News Release No. 428

CAROL FINKE NAMED DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH FOR SEPTEMBER

Volume 33-428

Contact: Philip J. Tremblay

(For immediate release)

573-751-7629

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, OCT. 14, 2005 --- Carol Finke, a management analysis specialist in the Hazardous Waste Program, Division of Environmental Quality, has been selected as Missouri Department of Natural Resources September Employee of the Month.

Finke was nominated for her extensive work, from April 2003 to December 2004, as planner for the program's brownfields/voluntary cleanup section on development of the Dry-cleaning Environmental Response Trust (DERT) Fund Unit. During the DERT fund rulemaking process, she participated in work group meetings and assisted the unit chief in compiling the proposed rules, fiscal notes, regulatory impact reports and other documents related to the process.

Stakeholder meetings regarding this process were held monthly from April 2003 through July 2005. Finke took notes at these meetings and provided necessary documents and materials for each meeting.

In July 2004, Finke was assigned to work with an outside contractor on the development of a tracking system for the DERT fund unit. She became the "business area expert" responsible for providing input on how tracking should be handled on dry cleaner registrations, solvent supplier reporting, conference, conciliation and persuasion issues and cleanup reimbursement.

In addition, Finke received and reviewed dry cleaner registration forms and solvent supplier calculation sheets, verified surcharge calculations, prepared deposit tickets, entered cash receipts into the department's financial system, logged in surcharge data, prepared correspondence for incomplete submittals and generated penalty and interest correspondence with little or no supervision.

Finke's experience with the department has also allowed her to provide guidance and assistance to support staff within the section. In January 2005, she began serving as a mentor for a newly hired planner in the program. During recent staff relocations or retirements, she has pitched in to help complete the duties of the section's senior office support assistance -- while maintaining her assigned work and deadlines.

Finke continues to work with the DERT Fund Unit, the outside contractor and in-house programming staff. Her efforts allow the unit staff to efficiently track the registrations, reporting and compliance issues on all Missouri dry cleaners and solvent suppliers, handle incoming calls regarding sites and site status more quickly and has reduced the amount of time necessary to correspond with dry cleaner owners and operators.

In making Finke's nomination for this recognition, Ken Koon said, "I have supervised many employees before joining the department. I have never supervised one that has demonstrated the initiative of extra effort into every task that she receives. I often have to remind Carol that her work day is done, as she will continue to work past her appointed time to finish something to a high degree of quality," Koon said.

Finke lives in Jefferson City and has worked with the department for nearly 25 years.

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