMI) area. The intent of this award is to recognize annually excellence in the field of LMI and workforce agency operations research.
This year's award recipient is Shirly Goetz, former Director, Labor Market and Demographic Research for the New Jersey Department of Labor (retired July 1, 2003).
During her long career with the New Jersey Department of Labor, Shirly Goetz has embodied an enviable contradiction: she possesses a technician's grasp of complex programmatic details, and a generalist's approach to using data to provide real-world customer service.
Since 1970, when she first came to the Department of Labor from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Shirly has been honing those dual talents as she provided quality labor market and demographic information to the citizens of New Jersey and to others interested in the state's economy. A graduate of Bucknell who did her post-graduate work at Temple, Shirly initially served as an economist, specializing in economic development and demographic research.
Ten years after arriving, Shirly's duties had expanded to include the administration of the labor statistics programs, including the current employment statistics survey; local area unemployment statistics; job openings and labor turnover statistics; UI covered employment statistics; occupational employment statistics and projections; wage surveys; and many other major and minor activities relating to the administration of a labor statistics program. Ten years later, she became division director, expanding her responsibilities even further to include a publications unit, administration of the NJDOL library and a field staff to provide LMI and LMI training to the department's internal and external customers.
The jewel in the crown, however, was Shirly's work with the US Census Bureau to establish one of the nation's first State Data Centers, housed in her division. Under her direction, New Jersey's State Data Center quickly developed into the first-rate operation it remains today, disseminating a wide range of Census and other data, and bringing together untold numbers of public and private sector data users through its annual conferences, its network of affiliates and its advisory bodies. Shirly herself has become nationally recognized as an expert on Census issues, and worked tirelessly to promote the 2000 Census and to keep her fellow research directors informed about those Census activities that impact the LMI programs. She has also been a long-time, active member of the NASWA LMI Committee, continually volunteering for committee assignments in addition to her already overflowing workload and busy schedule.
In administering all of these varied responsibilities and programs, Shirly never lost sight of the fact that data is meant to be used, not merely collected. Long before the Workforce Investment Act, Shirly recognized the importance of making LMI meaningful and usable to its customers. She continually sought new ways to deliver old products, and was invariably the first to suggest new ideas and better ways to serve the public, thriving on the challenge. Throughout her nearly 33 years of service, Shirly has consistently displayed the highest levels of professionalism, creativity and integrity. Whatever reputation for excellence is enjoyed by the research shop here in New Jersey is due in large measure to her tireless efforts.
Though self-effacing and content to work behind the scenes, Shirly has always been a passionate and outspoken advocate for LMI and the LMI community and, as such, is the very model of the labor market information professional the Vladimir Charvid award was designed to honor.
For her leadership and excellence in the field of labor market information, NASWA is proud to present Shirly Goetz with the 2003 Vladimir Chavrid Labor Market Information Award.
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