Lorna Mance, Human Resources Director
Like most of you, WSDA’s Human Resources Office has had a challenging year. Along with helping WSDA navigate COVID-19 requirements, furloughs and unemployment claims, and day-to-day personnel issues, a number of our staff have retired or left the agency to advance their careers.
As a result, we’ve gotten the same crash course as other programs in covering vacant positions, and recruiting, hiring and onboarding new employees in a telework environment. We’re making progress, and I want to tell you about some HR staffing news.
Welcome new staff
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| Jeremy Martin |
Jeremy Martin, who started March 1, will support both the Plant Protection and Pesticide Management divisions as their HR consultant, His supervisor is Sam Young, labor relations and investigations manager, who has been with the agency since November 2020.
Jeremy has served as the HR business partner at the Department of Enterprise Services for the past two years. He previously spent six years as an HR generalist at Labor & Industries and Social and Health Services. In addition, he served for eight years in the U.S. Air Force.
Jeremy is a diehard Seahawks fan. He also loves everything the great outdoors has to offer including camping, golfing, fishing, hunting, riding ATVs and snowboarding. Jeremy is also a dog person, and his best friend is Daisy, a golden lab.
Nancy Jacobski also joined WSDA on March 1. She will support the Commodity Inspection Division as their HR consultant and Sam Young is also her supervisor..
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| Nancy Jacobski |
Nancy comes to us with 20 years of HR experience. That experience ranges from HR technician with the Alaska State Troopers, to class and compensation manager with the Washington Department of Children Youth and Families. She’s also worked for State Human Resources and the Personnel Resources Board. At The Evergreen State College, she handled recruitment, performance coaching, protected leave, and leave administration.
She particularly enjoys performance coaching, training, rule and contract interpretation, and classification. And she loves researching HR gray areas until she finds solutions. This fall she’ll start pursuing a master’s degree in positive psychology, and she looks forward to applying what she learns to her work at WSDA.
On the personal side, Nancy and her husband, Reggie, enjoy their two Rottweilers, Max and Maggie. She also loves writing, photography, videography, and playing her conga and bongo drums.
Promoted to new role
Austin Miller, who has been with the agency’s HR Office since 2018, began in an HR consultant 3 (in-training) position on Feb. 16. He will support the Animal Services Division as their HR consultant. His supervisor is Leslie Louviere, classification and compensation manager.
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| Austin Miller |
Austin will also evolve and maintain our office’s data analytics and organizational charts, while he acquires the skills of a senior-level HR generalist.
As our processer and first point of contact for divisions, Austin has gained tremendous agency-specific historical knowledge. He has established positive working relationships with agency staff, and proven to be a hard worker and a valuable asset to our HR team.
Austin is a native of Washington and he spends his free time with his fiancé, daughter and their two dogs. He loves the Miami Dolphins football team and all things Thor.
Our goal as your Human Resources team is to provide the best service to WSDA. Please do not hesitate to contact us and offer feedback about your needs and how we can continually improve.
In summary: Two new human resources consultants joined WSDA’s Human Resources Office this week, and one current staffer has been promoted to a consultant in-training position. As our HR fills vacancies and rounds out their team, learn more about these new consultants in this blog post by HR Director Lorna Mance.
