Today is National Employee Appreciation Day! We love having the opportunity to celebrate some of the outstanding employees that work with our clients. Their hard work and dedication truly makes these organizations and our communities better. While we aren’t able to highlight every great employee, here are some of the stories we received.
Jill Greenlaw- Woodrow Studios
Jill Greenlaw has been an exceptional member of our team. Her clients love her and the work she does, it’s obvious that she is dedicated to her craft and continually improves herself for the sake of the art of her work. She’s a major impact on our culture and loves to see everyone party together. Jill Greenlaw is going to be a name to remember. Nominated by Matt Frisbie
Jody Smith- Precision Exams, LLC
Jody Smith is a stalwart, dedicated employee who quietly goes about her work, but is always looking out for others and wanting to make their time at work better. Jody started with our company five years ago as a temporary customer service representative and has done such an amazing job she now is our Director of Support Services! What makes Jody a truly remarkable person and employee is that she looks for things that need to be done, and does them. When she doesn’t know how to do something, she learns how to do it. And, when she finds something that doesn’t work right, she fixes it.
In a small growing company, Jody’s dedication has been one of the significant differentiating factors that has helped us grow into an industry leader. She is the type of person everyone loves to work with because you know she’ll get the job done. Because of that dedication, Jody has grown into several roles including highly technical ones with unique skill sets.
Jody’s number one priority in life is her family. She loves and cherishes that role. As an employer, I find that dedication brings a positive influence to the office. Nominated by Edson Barton
Bill Curry- Argon Technologies
Bill is our warehouse/RMA/inventory/shipping manager. The reason I’m submitting Bill is for all the “/”s in his job title. Bill’s original job here was our shipping manager, where he shipped roughly $10 million in product in his first year. However, our company grew at such a fast pace and our situation changed so much that we outsourced 90% of our shipping to another company in town. Within a couple of weeks, Bill was overseeing the transition to the new shipping company, managing the relationship, as well as stepping into managing the rest of our warehouse operations, including quality assurance and a couple other growing needs. He’s done a great job adapting to a face-moving, fluid situation and that’s why I’m sending his story. Nominated by Nick Hodges
Nicole Hamilton- Mountain Peaks Family Practice
I am writing this appreciation note for our referral clerk Nicole Hamilton. Nicole has been with our clinic through thick and thin (16 years) and never seems to let anything get her down. She is always happy, positive, and sensitive to all our patient needs. She has a beautiful spirit that spreads happiness to all around her. She always does a special little note to all the staff when someone is down or having a bad day. She is our ray of sunshine and life at the Peaks just wouldn’t be the same. Nominated by Melissa Bassett
Barbara Fenstermaker- DynaQuest Technologies
I would like to recognize Barbara Fenstermaker, our Accountant. Barbara has worked for us since 2007, and has played a crucial part in growing our company. Starting out at only 20 hours/week, Barbara now works closer to 30 hours to help us with our increased demand. Not only does she handle all of our accounting tasks (A/R, A/P, Payroll, etc), she provides valuable analysis into our business. Barbara is a CPA and makes sure to keep up on her education hours to retain that certification.
Barbara does all of this with a smile and a cheerful heart. We would like to recognize her years of dedication. She provides detailed accounting, valuable insight and friendship to the whole company. We don’t know what we would do without her! Nominated by Michelle Kushlan
Sara Lewis- JG Wholesale
I would like to recognize Sara Lewis as an outstanding employee with JG Wholesale. Sara is the epitome of a dedicated team player. While her primary responsibilities include managing all of our marketing efforts and websites (which she does an amazing job with) she is always willing to help out in other areas such as customer service and administrative tasks. She is well respected by everyone in the office and never misses a deadline. Sara understands our company goals and objectives and knows that she plays a key role in our success. She is one of the first people in the office each morning and often is the last to leave. We are thrilled to have Sara on our team. Thanks Sara! Nominated by Matt Graham
Berenise (BP) Pagalan- Physicians Choice Home Health Care
