City of Arvada employees go above and beyond to serve the public in ways that often go unseen by residents. In order to ensure our team members are recognized for their contributions, City teams are encouraged to nominate colleagues each quarter for demonstrating innovation, passion and opportunity. Nominations are made for Service to the Community and Service to the Organization. At year’s end, two team members and one team are further recognized as Employees/Team of the Year. In 2022, the following employees were selected for their outstanding performances:
Employees of the Quarter - Service to the Organization
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Q1 - Jessica Colby - Assistant Nature Center Director: "Jessica has innovated ways to improve the quality of MVNC programs and exhibits. She has spearheaded programs that are now so popular they often have waiting lists, and thanks to her work building community relationships, our newest bull snake exhibit was 100% sponsored by the Arvada Rotary ($1500 value). Additionally, she has grown Nature Center volunteer program from fewer than 10 volunteers to more than 30!"
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Q2 - Steve Gustafson - Parks Manager (Steve was also nominated as Employee of the Year; see write up below).
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Q3 - Jeff Monzingo - HR Manager: "When new federal regulations for training and certifying commercial drivers went into effect earlier in 2022, Jeff took charge of the very large prject that lay ahead. He researched the requirements and identified the process for City workers to meet them, creating a City policy that enabled full compliance. This included identifying several training providers and working with many stakeholders."
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Q4 - Karen Crawford - CAD/GIS Supervisor: "Karen was recognized for organizing and managing the City’s current and past engineering records, cleaning the files up and converting them all to be accessible through our current records system. The City’s engineering records now include over 55,000 files and more than 480 GB of data!"
Employees of the Quarter - Service to the Community
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Q1 - Tom Wisniowski - Building Maintenance Leadworker (Tom was also nominated as Employee of the Year; see write up below).
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Q2 - Tim Foust - Streets Technician III: "While performing street sweeping duties, Tim found a binder and discovered it was full of personal information including a passport, social security card and other important documents. There was also a cell phone number, which he called. The grateful owner was able to come to the Streets Maintenance facility to retrieve the lost binder and all its important documents!"
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Q3 - Brian Deeds - Parks Worker III: "Brian Deeds ‘Dreamed Big and Delivered’ at Lutz Sports Complex for during the 2022 Harvest Festival. He provided a safe and clean environment leading up to the Harvest festival and took actions to exceed festival-goers' expectations. Brian provided the best quality turf to handle the tremendous amount of foot traffic from visitors, vendors and the various activities in the outfields during the festival.”
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Q4 - Rob Iafrate - Municipal Inspector I: "Rob has contributed to process improvements related to utilities planning and permitting. Additionally, he developed a communication plan to inform residents of ADA ramp work during the 2022 Pavement Program. Knowing that the work could impact their properties, he drafted a letter and delivered it door to door. Rob was also recognized for assisting a 90-year-old driver on Ralston Road until Arvada PD could make it to the scene."
Team of the Year
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The CORE Police Team - Michael Hall and Ben Marshall: "Our Community Outreach Resource and Enforcement (CORE) Team goes out everyday to help with our homeless population. They are not always treated nicely but they go out and are kind, compassionate and helpful anyway. They try to help the people and they put the needs of others above themselves. It is a hard job and they do it well!"
Employee of the Year - Service to the Organization
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Steve Gustafson - Parks Manager: “Steve has provided steady and expert leadership in very challenging times. He has demonstrated both passion and compassion in leading his team. Steve has demonstrated his deep commitment to the City's culture of safety and the training of his team and, as a result, the Parks team is a leader in workplace safety and risk reduction."
Employee of the Year - Service to the Community
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Tom Wisniowski - Building Maintenance Leadworker: "Tom was recognized for his part in organizing a donations drive for the people in the Ukraine. His efforts coordinating the drive within the City organization inspired his colleagues, and together they gathered goods and filled a truckload to be sent on to Chicago and eventually the Ukraine."
