Dover– Governor John Carney today recognized and celebrated the efforts of the 2017 recipients of the Delaware Award for Excellence and Commitment in State Service, winner and finalists of the Governor’s Team Excellence Award and winners of the Governor’s Award for Heroism. The award winners and nominees were recognized for their exemplary efforts in service to the State of Delaware.

“Every day public servants provide quality services that all Delawareans depend upon,” said Governor Carney. “Today, we celebrate the achievement of select individuals and teams that have demonstrated a commitment to their work. I thank not only them but all state employees for the work they do every day.”

Delaware Award for Excellence and Commitment in State Service

The 2017 Delaware recipients are:

Ronald Bounds – Dept. of Safety and Homeland Security
Mr. Ronald Bounds is a Planner with the Delaware State Police and serves as the sole member of the Delaware Information and Analysis Critical Infrastructure Unit. In order to better monitor what is occurring along the state’s waterways, Mr. Bounds created the Delaware Maritime Security System, composed of various radar units and cameras, which evaluate potentially available resources and crafts innovative ways to make incremental improvements.

Angela Garnsey and Deborah Walker – Dept. of Safety and Homeland Security
Ms. Garnsey and Ms. Walker supported the investigation leading to Operation Duck Hunt, a significant criminal investigation of a money laundering operation which involved a Dover Downs Casino patron who was later linked to a large scale heroin dealer in Sussex County.

Daina Gunther – Dept. of Correction, Probation and Parole
Ms. Gunther is a Senior Probation and Parole Officer with the Department of Correction. Due to her training, skill and experience as a Mental Health Court officer, a 47-year-old cold case was finally closed.

Randy Greer –Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
Mr. Greer, an engineer for DNREC’s Sediment and Stormwater Program has worked with multiple stakeholders on various projects to offer compliance options within the confines of the water quality and water quantity management regulations.

James Ristovski – OMB
Mr. Ristovski, an ERP Systems Supervisor with PHRST (Payroll Human Resource Statewide Technology), led the data analysis and payroll system configuration to allow the State to meet all federal Affordable Care Act reporting requirements, something many employers and other states have not been able to do.

Governor’s Team Excellence Award

This year’s recipient of the Governor’s Team Excellence Award is the Delaware Learning Center (DLC) Project Team. This cross-functional team of IT and Training staff from several State agencies led the way in implementing a centralized, cloud-based learning management system designed to serve the needs of state agencies and improve the access and availability of training for all state employees.

Prior to the DLC, the State had over 45 different systems to track employee training. Through extensive research and engaged partnerships with training professionals across the state, the team was able to identify and implement a single system that had the capacity and flexibility to be used by all state employees and their agencies.

The 2016 successes of the DLC include:
· Early adoption of the system by all executive branch agencies, elected offices, and the courts
· Over 189,000 State employees, contractors, and stakeholders registered for training
· 127,000 registered for online training with a 92% completion rate.

In addition to those statistics, the DLC has increased the access of training for state employees, streamlined registration and tracking processes, eliminated many duplicated services, and offered more opportunities for collaboration and sharing of training resources across state agencies. the cloud based, software as a service (SaaS) solution used in this project led to several new best practices being established throughout the state.

In addition to the award recipients, two other teams were recognized as finalists:

New DCIS Team – Department of State & Department of Technology and Information
This collaborative team played a critical role in developing, launching, and improving a complete redesign of the Division of Corporations’ Delaware Corporate Information System (DCIS). The team applied leading edge technology to the division’s already proven incorporation processes to ensure that Delaware remains the “Corporate Capital of the World” for years to come.

Delaware Open Data Portal Team – Delaware Open Data Council

This multi-agency team from the Delaware Open Data Council created and deployed a website portal that provides the public with easy access to a central source open data from state agencies. This portal gives citizens, researchers, businesses, and innovative technology developers the ability to browse and sort different datasets and interact with visual data like maps, charts, and graphs. The Open Data Portal created by this team reflects Delaware’s commitment to creating higher levels of openness and transparency in state government.

Governor’s Award for Heroism

The 2017 recipients are:

• Greg Buchman, Christopher Conley, Scott Hayes, and James Scott – From the Department of State, for performing CPR on a co-worker who collapsed and then providing assistance to EMS staff when they arrived.

• Julius Davis – From the Department of Correction, for pursuing and providing information about an armed robbery, witnessed after his shift ended.

• Jay Galloway – From DelDOT, for saving a woman being accidentally dragged by a car in a parking lot.

• James Gordy – From DelDOT, for saving a child being attacked by a pitbull.

• Harry Hutchison and Joe Kowalski – From DelDOT (Mr. Hutchison has since left the State), for assisting a motorist following a hit and run accident they witnessed.

• Chad Kalodner – From the Department of Correction, for assisting in the apprehension of an attempted armed robbery.

• Jason Luff – From DelDOT, for his response to a fire in an apartment building where he lived.

Detailed information on this year’s award winners will be posted to the OMB website at http://hrm.omb.delaware.gov/awards/emprec/index.shtml.

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