When Frank Woodard and Al Curran founded this firm, they did so with the mission to make people the priority. To that end, there is a cultural understanding that Woodard & Curran’s success is inextricably tied to the strength and talent of its people who thrive in the culture of the firm. In the mid-1990s, a corporate recognition program was developed by employees to recognize and thank colleagues, peers, and managers for their efforts in making Woodard & Curran a great place to work while also delivering unmatched services.
Sometimes, just saying “thank you” or “good job” isn’t enough. For those instances, we have a “High-5 Award” that provides opportunity for quick recognition for direct reports or colleagues. Our “Applause Applause Award” is a higher level of recognition for employees who embody the goals of our corporate mission statement. Recipients (individuals or teams) of these awards are considered by the Recognition Committee for an annual Standing Ovation Award, which encompasses four categories of excellence – Client, Core Culture, Safety, and Technical.
Standing Ovations
Typically, our Standing Ovation Awards are announced on Founder’s Day, but given the fact we were unable to gather this year, we spent the last full week of June celebrating their accomplishments. The recipients for the awards include:
- Client Excellence recognizes a significant impact or contribution to an internal or external client, going above and beyond the call of duty to meet a client’s needs.
Sarah Scagliarini, Technical Specialist (Andover, Massachusetts)
Scott Hawk, Technical Manager (Virtual)
Sean Tarbox, Technical Manager (Portland, Maine)
- Core Culture Excellence recognizes an individual or group effort to develop and perpetuate an enjoyable, gratifying, and fulfilling place to work, and providing a significant contribution to the growth of an individual as an employee.
Jonathan Loja, Lead Operator (Cohasset, Massachusetts)
Dee Wiedersten, E&R Operations Specialist (Pittsburg, Pennsylvania)
- Safety Excellence recognizes an individual or group demonstrating a personal commitment to improve safety and health in the workplace, contribute to Woodard & Curran’s efforts to increase safety awareness, and promote a strong safety culture.
James Mounce, O&M Technician (Doe Run, Missouri)
Elias Liakos, Scientist (Lakewood, Colorado)
George Valenzuela, Scientist (Sacramento, California)
- Technical Excellence, an award former Vice President Mike Alberi, recognizes an innovative approach to complex and industrial waste issues, commitment to technical excellence, and leadership in profession.
Matthew Cousins, Designer (Bangor, Maine)
Rebecca Paustian, Engineer (Andover, Massachusetts)
Frank Woodard Leadership through Innovation
In addition to our Standing Ovation Awards, we launched the Frank Woodard Leadership through Innovation Award in 2019 to honor our co-founder. Frank led by example through innovation and deep technical insight, and the values he embodied are fundamental to the character of the firm he and Al created. Our review committee received eight brilliant submissions for the 2020 award, which recognizes those who follow in Frank’s footsteps, demonstrating vision and leadership, by identifying a challenge and developing an innovative solution to better serve our clients.
Given the current disruptive changes in biosolids management due to emerging PFAS regulations, mandates diverting organics from landfills, increasing costs of transportation and disposal, and uncertainty among incentive programs and end use markets, the review committee opted to award an interdisciplinary team of six for their innovative Biosolids/Energy Evaluation and Resource Recover (BEER2) Tool concept. The team, including:
- Nathan Chase, Project Manager (Laguna Hills, California);
- Chloe Greenberg, Engineer (Dedham, Massachusetts);
- Robert Gaylord, Project Engineer (Lakeland, Florida);
- Greg Parks, Technical Business Development Support Manager (Virtual);
- Alan Fabiano, Technology Manager (Virtual); and
- Kelley Begin, Project Manager (Andover, Massachusetts),
will have 80 paid hours to work on this concept over the course of the next year in hopes to address these biosolids challenges with an interdisciplinary, cross-geography approach to help clients in all our regions and practices.
Though we lost Frank on March 14, 2020, he has left an indelible mark on this company. The 2020 recipients of the award named in his honor will continue his legacy by continuing to evolve our professional practices and respond to challenges in innovative ways.
