Food Safety and Consumer Services staff mark service milestones

 Kathy Davis, Communications

Four decades dedicated to state government service is a significant accomplishment. Stormy Townsend, administrative assistant and registration specialist with WSDA’s Animal Feed Program, reached her 40-year service milestone in October 2021. 

Stormy Townsend receives an Employee of the Year
Award in 2009 from then WSDA director, Dan Newhouse

Stormy has served WSDA for the past 30 years. She started her state career at General Administration, now known as the Department of Enterprise Services. 

She joined WSDA as a clerk typist 3 for laboratory services, and went on to serve as an administrative assistant for lab services and the microbiology lab before moving to the Animal Feed Program. 

During her tenure with the agency, Stormy is particularly proud of her role in chairing the Employee Recognition Awards Committee for many years.

“It was always a fun time when we would travel to Eastern Washington for the awards ceremony and meet the winners so you could put a name with a face,” she said. 

During her free time, Stormy works at the South Sound Speedway on weekends from March through October. 

“I work the back gate, signing in the drivers and their crew, and I’ve been their track photographer for 35 years,” she said. It’s a pastime she shares with her husband and daughter, and many friends. 

More staff milestones

Several staff with the Food Safety and Consumer Services Division marked service milestones in the past year. These included division assistant director, Steve Fuller, who reached 15 years with the state. 

Shelly Haywood hit 35 years of service. And Amber Gonzalez reached 25 years. Achieving the 20-year mark were James Collins, Kimberly Truett, Nancy Byers, and John Leerhoff.

The following division employees received five-year milestone recognition:

• Angela Anegon
• Elizabeth Bell 
• Angelique Finney 
• Jessica Rimestad 
• Brandon Lamb 
• Sarah Wiley Delbow 
• Ashlee-Rose Ferguson 
• Rebekah Weatherford 
• Sarah Morrison 
• Rebecca Stephany 
• Kathryn Hartelius 
• Jessica Ogden 
• Jennifer Tillman 

Congratulations to all these Food Safety and Consumer Services Division staff who reached a service milestone during 2021. Thanks for your dedicated service to the state of Washington!

In summary: Congratulations to all Food Safety and Consumer Services Division staff who reached a service milestone during 2021. In particular, Stormy Townsend, administrative assistant and registration specialist with WSDA’s Animal Feed Program, reached her 40-year service milestone in October 2021. Thanks for your dedicated service to the state of Washington!

Welcome four new staff to Human Resources team

 Lorna Mance, Human Resources Director

Cassie McWaid

The WSDA Human Resources Office has welcomed four new staff members to our team in the past few months. Get to know each of them here, where I share their professional experience and a little about their personal side.

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. 

Cassie McWaid joined WSDA on Aug. 1 as our new human resource processor. 

Lisa Haglund

Cassie began her career with the state in 2013 at the Health Care Authority and moved to the Department of Enterprise Services in 2015. She has a passion in helping people and is driven towards opportunities to learn and grow, and working with a dynamic team. 

When she has downtime from her two children, she enjoys focusing on her health and fitness, exploring and hiking the Pacific Northwest, spending time at the lake, and working on her property.

Lisa Haglund started as a human resources consultant on Sept. 16. 

Lisa started her HR career in the private sector before entering state service with the Department of Retirement Systems. She went on to join the Department of Veterans Affairs HR team. She loves finding ways to see the human side of situations, while balancing business needs. In addition to her years of general human resources experience, she’s a certified Crucial Conversations trainer and a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.  

Amy Donahue

Lisa enjoys off-roading in the ’94 Jeep Wrangler she’s been building up for adventures, playing board games with her two little kiddos, or supporting her husband’s death-metal band.

Amy Donahue became our talent acquisition specialist on Oct. 11. 

Before joining WSDA, Amy was the talent acquisition manager for Goodwill of the Olympics and Rainier Region, where she oversaw hiring in 15 counties and 40 locations. Amy’s background includes work in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), marketing, and employee programs.

