October 23, 2007

One group of employees that fit this description is the Catawba County Technology Department. In the 21st century, no government can function well without excellent technical support, particularly in the realm of computers and computer-based technologies. Rick Cook, Network Administrator for Catawba County’s Technology Department, was named the County’s 2007 Employee of Year on October 23 for “exemplary leadership, support and guidance on the implementation of three major technology projects this year.”

As Network Administrator, Cook is responsible for overseeing Wide Area Network and Local Area Network transmission; operation, maintenance, repair and development of all operating systems; networks and network infrastructure, including servers and hardware components; wireless development, maintenance and access; the purchase of systems and network components; provision of internet services, including systems security, authentication, disaster recovery and firewall; server backups; remote access capability; knowledge and implementation of protocols; provision of telephone services, including long distance, PBX, line management, voice mail, voice response and call conferencing; cable installation and maintenance; and network resource management and scheduling.

“Rick Cook provided exemplary leadership, support and guidance with the implementation of three major technology projects this year,” wrote Valerie Jones, Information Technology Administrator, Michelle Deese, Geospatial Information System (GIS) Coordinator and Terry Bledsoe, Chief Information Officer, who jointly nominated Cook for the honor. “These were projects which affected the entire organization and the way we work and communicate. These projects included installing new Microsoft Office products for over 1,200 computers, a new phone system that runs on the County network, including placement of new phones in everyone’s workplace, and the moving of a multitude of individual servers to virtual server technology, while at the same time building disaster recovery into County systems. In his role as Network Administrator, Rick and his team consistently keep our computers, email, and phone systems working properly. The services he provides are critical to the County’s operation but are rarely thought about unless there is a problem. Rick spends countless hours, including holidays, nights and weekends, to make system changes when it will cause the least interruption. He leads by example. His strong work ethic inspires others to be dedicated, responsible and positive."

Cook graduated from East Burke High School and first worked for Valdese Hospital from 1979 until 1981, as a second shift operator. In 1981, he earned an Associate’s Degree in Data Processing from Catawba Valley Community College with a 3.36 grade point average. He first starting working for Catawba County in 1981 as a Programmer/Analyst, responsible for enhancing and maintaining the County’s tax collection and appraisal system. Cook also designed and wrote an accounts receivable system for the County’s Mental Health Services, Landfill, Ambulance Billing and Building Inspections divisions. He supervised two other programmers during that period of time.

In 1994, Cook left Catawba County Government to become Vice-President and part-owner of MRV Consultants, Inc. in Hickory, NC. He supervised five technicians and assisted with sales, design and implementation of PC networks using Novell, Windows and Unix systems. He installed or supervised the installation of over 300 PC networks while working with MRV Consultants.

Cook decided to sell his interest in MRV Consultants in 1996 and returned to Catawba County Government as an Information Technology Project Supervisor. He was promoted to his present position of Network Administrator in April 2000.

“Change naturally causes discomfort and each department has seen major changes this year,” Jones, Deese and Bledsoe added. “With e-mail, phones and Microsoft Office products all changing within a very short period of time, the work environment could have been chaotic, and business processes and services could have been disrupted. However, Rick is the voice of reason in chaos- his calm, reasonable approach to problem solving assures a methodical, orderly process which allows issues to be quickly resolved. Through it all, Rick keeps his great sense of humor and ensures that the County’s business of providing services to our citizens runs smoothly.”

Cook and his wife, Faye, who works with Catawba County Public Health as a Public Health Nurse, live in the Mountain View area.

Sixteen Catawba County employees were nominated for the Employee of the Year honor for 2007. Other nominees included: Glenn Arizmendi, Clinical Counselor, Social Services; Hendrix Boags, Teaching Parent, Social Services; Lynne Carpenter, Deputy Sheriff/Warrant Office, Sheriff's Office; Victoria Chavez, Interpreter, Public Health; Jeff Green, Paramedic, Emergency Services; Brad Harris, Crew Chief/Paramedic, Emergency Services; Angela Holcomb, Maternity Care Coordination Supervisor, Public Health; Marilyn Klinger, Administrative Assistant, Public Health; Mary Morrison, Business Manager II, Social Services; Mark Pettit, Rescue Coordinator, Emergency Services; Robert Pruette, Deputy (Lake Patrol), Sheriff's Office; Elaine Scott-Patterson, Administrative Assistant I, Social Services; Sindie Hildebran Sigmon, Business Manager I, Public Health; Georganna Stephens, Administrative Support Specialist, Tax Office; and Rhonda Stikeleather, School Health/Child Health Supervisor, Public Health

Another highlight of the evening was the presentation of the 2007 Team Award. "We began giving Team Awards in 1994 to honor groups of employees whose combined efforts improve County services," said County Manager Tom Lundy, who served as Master of Ceremonies for the County's Awards Night. "We have always appreciated the value of work done by groups of employees who focus their energies on a common goal."