BP came to our company 4 years ago in May. She started as a records clerk and now is the driving force as our intake/admissions coordinator and authorization admin. She gave birth to a son nearly 2 years ago next month and within a few weeks was working from home and came back to work within 6 weeks. She brings her son to work daily so that she can be here and work the hours needed to do her job. We count on her for a very important role within our small team and organization. If you ask any team member in our company, they will tell you she is one of the best and hardest working employees we have. She always helps others and whenever we have a void she is the first to volunteer to step up and fill it. She is truly irreplaceable. Nominated by Nicola Fox
Lisa Brady- Select Comfort Systems
She is one of the hardest workers and helps make the office run smoothly. She takes so much pride in everything she does from accounts receivable, to accounts payable, she also schedules all the work and makes sure that all employees have what they need for their jobs. As an owner of Select Comfort System, I would like to say thank you Lisa for all you do. Nominated by Tonuah Nance
Monica Hansen- Pennbridge Lodging
Monica has been with Pennbridge Lodging and the Towneplace Suites and Fairfield Inn and Suites in Orem for over two years. She is the Director of Sales at our hotels. She brings professionalism and a smiling face to work each day and is a positive influence to those around her. Monica has built strong relationships with a large amount of corporate clients in Utah Valley which brings fantastic business to our hotels each week. Nominated by Mike Webster
Tamera Hays- Mountain West Law
Tamera Hays, our receptionist, is a wonderful employee. She is the first impression our clients get of our firm when they come through our front doors and she is always happy, pleasant and helpful. She will help with any project needed and fills in whenever necessary, whether that means a weekend project or filling in for other staff on vacation. She is an asset to our team and we are grateful she is with us! Nominated by Shellee Timmreck
Krista Barnes- Hughes Appraisal Service
Krista Barnes is the kind of employee that every employer would love to have. She is our main office assistant and is responsible for managing the work flow in our office, fielding phone calls, preparing files, tracking invoicing and following up on collections. As a worker, she has improved our company and found ways to be more efficient and productive, while still producing quality results. She can accomplish her work so effectively that she is now doing the work of 2 people in less time. This is a huge bonus to the company not only in the time and money savings it provides, but also in the continuity of work. However, this is not even her greatest contribution to our workplace. She is the employee that brings sunshine and happiness into our workplace. She always has a smile and a kind demeanor and wants to make everyone happy. She will constantly remind me to smile and be happy when we have stressful days or when things are not going well. This positive attitude and willingness to serve others is what makes Krista not only a great employee, but one that every employer is looking for. Nominated by Chad Hughes
Lauren Caggiano- Social5
Lauren Caggiano demonstrates an exceptional commitment to Social5, a positive attitude that won’t quit, and a willingness to take on more than her share of work to make the company successful. As our go-to-girl for almost every out-of-the-box assignment, Lauren has proven herself to be 100% dependable on every project, whether it is designing editorial calendars for Cedar Crest Ice Cream or boosting content for Forward Corporation. She builds strong relationships and carries out responsibilities without much need for direction. Despite her heavy workload, Lauren often reaches out proactively to ask if she can do more to help Social5. We appreciate her amazing commitment to our company. Nominated by Judson Smedley
Jena Wood- Precision Exams
I would like to nominate Jena Wood as a fantastic employee that helps make our organization successful. Jena is the best. She has a smile and an encouraging word for everyone. Her background is varied enough that she has something in common with almost anyone she talks to so she can make them feel comfortable. She has a strong work ethic and is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Since coming to our company as a customer support representative one year ago, she has taken over accounts receivable and become the manager of customer service and is helping intimately with developing a partnership that is vital to our company. She is helpful, creative, competent, compassionate, thorough, a jack-of-all-trades. She is the glue that helps hold us all together. We are truly fortunate to have Jena as one of our team! Nominated by Audrey Nielsen
Chad de Lise- Disruptive Advertising
We would like to nominate our AMAZING SMB Team Lead, Chad de Lise. Chad is extremely busy overseeing the success of over 100 SMB client accounts. Despite his crazy workload, he makes it a priority to ensure every email or phone call is responded to in a timely manner. He is VERY organized and never misses a deadline. If Chad says it will get done, we know without a doubt, IT WILL GET DONE! In addition, he never fails to send a thank you email to anyone that assists him with a request.
