Georgetown County Public Services recognized three of its most outstanding employees today during a luncheon to honor staff. George Montgomery received the Customer Service Award, Nancy Wall received the Professional Achievement Award, and Sheryl Gibbs was named Public Services Employee of the Year.
Customer Service Award
The Customer Service Award is given annually to a Public Services Employee who goes above and beyond in the name of service and professionalism in dealing with county residents. George Montgomery was selected as this year’s winner due to his composure and ability to remain calm in any type of interaction with the public, said Tracy Jones, a member of the selection committee who announced the award winners. She said Montgomery is “very reliable and able to go with the flow to get the job done when orders change.
“When the landfill had changes to its system, it required some reprioritization,” she said. Montgomery “stepped up and was cross-trained to run the scale as a backup. The scale house is key to the landfill and is the place where we have the most face-to-face contact with the haulers,” Jones said. “When running the scale, employees have to interact with customers, determine proper disposal locations and properly bill them, all while keeping wait times to a minimum.”
Montgomery also trained to detect hazardous items in materials going into the landfill. He has volunteered to staff Household Hazardous Waste Collection events, and proved himself to be a leader among the crew while interacting with the public during one of the department’s largest events.
“I look up to him as he directs the staff all while showing how work can be fun,” Jones said. “He’s got a great work ethic, keeping in mind the safety of his team, directing the flow of materials collected, and making it fun at the same time.”
Professional Achievement Award
After joining the GIS Division in 2019, Nancy Wall had an interesting start. Just two months in, her manager retired and their replacement resigned shortly after taking the job. With minimal training, Wall was able to maintain cursory operations until GIS was welcomed under the umbrella of the Department of Public Services in 2020. Her new manager then had her completely retrained on an entirely new software platform. She persevered through the cyberattack the county experienced in January of this year. Through all of this, she has built strong fundamentals in data management and accuracy, Jones said.
“While many cling to the older software platform, (Wall) is one of a handful within the area using ArcGIS Pro, which is the future software platform for GIS,” Jones said. She described Wall as outgoing, courteous, eager to learn, and adaptive. She is building a strong foundation for future GIS growth in Georgetown County.”
Employee of the Year
The Public Services Employee of the Year award was created to recognize a team-oriented individual who embodies professionalism, customer focus and work quality. Sheryl Gibbs was selected because she “consistently upholds the values of Georgetown County while assisting the public in a compassionate manner,” Jones said.
Gibbs has worked in a variety of locations, including the Judicial Center and most recently the Historic Courthouse. She has a “big-picture team view extending beyond the role that she was initially hired to fulfill.”
“She has assumed duties beyond her position, which is mostly custodial by nature. These duties include filling in for and taking on the workload of staff who had departed the county to help bridge the gap until new staff were hired,” Jones said. “She really shined during COVID-19 by going above and beyond the call of duty to clean and additionally sanitize in ways that were not specifically requested.” Gibbs was promoted into a higher custodial position in April, based on her continued outstanding performance. She has also started learning how to do data entry for work management within the County’s burgeoning Asset Management System.
“This employee is a courteous, high-energy example of leadership at all levels of County employment,” Jones said.
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