Harrisburg, PA – At a ceremony today, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Mike Carroll recognized 30 PennDOT employees for their outstanding performance with the Star of Excellence Award, PennDOT’s highest recognition. Two employees from PennDOT’s District 8, which represents Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, and York counties, plus seven employees from PennDOT’s Central Office in Harrisburg, were among the honorees.
“Our employees work hard to provide the very best transportation services to Pennsylvanians, and the millions of people who travel through the Commonwealth every day,” said Carroll. “Our Stars of Excellence exemplify a dedication to public service and a strong work ethic, and I’m proud to honor them today.”
District 8 winners Kelsey Pianka, traffic control specialist, and David Thompson, community relations coordinator, were honored this afternoon at an awards luncheon at the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg.
“Kelsey Pianka and Dave Thompson are outstanding employees who understand any job worth doing is worth doing well,” said PennDOT District 8 Executive Kevin Keefe. “Their strong work ethic and commitment to excellence place them among the best of the best here in District 8. Although Dave has retired, his service to the Commonwealth deserves to be recognized.”
Kelsey Pianka, E.I.T.
Kelsey Pianka embodies the finest qualities of leadership and public service. Kelsey is Manager of the Eastern Region Traffic Management Center (ERTMC). Her knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as her leadership and guidance, contribute to the ERTMC performing at the highest level while serving as an example to other traffic management centers.
Kelsey supports and encourages subordinates in furthering their careers with the Commonwealth of PA. She continually exceeds expectations by going above and beyond her normal job duties to aid and support PennDOT’s mission.
Kelsey has served as Acting Engineering and Operations Supervisor while performing her normal duties as ERTMC Manager. She often volunteers to make presentations to high school students regarding PennDOT careers and serves as co-leader of the District’s Young Engineers Club. She cares about the people she works with and does
everything she can to help them with their career aspirations. Kelsey is a true leader!
Kelsey is a resident of Harrisburg.
David Thompson
Dave Thompson provides top-notch customer service to the public. Friendly and relatable, Dave is accessible at all hours to the media, legislators, and the public. He is comfortable speaking on camera and performs countless media interviews highlighting District accomplishments. He coordinates media coverage of road work that impacts travel on regional highways.
Dave speaks highly of his PennDOT career and encourages others to pursue their career goals. He works hard to support the District’s mission and always has fun while doing it. Dave positively impacts his co-workers with his wealth of knowledge, upbeat attitude, and sense of humor. Dave contributes to the District in many ways, whether bringing food to an office luncheon, assisting with fundraising for employees experiencing catastrophic events, or supporting a peanut butter drive for the Central PA Food Bank, the most recent of which raised more than 1,000 pounds of peanut butter for families in need.
Dave is a resident of Williamsport. He retired on September 8, 2026.
The following Central Office employees were also recognized:
Nicole Haney
Nicole has a unique position where she develops and coordinates special community involvement programs, specifically where significant community impacts are likely to occur, and she works with District staff to evaluate the effects of proposed projects on the local community. She is the primary contact for legislators in the District and in 2025 alone, she resolved 582 legislative inquiries. Nicole also coordinates District Right-to-Know requests and in the year 2025 facilitated 90 of them.
Along with this, Nicole assists the District Press Office by building solid relationships with media outlets and helping with written pieces whenever she can, always portraying the Department positively. Not to mention, her time acting as the Press Officer in District 12 was performed with the highest level of professionalism and capability. Of course, that is just to list a few of her many accomplishments since she is the ultimate Master of All Trades who has caught the eye of many colleagues with her cool under pressure demeanor.
Nicole was nominated when she was the Community Relations Coordinator in 2025.
Nicole is a resident of Washington.
Paul Hanna
Paul is the REAL ID Division Chief who oversaw 204,000 REAL ID pre-verification requests, completion of 10,000 customer notepads, and responded to 12,000 requests/questions from field staff. Along with this, he participated in 20 webinars for legislative offices and constituents to provide one-on-one presentations that in long term help keep the public more informed.
He also provided relief to Driver License Center staff by working as an on-site REAL ID subject matter expert greeting customers, vetting REAL ID documentation, streamlining customer wait times and assisting driver licensing staff with any questions or concerns. There were countless occasions when Paul answered the call for additional working hours, presentations, communication updates, customer interactions, as well as in-person customer support. In fact, what stands out the most is his dedication to customer service by treating all customers with unyielding focus, professionalism, and efficiency. Paul has, and continues to, strive to exceed Commonwealth customer service standards.
Paul is a resident of Dillsburg.
Cristina Bergren
Cristina oversees the management of anything involving the Department Travel Program, Corporate (Travel) Card Program, Agency Lodging Card Program and Out of State Travel Request System with a high degree of autonomy. Even under challenging circumstances, customer service is where she truly shines and she recently played an instrumental part in assisting PennDOT executive leadership in navigating challenges stemming from a non-essential travel ban.
This past December, she organized a last-minute response to a weather (snow) event in Rhode Island. Her challenge was finding lodging for a group of 22 individuals, with truck parking and staff at the hotels able to accommodate people when they are snowed in. She worked tirelessly to negotiate an acceptable rate, which is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to her!
