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September
winner picks up the pieces
Sumter
County DOT team wins Blue Granite Recognition
SUMTER,
S.C., Sept. 13, 2005 -- The September 2005 Blue Granite Recognition
was awarded today to the Sumter County Department of Transportation
Maintenance Staff for its "Road and Pedestrian Walkway Preventive
Maintenance Program."
The
staff members concentrate on a specific road/area to ensure that
all of the litter and debris is cleaned up, and average 20,000 to
30,000 pounds a month. Their efforts save Sumter County and South
Carolina hundreds of dollars routinely spent on maintaining and/or
repairing highways and roads, said State Sen. Phil Leventis of Sumter.
"This
program has improved the quality of life for all those who live
in Sumter as well as those who visit," Leventis said. "Other
DOT offices have seen the positive outcome of this program and have
adopted it.
"Following
the grand lead and example set by DOT employees, our Mayor, Chair
of County Council, our Sherriff and other public officials have
joined DOT and Clemson Extension in picking up litter on the pick
up days."
J.D.
Wilcox, who oversees the program, added: "We decided that our
office would do PM, preventative maintenance, in several areas.
One was litter pickup to enhance the safety of pedestrians and pride
in our community. The program has been a tremendous success because
of you (speaking to his employees). It has worked because one day
a month everyone in the office including myself, the office staff
and the entire field staff pick up litter! Last month we got 29,000
pounds of litter off our streets."
The
Blue Granite Recognition is a monthly program to highlight excellence
achieved by South Carolina state employees. The Recognition, sponsored
by the S.C. State Credit Union, is online at: www.bluegraniterecognition.org.
It is deemed a "recognition" because winners are not picked
as a result of competitions. They are being recognized for the fine
work they do as public employees.
Prior
recipients include employees at SCETV, S.C. Department of Vocational
Rehabilitation, S.C. Department of Transportation, the Governor's
Ombudsman office, the Department of Health and Human Services, the
state Department of Health and Environmental Control, and state
law enforcement officers.
DOT
reports on Blue Granite Recognition
The
following report came from an SC DOT internal newsletter following
the award:
South
Carolina Department of Transportation Sumter Maintenance Receives
Blue Granite Recognition
September 15, 2005 -- Every day South Carolina Department of Transportation
employees are assigned multiple tasks they respond to in order to
maintain the roadways of the state. Under the leadership of J. D.
Wilcox, Jr., the new Resident Maintenance Engineer of Sumter Maintenance
of SCDOT arrived on April 5, 2004, and is building a team unlike
any other in the state.
Being new to this area, Mr. Wilcox made an assessment of the organization
at the maintenance department and made changes to work crew personnel
in an attempt to gain better performance and production in assigned
duties. This concept worked very well as much improvement was noticed
shortly thereafter. In January 2005 Mr. Wilcox, along with supervisors
of the Sumter Maintenance Department, designated one day each month
as a preventive maintenance day and employees began collecting trash
and debris from the roadways of Sumter County. Seeing the in-house
success, several private organizations and local governmental agencies
were invited to join this endeavor in an effort to build better
working relationships. Sumter Maintenance SCDOT employee Al McElveen
was given the task of coordinatoring this project. Al was an excellent
choice since he is a native of Sumter and knew a significant number
of Sumterites. The undertaking is considered a tremendous success
as to date Sumter Maintenance SCDOT has collected over 100,000 pounds
of litter from the roadways of Sumter County.
Presented by Senator Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, Sumter Maintenance
SCDOT was honored with the Blue Granite Recognition on September
13, 2005. The senator had also helped Sumter Maintenance SCDOT pick
up litter in July 2005. In presenting the recognition, Senator Leventis
congratulated all employees for their participation and thanked
them for their hard work and dedication to the state. Tony Chapman,
State Highway Engineer and former Resident Maintenance Engineer
in Sumter County, stated he is proud of Sumter Maintenance Department
for setting the example for the entire state. Sumter County Public
Works Director Eddie Newman also attended the recognition ceremony
and echoed the senator by praising all participating employees for
giving of their time and effort. Members of other local organizations
and agencies, such as Amanda McNulty from Sumter County Clemson
Extension and Anthony Dennis, Sumter County Sheriff, attended the
recognition service and have joined the effort of Sumter Maintenance
SCDOT to collect litter, thus making a significant difference to
the appearance of our roadways. Mr. Newman also applauded Sumter
Maintenance SCDOT for encouraging all involved to become an "us
team" and not continue as "your organization" or
"my organization".
We, Sumter Maintenance SCDOT employees, are honored to have received
this award and hope to attain our goal of clean roadways in our
County.
Article
written by: Al McElveen; Allen Griffin
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