For Immediate Release
Oct. 26, 2018
For more information contact:
Marci Manley, Deputy Chief of Communications
[email protected]
Amy Webb, Chief of Communications
[email protected]
DHS Names Benton County Administrator Employee of the Year for “Can-Do Attitude”
Young uses technology skills to help division improve timeliness, track work
| Employee of the Year Wesley Young with DHS DirectorCindy Gilespie, left, and Mary Franklin, right, Director of the Division ofCounty Operations. |
The Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Arkansas Human Services Employee Association (AHSEA) named Benton County Administrator Wesley Young the 2018 employee of the year during a banquet held in Hot Springs on Thursday night.
AHSEA selects the agency employee of the year from the list of people named as employee of the year for each agency division and the shared services offices. Young, who has worked his way up through the agency ranks over the last nine years as part of the Division of County Operations (DCO), was one of 10 DHS employees up for the award. He has been the County Administrator at the DHS Benton County office since November 2016.
Fellow County Administrator Karen Rettmann nominated Young saying, “Wes always presents a positive example for DHS employees through his personal appearance, positive attitude, teamwork efforts, and chronic ‘can do’ attitude.”
Rettmann said that Young designed several databases for DCO to track performance at the individual employee, county, and statewide level to improve timeliness in processing data from other agencies – all outside the scope of his day-to-day duties.
“These reports have proven invaluable to our timely delivery of SNAP and Medicaid services not only in his county but all across our state,” she said.
DHS Director Cindy Gillespie congratulates Young on being named employee of the year and will rename the DHS Director’s conference room in his honor later today.
“Mr. Young leads by example – he works hard, he takes initiative, and he solves problems,” Gillespie said. “Even more important is that he uses his role at DHS to get involved in his community and better the lives of his fellow Arkansans.”
Other people honored Thursday night as division/office employees of the year are:
Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services – Bridget Atkins
Division of Children and Family Services – Ritchie McFarland
Division of County Operations – Wesley Young
Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education – Nora Fawcett
Division of Developmental Disabilities Services – Stuart Douglas
Division of Medical Services – Steven McKnight
Division of Provider Services and Quality Assurance – Tami Rogers
Division of Services for the Blind – LaTasha Mays
Division of Youth Services – April Hannah
Shared Services/Office of Communications and Community Engagement – Stephen Thornton
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