Chad is an exceptional example to all of us regarding dedication, hard work and gratitude. We feel fortunate to have him on our Disruptive team! Nominated by Kristi McClure
Peyton Warr- Acaydia Spa & School of Aesthetics
Peyton is the first person our guests see or speak to upon entering our facility. Over the past few months, several guests have taken the time to notify managers of how helpful, kind and welcoming she is. Things can get pretty busy and I am always impressed to see Peyton’s ability to juggle and multi-task with a smile on her face. She is professional in her work habits and is a person that can be counted on to follow through with what she commits to do. I appreciate knowing that Peyton gives such a wonderful first impression to all who enter our facility. Thank you for doing such a great job! Nominated by Andrea Hulse
Brixton Hakes- Dexter and Dexter
I nominate Brixton Hakes as an outstanding employee. Years ago, he interned with our firm and then returned as a staff member. He has now He has now returned to work with our firm as an attorney with additional experience, knowledge and expertise. We look forward to working with him again! Nominated by Chris Dexter
Charles Nackos- Elite Housing
Elite Housing of Springville is very fortunate to have Charles Nackos as a sales consultant. He is extremely warm, kind, and friendly with customers and other employees. He had 100% attendance in 2016, and is always willing to fill in for others who are ill or need an unexpected day off. He is helpful to customers whose first language is Spanish, as he is fluent in their tongue. When snow falls, Charlie is the first to go out and clear walk ways and stairs. He continually helps tidy and clean the model homes on the sales center. He is a team player in every sense of the term! We wholeheartedly nominate Charles Nackos for employee appreciation recognition. Nominated by Darrell Mecham
Kristine Price- Stewart’s RV
Thank you for the opportunity to tell you about one of our employees, her name is Kristine Price. Kristine is our Parts Department Manager. She has been with our company about 18 years. She is very knowledgeable about our product and has a keen awareness of our customers and their needs.
Kristine remembers most of our customers’ names and is able to make them feel like family within a short period of time. Several times I’ve heard a customer say “the reason I’m here is, my friend has suggested that she can find anything”, and sure enough she can. She can resolve a lot of conflict by just listening and then suggesting appropriate solutions that put the customer at ease. I personally feel she is the reason we have a lot of repeat customers.
With fellow employees she is like a second mother or your sister, she genuinely wants to know what is happening and how she can help. Kristine is one of the first to suggest ways to help in the personal lives of employees. She has a talent for listening and going to work to help. We are a team company and she is our team captain. I hope you will consider her. Nominated by Arynne Landeen
Luke Phelps- West Coast Towing
We would like to nominate Luke Phelps for the Employee Appreciation Day. Luke is always happy to help, has the best attitude even when we have to call him at 2am for a tow and he has already worked all day! He is always willing to go the extra mile without a gripe or complaint of any kind. He is an extremely hard worker & is a very appreciated member of our team. Nothing that he does goes unnoticed. We are very lucky to have him! So, a HUGE THANK YOU to Luke. We are proud to have you at West Coast Towing. Nominated by the management at West Coast Towing
Chris Riding- Alpine Tiny Homes
I would like to nominate our shop foreman Chris Riding. He shows up early and often times stays much later than needed in order to accomplish his goals. We build tiny homes and we wouldn’t be able to do it with Chris. He might be the most important part of our organization. Nominated by Brian Hawkins
Emerson Hammer- Nomatic
I want to recognize Emerson Hammer as an outstanding employee and highly valuable member of our team. He constantly is going above and beyond what is required of him. I know that when I give him a task it will get done the right way. He has never let me down. I can’t say enough about Emerson. He is a huge asset and a critical member of our company. Nominated by Jacob Durham
James Briggs- KarmaHolic Media
James has been a tremendous asset to myself and my company. The most valuable thing James has done for me is taking time I spent during the day working so I’m able to spend time with my wife and children. To me this is what’s most important and James has allowed me the opportunity to have that time, where I wouldn’t have had before. I’m writing this from the sunny beaches of Maui, so thank you James for giving me “TIME!” Nominated by Cory Bridgewater
Marty Nabhan- eLearning Brothers
eLearning Brothers would like to nominate Marty Nabhan for Employee Appreciation day this year. Marty does Quality Assurance for all of our awesome custom courses to make sure that they delight our clients and that they are visually explosive to the learners. When he is not busy completing QA work, he is always looking for ways he can assist others in the office.
Marty is also our Custom Awards Coordinator. He has an amazing skill and ability with words which has led to us receiving over 15 different awards over the past year and a half. His commitment and skills make sure we have timely and professional submissions.
He has been awarded eLB the first ever MARNAB award (Best Employer Award) and we proudly display it in the front office. Marty is a true asset to our team, and we are so very happy that he has chosen to work with us. Nominated by Rosie Doke
Dean Smart- MULTIVOICE
We are nominating Dean Smart for Employee Appreciation Day from our Company. Dean’s attitude is always company first. His sacrifice, experience and abilities contribute to our Companies success. A recent event has made his contributions vitally appreciated. At approximately 10:00 am, with four of us in the office on the 4th of January 2017. A sudden loud cracking noise startled us. It sounded like some had hit the side of our building. Wayne walked outside to investigate and seeing no evidence of any damage, returned to his office.