She was nominated for the 2025 Governor's Award for Excellence for her help in complex scenarios, booking group lodging, navigating Concur, and answering unique travel questions. In her time here at PennDOT, she has saved many individuals invaluable time, proven reliable in a variety of challenges, and has demonstrated unmatched determination.
Cristina is a resident of Hershey.
Christopher Inman
Christopher is a Materials Service Manager who played a crucial role in advancing opportunities for small and diverse businesses in our state. From assisting in preparation for PennDOT’s Annual Fiscal Year Strategy to moderating and presenting
at PennDOT’s Road to Opportunity outreach events, his impact is undeniable. While Chris would be the first to say it has been a team effort, his contributions helped PennDOT exceed their Fiscal Year Goal with a $15.8 M increase from the previous year.
He continues to use his data mining skills to assist organizations and when DGS reached out, he played an instrumental part in identifying two pilot micro business reserve solicitations. Chris has been a Governor’s Award for Excellence recipient for the Greene County Fire Aftermath, PennDOT Star of Excellence Award nominee, PennDOT Innovation Award Winner twice (SAP Role Mapping and the Boot Program) and recipient of the Bureau’s Employee of the Quarter, among other formal and information recognitions for his exemplary service.
Christopher is a resident of Fredericktown.
Derrick Herrmann
Derrick is the Transformational Technology Chief who manages our $171.5 million National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program and has taken a wide variety of steps to streamline the process to reduce costs. He has secured four federal grants for the Department, amounting to approximately $10 million and of those four, only one required a state match in funding. Derrick led the development of a process that in long term greatly reduced the percentage of projects that withdrew due to utility issues and eliminated the need for additional rounds of Alternative Fuel Corridor (AFC) funding.
Additionally, he has transitioned the PennSTART project into construction, supported various bureaus, and has ensured the Department is strategically prepared for the integration of generative AI. With all the day to day advancements it can be hard for stakeholders to keep up, so Derrick led various working groups/committees and briefed
the administrations through weekly emails. He has been invited to speak at numerous conferences, peer exchanges, news events, and is highly regarded by those who surround him.
Derrick is a resident of Marietta.
Sean Harp
Sean Harp works in the Bureau of Maintenance in the Fleet Management Division as a Radio Telecommunications Specialist and is the only one who handles, manages, and trains the statewide radio system. Over the past 2 ½ years, Sean has gone out to every District multiple times to train key positions that utilize radios in their Districts or counties.
Districts have made it known that they are taking advantage of his presentations and that Sean’s responsiveness to issues, emails, and calls about the radio system is unmatched. Sean has realized that as the new radio system is improved, not all counties are able to benefit. As a result, he has worked tirelessly to find dual band radios and funding to improve both performance and safety in all areas. Sean advocates for upgrades to increase their performance, safety, and reliability. Overall, his commitment and resourcefulness doesn’t go unrecognized and is appreciated by many.
Sean is a resident of Linglestown.
Nicholas Baldwin
Nick oversees Transit Agency Performance reviews on behalf of the Bureau of Public Transportation and oversees a consultant team that digs deep into general management practices. When it comes to reviewing changes to state and federal legislations, Nick is one of the experts in the Department on Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Small Business Enterprise (SBE) requirements!
Most recently, he was tasked with developing a process to assess the transit agency maintenance practices to ensure they were keeping building funded with state and federal funds in a state of good repair, which further supports the agencies values. Nick has exemplified professionalism in his work that is exceptional. He does not hesitate to take on any new challenge from developing a new program, to solving a problem related to consultants or interacting with the public in different situations. The work that he does makes sure transit agencies are efficiently delivering public transportation across the state in both large and small communities. Nick's focus is always on safety first.
Nick is a resident of Harrisburg.
Zachery Kopinetz
Zac is a Transportation Planning Specialist Supervisor and has played a key role in successfully advancing initiatives under the PennDOT Turnback program through his creative collaboration. He implemented a reimbursement agreement for the Turnback program to reduce its financial burden, which also allowed more work to be completed. With the implementation of the reimbursement agreement contract for the transfer program, it is estimated to save about $1.3 million dollars a year. They also promote transparency, proper record keeping, and compliance with program guidelines.
Along with this, he demonstrated strong project management skills by overseeing roadway evaluations, ensuring compliance with program requirements, and maintaining accurate documentation throughout the process. The development of PennDOT’s Transfers application has enabled visual representation of the transfer routes and quick reporting features. Zac’s team members have said he is a great mentor who is extremely knowledgeable and well versed in his work. Aside from this, his humility and dedication while doing it all are what his peers find truly admirable.
Zac is a resident of Pottsville.
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, engineers and more.
Travelers can check conditions on major roads by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,200 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional X alerts.
Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at www.pa.gov/DOTprojects. Subscribe to PennDOT news and find transportation results in Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry and York counties at www.pa.gov/DOTdistrict8.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Fritzi Schreffler, 717-418-5016 or fschreffle@pa.gov
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Kelsey Pianka, E.I.T.
David Thompson
Nicole Haney
Paul Hanna
Christina Bergren
Christopher Inman
Derrick Herrmann
Sean Harp