Press Release

Release: Montgomery County Honors Jeff Kaczor With Peer Recognition Award

Emergency Management Employee Goes Above And Beyond For The County & Its Residents

FONDA - County Executive Matthew L. Ossenfort presented the Montgomery County Peer Recognition Award to Jeff Kaczor, an employee of the in the Emergency Management department, on Wednesday, May 11. The Peer Recognition program was started, in 2015, to recognize employees who continually exemplify high professional standards and go above and beyond in their service for the county.

"This program was created to recognize employees who go above and beyond and Jeff certainly does that in his position," Ossenfort said. "Jeff is someone who is dependable and a key member of our Emergency Management staff, which is on call 24/7. His passion for doing a good job and determination to help keep the people of this county safe is why he is so very deserving of this award."

Kaczor's position with the county is part-time, yet like all of the county's emergency staff, he is on call in case of any emergency. In addition to his work for the county, he has a fulltime job and is the chief of the Rural Grove Volunteer Fire Department.

"Jeff is a very dedicated, hard working professional and exemplifies the type of employee who should be honored," Emergency Management Director Jeffery T. Smith said. "He will do anything for the good of the department. Words cannot explain the importance of having an employee who is willing to work as hard as he does."

Kaczor is the second employee to earn this distinction. Last October, Jennifer Catucci, an employee in the Treasurer's Office, was honored with the first award in the history of this program. The Peer Recognition Award was created by the County Executive, to provide county employees with an opportunity to nominate a co-worker, who has excelled in their service to the people of Montgomery County. The nomination form asks the nominator to identify why the person they are nominating should be considered for this honor. Some of the qualities that employees were encouraged to look for in a nominee were dependability, ability to work independently and adapt to adverse situations, excellent organizational and communication skills and someone who provides outstanding customer service.

Once those nominees were identified as being eligible for the award by the Personnel Office, they were reviewed and interviewed by the Peer Recognition Review Committee. That committee is a group of employees, appointed by the County Executive, consisting of a combination of supervisory and non-supervisory personnel.

"I am extremely honored to be recognized by my peers and fellow county employees," Kaczor said. "As emergency management personnel and a first responder, our goal is to help keep people safe and I am happy that I can make a real difference in people's lives by doing my job."

Kaczor was honored with a plaque commemorating this distinction. His name was also added to the perpetual plaque that hangs in the County Office Building, on Broadway in Fonda, recognizing the past award winners.

The County Executive would like to recognize all of the employees who were nominated and met the eligibility criterion - Deb Chan (Data), Michael Franko (Sheriff's Office), Phyllis Hage (District Attorney's Office) and Anne Nadler (Public Works). All of these employees were selected by one of their peers, as an employee who provides a willingness to learn, grow and excel at their job. The Peer Recognition Review Committee had an extremely difficult task, in selecting a winner, as all five candidates proved very worthy of the award.

The Executive Office will begin accepting nominations for the Peer Recognition Award this summer.