Agency Recognizes 31 Employees Across Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, PA –At a ceremony in Harrisburg today, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Mike Carroll recognized 31 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 nine employees from PennDOT’s Central Office in Harrisburg, were among the honorees.
“I’m continually impressed by the hard work and dedication of the PennDOT team,” Secretary Carroll said. “These folks work tirelessly each day to provide safe and efficient transportation for Pennsylvania’s residents.”
Carroll and other department executives honored District 8 winners Michael Ferguson and Nevin Lehman during an event held at the State Museum of Pennsylvania.
“Michael and Nevin consistently provide those who live and work in Pennsylvania with top-of-the-line customer service and exemplify PennDOT’s core values,” said Acting District 8 Executive Kevin Keefe. “I am proud to have them on our team.”
PennDOT District 8
Michael R. Ferguson
Transportation Construction Manager 2
Michael Ferguson leads by example. Ethical and professional, he is dedicated, safety-minded, patient and helpful. He promotes teamwork and inclusion. He embraces technology, resulting in high quality work and efficiently managed construction projects. He has been vital in the district for testing construction apps for inspections. He piloted the use of those apps on multiple projects, while providing feedback to app designers based on practical use and real-world construction experience.
Michael has been a committee member for the Project Development Workshop, which provides training to design and construction managers on topics that impact the project delivery process. In addition to that, he is preparing a formal mentoring and training program for new inspectors which District 8 hopes to roll out soon.
Prompt, courteous and a good listener, he has a great rapport with the public, and his staff and peers enjoy working for him and hold him in high regard.
Michael is a resident of Mountville.
Nevin W. Lehman
Transportation Equipment Operator B
Nevin Lehman is the type of employee that county maintenance managers dream about. His 22-year career at PennDOT can be summed up in two words – dependable, dedicated. Nevin leads by example and serves as a role model to others. Never one to cut corners, he performs every task thoroughly and safely.
Nevin volunteers to work extra hours for snow removal or callouts. He cares about the quality of his work and understands the importance of winter maintenance operations in keeping the public safe during winter storms. His sustained superior work performance makes Nevin an easy choice for any type of work that needs completed.
Since the inception of the district’s Dual County Paving and Seal Coat Crews, Nevin has held a haul truck position for the paving crew. He is always respectful to his superiors and co-workers. During an 11-year stretch, he hasn’t taken a single day of sick leave.
Nevin is a resident of Abbottstown.
PennDOT Central Office
Communications
Joel E. Morris
Program Analyst 3
As the Business Performance Manager in District 12, Joel Morris manages the ISO 9001, communications office, customer service, and is the district training coordinator. District 12 greatly increased the level of involvement in the Safety Press area, attending more events and taking a more active role in the community.
He went from three communications team members to zero and mentored the Acting CRC 1 in preparing to take on the role during a time that included snowstorms, various interviews, and media events. He took the lead on the 2022 and 2023 construction preview events and hosted a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law event as well. When the western region digital director left the department, he trained his staff on the website and social media.
He developed a new form to use when a press release is needed. It was piloted and now is used district wide. He worked tirelessly to move quickly on innovations and needed changes all while making an extraordinary effort of keeping the day-to-day activities working seamlessly.
Joel is a resident of Waynesburg.
Administration
Joseph (Joe) Linderman
Facility Administrator 1
As a Facilities Administrator 1, Joe Linderman has been a big benefit to our agency by effectively leveraging available resources by modernizing technology and assets. He works to make sure our facilities are in good condition for the safety of the general public that use them. He is the go-to person for all electrical specific jobs in the EV Charger projects. He is a great team member and stepped up to work temporarily out-of-class when the Eastern Regional Facilities Manager was on military leave.
His vast knowledge and training were a great asset to the staff in Engineering Districts 4, 5, and 6 and the facilities administrators in those areas. As part of EO 2019-01 agencies are to replace 25% of the state passenger fleet with battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars by 2025 and evaluate opportunities for the reduction of vehicle miles traveled and incorporation of new technology where appropriate. Joe partnered with Fleet Management to create the facilities infrastructure at engineering district office to be able to charge Commonwealth vehicles.
Joseph is a resident of Blue Bell.
Highway Administration
Brenda C. Waters
Chief Chemist
As Chief Chemist in the Bureau of Construction and Materials, Brenda Waters has championed the Bureau’s Materials Division, Laboratory Testing Section's recruitment and used High School Interns. Doing so increases Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) skills of the interns and provides mentoring opportunities for permanent Laboratory Testing Section's staff with STEM knowledge and skills.
She’s advocated for the continued hosting of an AASHTO Product Evaluation & Audit Solutions, Pavement Marking Materials (PMM) test deck for evaluations of pavement marking materials. PennDOT is hosting the 2023 AASHTO Product Evaluation & Audit Solutions, PMM test deck on both an asphalt and concrete roadway section of I-99 in District 9. These test decks provide an opportunity for our Business Partners to propose new formulations or types of PMM products for use on highways. The test deck data is used by all other state highway agencies in considering PMM materials for their products list and use on their highway system.
Brenda is a resident of Harrisburg.
Highway Administration
Matthew R. Weaver, P.E.
Contractor Evaluations Engineer
Matthew Weaver is a Contractor Evaluations Engineer in the Bureau of Design and Delivery. He oversees the Department's contractor prequalification process. He is always willing to help contractors with their questions and provide the necessary steps and assistance for them to achieve the desired results.