Catawba County’s strong focus on technology was again recognized through this year’s Catawba County Team Award, which was presented to a team that helped plan for, budget, install and implement a new Community Alert System being used to inform citizens about emergencies, by phone, e-mail and/or text messages.

“The Catawba County Emergency Services Department sought a way to effectively notify and provide information to emergency personnel and to Catawba County’s citizens during emergencies or disasters,” said Chief Information Officer, Terry Bledsoe, who nominated the team for the honor. “Emergency Services secured a federal Homeland Security Grant to purchase the hardware and software for this service, but it has taken a creative team effort from Emergency Services, Finance, Information Technology, and GIS personnel to successfully implement this service. In addition, a secondary goal of developing partnerships with the three local school systems, hospitals and several municipalities to utilize the non-emergency capabilities of the system was also achieved. These partnerships generate funding for ongoing costs and future upgrades. Catawba County is the first client to use this type of system in a partnering effort. By establishing policies to ensure the efficient and effective use of the Community Alert System, the County permits its partners to benefit from non-emergency uses of the system while maintaining priority for emergency staff use and emergency citizen notification, which are the overriding primary uses of the system. The Community Alert System is now being successfully used by several County departments and our partners, and this team effort has proven to be very valuable for Catawba County and its citizens.”

Catawba County citizens may be notified of an emergency situation through the Community Alert System by multiple means of communication, including phone, email, and/or text messaging. Persons in a defined area may be notified in the event of an emergency confined to a given area, or the entire county can be notified. Emergency personnel can immediately and effectively be alerted and assembled to respond to emergencies. Partnerships have been formed with all three of Catawba County’s public school systems, Catawba Valley Medical Center and Frye Regional Medical Center, and the municipalities of Catawba, Claremont, Conover, Hickory, and Newton.

“The schools may use this service to notify students of school closings due to inclement weather; the hospitals can use the service to notify staff of upcoming events; and the municipalities can notify citizens of planned water and sewer repairs, power outages, or road closings. Partnering with others also helped reduce costs for all participants on such a robust system,” Bledsoe said.

“To maximize the effectiveness of the service, it became apparent that the unique knowledge and skill sets of varied personnel and departments within the County would be required,” Bledsoe concluded. “This team was assembled based on their individual talents and skills; and their ability to collaborate as a team. Then, in an effort to fund ongoing costs of the project and reach out to the municipalities and school systems in the county, a partnership was formed. This partnership created a unique use of the product, an innovative approach that had not been used before. As the scope of the project became evident, the team members and the technology were both expanded to meet the demands of the additional uses. This, in turn, required a great deal of communication and cooperation among management and personnel from various departments and agencies. This was truly a team effort in which all were asked to expand beyond their comfort zones and perceived limitations, and to be innovative in producing a successful product.”

Four other Catawba County teams were nominated for Team Awards, including: A Catawba County E-News Team that developed the Catawba County E-News newsletter in September 2006, designed to give citizens information on a topic and link them to the County’s web site to learn more; a Blackburn Construction and Demolition Landfill Team that obtained special State legislation to use existing County staff and equipment for work at the Blackburn Landfill, resulting in a savings to the County of over $800,000; a Resource Family Educational Series Team that collaborated to provide additional needed support and education for the families they serve; and a Professional Education and Training Team that responded to a new State requirement for mental health training for Social Services staff by organizing 24 in-county trainings for 585 participants, including 250 regional professionals, saving the County $37,000 in travel, lodging and training fees.

Awards Night was also a time to recognize other County employees who were honored professionally during the past year. The Catawba Tax Link Program, which provides free tax preparation assistance for low income families, won a National Association of Counties Achievement Awards. More than 40 employees who earned individual degrees or honors were recognized during the employee recognition dinner, along with several departments and units within departments which received professional awards. Ten employees who have retired in the past year were saluted, along with County employees who have served for five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty and thirty-five years. Three current or former County employees who have passed away in the last year, James Michael Smith and Vickie Parker of the Department of Social Services, and Rickey Wilkins, a retiree from the Sheriff’s Office, were remembered.

"Our Employee Awards night is one of the most important events we have each year," Lundy said. "The high quality of services delivered to our citizens is a reflection of the fine work done by our employees. It is always a great privilege for members of the Board of Commissioners and me to spend an evening recognizing many of our employees for outstanding work, and thanking each and every one for the part they play in helping make Catawba County a great place in which to live and work."