PennDOT Honors Star of Excellence
Recipients
Agency
Recognizes 30 Employees Across Pennsylvania
Clearfield,
PA – The
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Leslie
S. Richards today recognized 30 PennDOT employees for their outstanding
performance with the Star of Excellence Award, PennDOT’s highest recognition. Two
employees from PennDOT’s District 2, which represents Cameron, Centre, Clearfield,
Clinton, Elk, Juniata, McKean, Mifflin, and Potter counties were among the honorees. “The Star of Excellence award illustrates that these employees take to heart our mission of providing the most effective and efficient transportation services for the roughly 12 million people of Pennsylvania,” Richards said. “They demonstrate a strong culture of service and caring that makes a big difference for the people of Pennsylvania.”
Local winners Matt Lama and Shawn McFarland were honored this afternoon at an awards luncheon at the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg.
“Every year, I marvel at the innovations and forward-thinking demonstrated by our Star winners. This year is no exception”, said District 2 Executive Karen Michael. “Matt and Shawn embody the very best that PennDOT has to offer. They work hard, look for solutions, and respond tirelessly to the needs of customers and co-workers. We are thrilled to see their efforts recognized”.
Matt Lama serves District 2 as a Transportation Construction Inspection Supervisor and was the Inspector in Charge for District 2’s 51-mile upgrade project on Routes 44 and 144 in Potter County. This job spanned the 2015 and 2016 construction seasons and featured full depth reclamation on 31 of those 51 total roadway miles. Matt’s diligence, oversight, commitment to customer service, forward thinking, and problem solving skills played important roles in producing a high-quality, finished product.
Shawn
McFarland is a 13-year employee of PennDOT and currently serves as the District
2 Structural Control Engineer. Shawn’s work is all about innovations. Shawn has
been instrumental in developing innovative tools to assist in the documentation
and monitoring of pile driving operations and has assisted in developing a
measuring process for internal concrete temperatures during cold-weather curing
of bridge decks. Shawn has also developed a payroll data input streaming tool
that uses a drop down menu--saving employees time when inputting payroll coding.
His innovative ideas continue to save the Department time and money and
increase efficiencies.
The
Star of Excellence Awards are presented annually to employees who represent the
department’s values of service, performance and integrity. The recipients
represent a variety of organizational positions, spanning from highway
maintenance and driver and vehicle services workers, to traffic control specialists,
communications staff and design and engineering specialists.
