Ring the Bell – January 2017

Ring the Bell – Employee

Each new year is met with the expectation of change, whether through personal resolutions or the march of time. This month, we Ring the Bell one last time for Marie Bjork-Haugen as she prepares to retire after 30 years of service. Marie started as an accountant with Career Path Services in 1987.  Through this position, she has been responsible for the fiscal and administrative integrity of the organization, and she also ensures the timely, accurate, fiscal, and programmatic data are available to the Board, management team, and staff. With her experience and knowledge of the organization’s fiscal systems, her position gradually evolved into that of Chief Financial Officer. Having overseen countless audits, accreditations, and organizational transitions, Marie’s leadership has been invaluable.

Though often not spoken of when talking about the merits someone has accumulated in a career position over the years, Marie has also provided the leadership and understanding critical to an organization that values family and its employees above all else. Her guidance has helped to ensure we all remember why we serve in the first place: to provide families job opportunities that allow them to enjoy the same quality of life we do here at Career Path Services. For her guidance, inspiration, and wisdom, we ring the bell for Marie one last time as she moves on to the next phase of her life.

Perhaps our Chief Operating Officer, Cami Hanson put it best when wishing Marie well:

“Marie, Thanks for your years of service growing our organization. Not only do you explain things in understandable ways for us non-accounting folks, you bring heart to our whole fiscal system!”

With her new status, Marie plans to travel with her husband and spend time with her children and grandchildren, enjoy the outdoors, and as she was once quoted “[play] a hot cribbage game with a cool beverage on the deck”.

Ring the Bell – Team

This month, we also recognize our Benton Franklin GRS team:  Patty Guerrero, Ruben Vigil, and Stacey Taylor put forth tremendous effort during our busiest month of this Program Year. WorkSource Columbia Basin saw a total of 7,062 visitors through our doors during the month of December. Co-located with staff at WorkSource Columbia Basin, front end responsibilities are shared  between our Guest Resource Specialists and partner staff.

During December, partner staff were pulled away from their front end duties to accommodate a last minute project. During the month, the GRS team provided 513 (85% of the total allotted) personnel hours of front end service to make up the difference. Patty, Ruben and Stacey helped 336 guests with cover letters, resumes, unemployment insurance, and WorkSource Washington registrations in December. The trio did it with professionalism, kindness, and miles of smiles in the face of the enormous task, and continue to be appreciated by partner staff and Career Path Services.