Employee Excellence

March 2023 Everyday Excellence: Accounts Payable

(Accounting)

During the Wednesday, March 8 Board of Supervisors meeting Chesterfield Deputy County Administrator Matt Harris recognized members of Accounting, specifically Accounts Payable, as the recipients of the March 2023 Everyday Excellence Award for all of the work they do for the county.

Assistant Director of Accounting Kevin Payne introduced members of the Accounts Payable team to the Board of Supervisors including Jessica Tankersley, Diane Lanier and Drecilla Smith.

The Accounts Payable team is responsible for processing all vendor payments for the county and Chesterfield County Public Schools. Typically, Accounts Payable is not revenue producing but with a pair of programs, the E-payables Program and the Purchasing Card Program, they’ve recently been able to do just that.

The E-payables Program is a virtual card payment option offered to vendors who wish to enroll. Last year, the program produced just over $320,000 in revenue by allowing the county to receive a rebate from its banking services provider based on total program spending. In 2022, with the hard work of the staff, specifically program administrator Jessica Tankersley, the county began a new enrollment campaign and was able to enroll 172 additional vendors. That brought the total number up to 622, a 38% increase.

Since it’s inception in 2011, the E-payables Program has brought in approximately $3 million in revenue with the 2022 rebate being the largest the county has received. Not only does the county receive revenue and have reduced costs normally associated with check printing and postage, but enrolled vendors are able to receive their payments quicker and are able to process these electronic payments more efficiently.

The Purchasing Card Program, meanwhile, offers a physical credit card to selected employees which allows them to make eligible small-dollar purchases. These cards have pre-determined monthly and transactional limits set by department directors. Not only does this make the procurement process more efficient for users but the county is also able to consolidate these purchases into one monthly payment to our card provider. Like the E-payables Program, the county receives a rebate based on the total amount spent and saves on printing and postage. The rebate for 2022 was just over $88,000, which was also the largest since the inception of this program.

Led by program administrators Diane Lanier and Drecilla Smith, the county has received $586,000 in revenue from its Purchasing Card Program since 2011.

For more information, view the Everyday Excellence presentation during the March 8, 2023 Board of Supervisors meeting.

_{Members of the Accounting Department, and specifically the Accounts Payable team, were recognized at the March 8 Board of Supervisors meeting.}

February 2023 Everyday Excellence: Trades Crew and the District 5 Maintenance Crew

(Parks and Recreation)

During the Wednesday, Feb. 22 Board of Supervisors meeting Chesterfield County Administrator Dr. Joe Casey recognized members of two crews from Parks and Recreation as the recipient of the February 2023 Everyday Excellence Award for all the work they do on the county’s trails.

Parks and Recreation Director Neil Luther introduced the members of both the Trades Crew and the District 5 Maintenance Crew, thanking them for their service to Chesterfield.

“They are the core group,” Luther said of the Trades Crew trio of TJ Poore (Principal Labor Crew Chief), Dewey Osborne (Principal Maintenance Worker) and Brandon Ellis (Principal Labor Crew Chief). “We have 44 miles of trail and it seems like we’re adding a little bit all of the time.”

The Trades Crew serves all maintenance districts and is responsible for Chesterfield’s trails as well as the mechanical shop that services all of the equipment. Over Christmas, they were responsible for installing the 800-foot top portion of a new trail near Cosby High School and the culvert pipe for drainage at the site.

In also introducing them to the board, Luther explained that the Trades Crew is aided greatly by the District 5 Maintenance Crew which consists of Jeff Rogers (Park District Manager) and Keith Wells (Principal Labor Crew Chief).

The District 5 Maintenance Crew maintains an array of parks, schools and other county sites. They were responsible for limbing, bush-hogging and cutting back the treeline and underbrush at Cosby to widen and prep the area for the new trail. They also handled all coordination with the contractor on the hill section of the project.

“I’d like to thank them very much,” Luther said of the crews. “They make my job so incredibly easy. They’re always willing to step in and do whatever is necessary [...] Being able to get out and walk with family and friends is just an incredible resource for everyone in this community and I’d like to thank this team and a lot of other folks who chip in on a regular basis to make that possible.”

“Y’all did a great job up at the high school with the walkway that you put in,” Board Chair Kevin Carroll (Matoaca) said. “You can tell by the amount of cars parking on Village Square Parkway now that it’s being highly used [...] It was very appreciated by the community and I appreciate your hard work.”

“It makes a huge difference for the citizens, and it makes a huge difference for me,” said Supervisor Jim Holland (Dale). “I walk them too. Thank you for being here today, thank you for your service to all of the citizens of Chesterfield County, and thank you for the difference you make in the lives of so many.”

For more information, view the Everyday Excellence presentation during the Feb. 22, 2023 Board of Supervisors meeting.

_{Members of the Trades Crew and District 5 Maintenance Crew from Parks and Recreation were recognized at the Feb. 22 Board of Supervisors meeting.}

January 2023 Everyday Excellence: Dave Sirois

(Utilities)

During the Wednesday, Jan. 25 Board of Supervisors meeting Chesterfield County Administrator Dr. Joe Casey recognized Utilities employee Dave Sirois as the recipient of the January 2023 Everyday Excellence Award for going above and beyond to help a Brandermill boy retrieve a prized possession.

Sirois, a 26-year veteran of Chesterfield County Utilities, currently serves as the plant manager at the Addison-Evans Water Treatment Facility. But it wasn’t just his experience and expertise that proved so valuable last year when this event occurred. It was also his action and excellent customer service that shined through.

On Monday, Nov. 14, the Kuntz family was at Sunday Park when Jackson’s soccer ball was blown down a hill and into the Swift Creek Reservoir. Thanks to the wind, the ball continued toward the water treatment facility where his father Darrell assumed it had finally come to rest. He reached out to the Department of Utilities via email in hopes of obtaining a “brief visitor privilege” to go in and see if he could find the ball.

But that wasn’t necessary: Sirois had it covered.

The next morning around 9:30 a.m., Sirois responded to Kuntz, conveying that he had received the email, was able to locate the ball and had scooped it up using a pool skimmer. About an hour later, Kuntz came to the facility to retrieve the ball so that he could return it to Jackson.

Kuntz wrote a letter, which was read to the Board of Supervisors by Utilities Director George Hayes, in which Kuntz thanked Sirois for his efforts in getting the ball back to his son.

“In my experience of dealing with local government entities and utilities other than Chesterfield County in the past, I have never received such care and attention as I did on this occasion,” Kuntz wrote in the letter. “I think Mr. Sirois deserves individual recognition for setting the standard for this type of public service that should be routinely practiced by all public servants.

“I believe this is the type of leadership that has the effect of creating a culture of service within a group of employees,” he added. “Small actions can have significant impacts, especially when it comes to building institutional trust among the public.”

“Dave, I want to publicly thank you for everything you do for our customers and the Department of Utilities,” Hayes said. “Dave is truly the definition of a public servant and he presents a culture at the plant that we would all like to embody. He inspires us to be better public servants.”

For more information, view the Everyday Excellence presentation during the Jan. 25, 2023 Board of Supervisors meeting.

_{Jackson Kuntz, shown with his prized soccer ball.}

Employee Excellence Archives

View previous Employee Excellence articles:

• 2022 Employee Excellence Archive
• 2021 Employee Excellence Archive
• 2020 Employee Excellence Archive