Dean noticed that the water sprinklers installed in the ceiling appeared to be lower. No doubt because of his experience in construction. Instinctively he produced a ladder to inspected the trusses above our suspended ceiling and revealed this safety issue to Dustin. Dustin ascended the ladder and took pictures stating, “that doesn’t look good.” The moment his feet were back on the ground, there was another loud crack and the ceiling caved in. The sprinkler system broke and water was blowing everywhere. Dean ran to shut off the water and called 911. Emergency personnel were at the build in a matter of minutes.
All four employees evacuated the building, grabbing our computers and what we could pack off quickly with the hopes of keeping our business running. None of us were injured. This may have been a different scenario if Dean had not presented this hazardous condition prior to the collapse.
Due to the inclement weather, our first objective was to re-locate. Our second objective was to quickly re-organize our business. INVENTORY Nightmare J. In addition to his list of responsibilities, Dean has stepped up again to help with this huge organizing process. Applying his experience with sales, he is now also promoting our awesome products and building alliances with distributors and clients. January is the beginning of our very busy football promotional season.
As a team, we have all made contributions. Our employees are amazing. After taking a brief poll, we are nominating Dean as our MVE. (Most Valuable Employee) for making a significant contribution to the success of our company. Nominated by Mary Smart
April Kuntz- Legacy Smiles Family Dental
Here, at Legacy Smiles Family Dental, we have an amazing team. Each person has a unique piece of the puzzle that makes us who we are. One of the most amazing team members we have is April Kuntz. She is our lead dental assistant and she has been with our practice for 14 years. We don’t know what we’d do without her. She is very reliable, dependable, considerate, kind, patient, and a very hard worker. Everyone’s day is better when April is working. We can’t say enough good about her, she’s a ROCK STAR in our eyes. Nominated by Kristen Jones
Sherry Parker- Bel Aire Senior Living
I would like to nominate my resident care director Sherry Parker. In Sherry’s position as care director she is over the following elements in our business among several other things:
- New resident evaluations and admissions.
- Supervises and trains the entire care giving staff (~30-35 people).
- Oversees the daily care of our 55 assisted living and Alzheimer’s residents.
- Communicates on behalf of our residents for – doctor visits and outcomes, dental visits, home health and hospice agencies, family updates on resident conditions, pharmaceutical orders & change orders, and takes phone calls from direct care staff 24/7 on medication questions and staff or resident incidents.
- Oversees the work of our consulting Registered Nurse.
- Continually updates resident online profiles and care plans as they change or decline.
- Mentors, consults with, and trains care giving staff on all aspects of their job.
- Oversees all aspect of resident medications, their medication regimens, medication storage and disposal.
Sherry also contracted cervical cancer in 2013, which she fought through and doing very well. In early November 2016, her scheduled annual PET scan showed her cancer had returned. In December, she received four rounds of Extensive Radiation Therapy on both lungs, then began chemotherapy treatments in early January. Every three weeks she goes through intensive chemotherapy treatments.
Sherry continues to be a main, positive influence and continues to work hard. She only misses Thursday and Fridays on here every-three-week chemo treatments, then is back to work on the following Monday. She is an inspiration to all of us! Nominated by Steve Sabins
Some clients also asked if they could recognize one of our internal A Plus Benefits employees.
Kathy Wright- Payroll Specialist
I would like to let you know how much I appreciated working with Kathy Wright as our payroll specialist for over 16 years (we have been with A Plus since 1997). When she was ill and had to take leave a leave of absence I felt so bad and missed her tremendously. She was more than a person that I worked with she was my friend. Kathy is so kind and caring to everyone. This is how I felt when I would talk to her or she would call me if she had any questions: “Some people come into our lives and quickly go…. Some people stay for a while and leave their footprints on our hearts and we are never, ever the same.” She will always have a place in my heart. Thanks Kathy and we wish you the best of everything.
Nominated by Connie Wells, Office Manager, Construction Plus, Inc.
Mary Pons- Payroll Specialist
Can I also nominate one of your employees? Mary Ponds. She is always so pleasant to work with and puts up with all the constant changes my providers give her. She is so patient and will always send me a reminder if I’m late for the payroll and never gets upset. I appreciate kind heart and all that she does for our clinic. Thank you Mary. Nominated by Melissa Bassett, Mountain Peaks Family Practice
Thank you to all of the amazing employees who work so hard for our clients. It is impossible to name everyone who has made an impact. Also thank you to all of the Helpside employees who make it enjoyable to come to work each day.