At a ceremony yesterday, 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. Lisa J. Tipton and Kenneth P. Bookhamer, employees from PennDOT’s District 9 which represents Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset counties, were among the honorees.
“Every day, I am reminded of our employees’ dedication, their excellent customer service, and in many cases, their sacrifices,” said Carroll. “The accomplishments of our Stars of Excellence exemplify PennDOT’s mission to provide the very best transportation services to Pennsylvanians every day.”
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.
The winners, including Lisa and Ken, were honored yesterday afternoon at an awards luncheon at the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg.
Lisa J. Tipton
Since October 2023, Lisa, a Clerical Supervisor 2 in the Somerset County Maintenance Office, has excelled in the role of Human Resources liaison. Highly organized and detail-oriented, Lisa leverages her advanced communication skills and can-do attitude to address issues before they become problems, a trait evident by her many initiatives. With safety at its core, Lisa created a Medical Surveillance Tracking Spreadsheet that helps keep county employees safe from potential harm. Her workforce development work led to an amendment of the statewide process for TWOC (temporary working out of class) for Acting Highway Foremen. Lisa also took ownership of a recruitment need by committing to the additional time and coordination needed to ensure the continuous recruitment and hiring of Equipment Operators in Somerset County by implementing the “back-to-back” vacancy postings.
Kenneth P. Bookhamer
If you ask any inspector-in-charge (IIC) what’s the worst project-condition to work under the answers may include extreme heat or heavy traffic but most would say night work. But during the entire 2024 construction season, the overnight shift is where Ken flourished. As the IIC for the Frankstown Road Project in Blair County, Ken thrived in the difficult environment, where you can’t easily consult coworkers or subject matter experts, and your true capabilities as a decision maker are tested. In addition to the challenge of night work, Ken accepted the charge of overseeing two emergency slide projects brought about by the heavy April 2024 rains – the Route 103 slide project in Huntingdon County and the Route 2022 slide project in Blair County. The Transportation Construction Manager 2 staggered his hours between night and day shifts and kept overtime to a minimum, earning District 9’s 2024 Extra Mile Award, bestowed to the employee who demonstrated exceptional effort and customer service while going above the normal call of duty.
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Lisa J. Tipton
Kenneth P. Bookhamer