He also helped to recruit, retain, and develop a diverse and inclusive workforce through his efforts with the development of the Mentor Protege Program as it relates to construction prequalification. He developed a process to mentor new Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) in obtaining new prequalification codes to enable them to perform additional work/tasks on PennDOT projects. This is important for the DBEs to be able to expand the services they can provide and grow their business.
He was crucial to PennDOT modernizing the Engineering and Construction Management System (ECMS) to automate the construction prequalification process. Contractors will no longer need to print the form, complete it, notarize it, and mail it to PennDOT. Instead, they can systematically enter and submit data electronically.
Matthew is a resident of Harrisburg.
Multimodal
Thomas (Tom) M. Tomczyk
Transportation Planning Manager
Tom Tomczyk is a Transportation Planning Manager in the Bureau of Aviation and has served the Bureau in an Acting capacity, leading the Engineering and Planning Division. With his wealth of knowledge, he was instrumental in the development and implementation of the Bureau's Four-Year Program and the State's Aviation System Plan in partnership with commercial and general airport sponsors.
Under his leadership, the Airport Economic Impact Study includes several new initiatives that have not been done in the state or even in the country before. First, an on-line economic impact calculator to assist airports in demonstrating the positive quantitative benefits on investments in facilities on the airport. Second, the development of GIS geodatabase that will serve as GIS visual interactive tool that allows the airport, community, and other stakeholders to view and understand the economic benefits. Finally, a Communication Toolkit.
Tom developed a new policy to reflect the decrease in revenue yet still meet the core needs of the airports. The decrease in time for airport sponsors to set up a grant netted a cost savings of $10,000 a year.
Thomas is a resident of Manchester.
Multimodal
John Taylor
Manager, Planning & Technology Section
John Taylor manages the Planning and Technology Section he created within the Bureau of Public Transportation. He worked tirelessly to establish a strategic direction for deploying technology in public transportation settings to benefit customers, transit agencies, PennDOT, and other agencies.
Find My Ride, Statewide Technology Committee, and Statewide Cybersecurity Task Force are projects he leads. All the projects are directly linked to the strategic themes of the department and promote collaboration and knowledge sharing for the benefit of transit riders.
John and his team received the 2021 Governor's Award for Excellence for his work on Find My Ride Apply (FMR Apply). FMR Apply reduced the number of applications that are returned because of errors, allowing people to access transportation more quickly and saving money and time of staff since they’re not returning applications. Review times were reduced by nearly 90% (can be approved for services in 1.5 days versus 13 days).
John is a resident of Harrisburg.
Planning
Robert (Rob) J. Mulkerin, Jr.
Assistant Strategic Management Transportation
Rob Mulkerin worked to develop and implement a strategy for PennDOT's approach to the competitive funding, particularly focused on the highway and bridge available under BIL.
With competition for the limited funding, his approach centers on increasing eligible applications awareness of opportunities, and focusing the department’s efforts to maximize the ability to bring additional federal funding to Pennsylvania for established priority needs.
Pennsylvania has the chance to compete for billions of dollars in additional funding under a wide range of grant programs. Almost all the grant programs utilize merit criteria. Merit criteria for most of the grant programs focus on things such as safety, environmental sustainability, quality of life, mobility and community connectivity, economic competitiveness and opportunity, state of good repair, innovation and partnership and collaboration.
In addition to helping develop and coordinate the distribution of guidance information, he also took the lead role in the development and submission of multiple applications for PennDOT and was the key part of the team that developed and submitted the application that secured an additional $69 Million for the CSVT project.
Robert is a resident of Middletown.
Driver and Vehicle Services
Craig Yetter
Community Relations Coordinator
As Community Relations Coordinator for Driver and Vehicle Services, Craig Yetter oversees the successful execution of safety communications to Pennsylvanians. He makes events and communications enticing and packages them in an easy-to-use manner for media outlets statewide. He produces an attention-grabbing safety message that highlights a united front from all agencies to promote a safer Pennsylvania.
Operation Safe Stop is one of his initiatives that includes school districts, school bus drivers, and law enforcement documenting illegal passes occurring on their routes. He has been praised for his dedication to delivering timely and effective communication and for "running the ship" and leading events to success.
Some of the projects he oversaw last year, partnering and fostering relationships include Donate Life Month; Motorcycle Safety; School Bus Safety Poster Contest; Teen Driver Safety; Operation Safe Stop; Mature Driver Safety; PennDOT, and DMVA joint effort for Veteran Designations and Special Plates for Military and Family, Customer Service Liaison, and runs DVS IdeaLink.
Craig is a resident of Dover.
Driver and Vehicle Services
Diosdado (Dios) Arroyo
Division Chief, Bureau of Driver Licensing
Dios is the Division Chief overseeing the License Control Division within the Bureau of Driver Licensing. He spearheaded many changes and processes that demonstrated access to equitable, affordable, reliable, and sustainable transportation options that support quality of life and economic prosperity of Pennsylvania’s residents.
One example is the implementation of Act 107 of 2022. Understanding the many hardships experienced by individuals who have lost their driving privilege, he helped charge our focused efforts on implementing the required system changes to comply with the law well in advance to the period provided by law.
He was instrumental in incorporating innovated practices to improve our services to residents and he helped more legal presence customers have access to driver licenses. He has an all-inclusive attitude, actively promotes inclusion and diversity, team oriented, seeks opinions to make good sound judgements, listens to employee concerns, promotes teamwork, and has an open-door policy.
Diosdado is a resident of Harrisburg.
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, from highway maintenance and driver and vehicle services workers to traffic control specialists, communications staff and design and engineering specialists.
For more information on PennDOT activities in Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry and York counties, visit PennDOT District 8.
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