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Board honors employees for longevity, retirements

A career at ITD mirrors an individual’s three life stages, explains Jim Kempton. The first five years is post adolescence, a time of learning your profession, how you fit in the department and establishing your work ethics and daily routines.

When employees mark 10, or 15, or 20 years, they begin to build on their successes, reflect on the technical and problem-solving skills developed along the way and set a course toward higher-level supervisory or management positions.

The zenith (Kempton avoided calling them the senior or golden years) comes when employees reach 25 years of experience, or more. They have developed an ability to see the broad picture; it is a time to build on their expertise and specializations and become mentors for younger employees following in their footsteps.

Kempton, the District 4 representative on the Idaho Transportation Board, provided a unique perspective of career advancement. He addressed a capacity crowd assembled at Headquarters in Boise to honor employees for reaching new levels of service.

Every person and every position at ITD contributes to the overall success of the department, he emphasized, a point Director Brian Ness also made when discussing the awards garnered over the past year.

Kempton harkened back to his early service of flying in the military, saying his greatest appreciation was reserved for the person who packed his parachute. Sometimes the most important contributions are made by individuals who serve in the shadows without much acclaim or visibility.

As chair of a statewide commission to review transportation funding needs, Kempton said he admired Linda Emry, who retired last spring, for her attention to details.

Emry was one of 10 employees honored for reaching retirement in the first half of 2013. Most senior of the group was Gwen Lough, who marked 42 years with ITD, concluding her career in Financial Services. Kathy Chase and Teresa Rhodes retired after 37 years. Other retirees recorded between eight and 31 years of service.

Before acknowledging those professional plateaus, Chief Engineer Tom Cole announced winners of the annual maintenance and safety employees of the year – Carl Vaughn of District 3 and Terry Smith, District 5, respectively.

Cole said the awards, and the contributions of Vaughn and Smith, were interchangeable. Each is uniquely qualified for either honor, Cole said. They will be featured in next week’s Transporter.