{"id":17860,"date":"2015-09-30T13:48:41","date_gmt":"2015-09-30T17:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=17860"},"modified":"2015-10-01T09:44:55","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T13:44:55","slug":"maryland-department-of-agriculture-honors-employees-with-long-service-awards-employee-of-the-year-and-employee-of-the-quarter-honored","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2015\/09\/30\/maryland-department-of-agriculture-honors-employees-with-long-service-awards-employee-of-the-year-and-employee-of-the-quarter-honored\/","title":{"rendered":"MDA Honors Employees with Long Service Awards; Employee of the Year and Employee of the Quarter Honored"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ralph Heard (center) honored for 45 years of service with MDA’s Mosquito Control Section.<\/p><\/div>\n

ANNAPOLIS, MD<\/strong> \u2013 <\/strong>The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) today honored 57 employees for their years of dedicated service to the department and to the state. Special recognition was bestowed on John Heard of St. Mary\u2019s County for his 45 years in the Mosquito Control Section. Of the 57 employees being honored \u2013 16 have 30 or more years service with the state. All together, these 57 employees represent 1,145 years of public service and more than 2.3 million hours worked and almost 30,000 paychecks.<\/p>\n

In addition to recognizing long-time employees, MDA also presented its Employee of the Year Award to Shawn Smith, MDA Office of Resource Conservation; and Employee of the 4th<\/sup> Quarter to Jessica Koontz, MDA Office of Plant Industries and Pest Management.<\/p>\n

\u201cMDA and the agriculture community are fortunate to have such a dedicated and knowledgeable corps of employees working to strengthen the State of Maryland and this agency each and every day,\u201d said MDA Secretary Joe Bartenfelder. \u201cSince its inception, MDA has been protecting consumers and the environment and ensuring fairness in the marketplace. It is a true testament to the value of our work that many of the employees honored this year have been with department since its earliest years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shawn Smith, Soil Conservation Planner III, was recognized as Employee of the Year for his leadership in making significant improvements to the records management and continuity for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations and Maryland Animal Feeding Operations. Shawn is credited with creating a tool that standardized Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans, allowing reviewing parties or agencies to find reference data in the same place in every plan.<\/p>\n

Jessica Koontz, Office Supervisor for Pesticide Regulation Section, was named Employee of the Quarter for overseeing several administrative changes within the section while short staffed. Jessica was instrumental in working with the MDA\u2019s IT Department, Maryland Department of Information Technology, Towson University and others to develop an online system that allows pest control businesses, public agencies, private applicators and restricted use pesticide dealers to renew their licenses, permits and certificates online.<\/p>\n

The following is a listing by county of the MDA employees who were recognized with long-service awards. Click here<\/a> for photos from the event.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Allegany County<\/strong><\/p>\n