Amber Justis

Amy started a small farm this year, and is on a quest to create the most colorful dozen eggs ever sold. You can find her at the Farmers Market most weekends. 

Amber Justis started as the classification and compensation consultant on Oct. 25.

Amber’s professional background includes HR consulting experience with the Nisqually Tribe, Department of Labor and Industries, and Department of Social and Health Services. At DSHS, she has been responsible for a variety of HR functions, including classification, compensation, benefits, employee relations, recruitment, and HR data and analytics.

Amber’s favorite things are spending time with her family and traveling, which she is looking forward to doing again!

In summary: The WSDA Human Resources Office has welcomed four new staff members to our team in the past few months. Get to know each of them in this Insider blog post, where HR Director Lorna Mance shares their professional experience and a little about their personal side.

Fairs important to agriculture and WSDA

 Megan Finkenbinder, Fairs Program Administrator

Brad White and Cassie Cichorz provide information and answer
questions behind the WSDA booth at the Washington State Fair. 

When you think of a Washington State fair, what are your first thoughts? The smell of freshly popped caramel corn or fire-roasted chicken? Maybe it’s 4-H and FFA youth showing their animals, produce and craft entries, carnival rides, rodeos, or concerts. 

State, county and regional fairs offer prime opportunities to support our state agricultural communities, as well as educate the public about where their food comes from and the economic impact of agriculture.

Washington State hosts 69 fairs, which vary in size and focus, ranging from small fairs that are primarily opportunities for local youth to show and auction their livestock, to high-profile events like the Washington State Fair, formerly known as the Puyallup Fair. 

A recently released economic assessment of our fairs found they contributed $396 million in business revenue and over 3,000 jobs in 2019. In addition, more than 3.3 million people attended fairs and viewed over 267,000 exhibits. 

WSDA supports state fairs

WSDA supports the network of fairs by funneling state funds for operations and capital improvements. Earlier this year the Legislature provided over $8 million for brick-and-mortar capital projects, which we award through a competitive grant process. Another $2.75 million from state general funds is transferred into a dedicated fairs account each fiscal year for operations. 

WSDA also supports and staffs the Fairs Commission which advises the agency director and makes recommendations on allocating funds. Each commissioner evaluates several fairs each season, and all fairs are evaluated every two years. 

While all in-person fairs were cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, many were back this year! And once again, WSDA hosted educational booths at three state fairs - Evergreen in Monroe, Central in Yakima, and the Washington State Fair in Puyallup. About 20 agency employees volunteered to staff our booth, greeting the public and answering questions. 

Cassie Cichorz, outreach and education specialist with the Pest Program, spent time at both Westside fairs, as well as the Northwest Fair in Lynden. She enjoyed interacting with state residents and telling them about what Washington agriculture has to offer. 

“One of the specific things I brought to the fair were invasive species,” she said. “I had Asian giant hornet specimens and nest pieces, invasive moths and beetles. Citizens really seemed to enjoy seeing the various insects and asking questions. Many took pictures to show their friends and learned how to report suspected sightings.”

Alexander Hathaway had been employed with WSDA for just a year as a chemist at the Chemical and Hop Laboratory in Yakima, when he volunteered to staff the booth at the Central Washington Fair. He said he loves public outreach and explaining science. 

“We had a fun moment when an elementary school principle complimented us on being able to explain high-level scientific concepts to kids in ways they could understand,” he said. 

To learn more about fairs in Washington State and WSDA’s role in supporting them, see the Agricultural Fairs page on our website. 

In summary: Washington State hosts 69 fairs, which vary in size and focus, ranging from small fairs that are primarily opportunities for local youth to show their livestock to high-profile events like the Washington State Fair, formerly known as the Puyallup Fair. WSDA supports the network of fairs by funneling state funds for operations and capital improvements, and staffs the Fairs Commission which advises the agency director and makes recommendations on allocating funds. Learn more about fairs and how WSDA supports them in this Insider blog post.

Colleague and friend, Stacia Speck, will be greatly missed

 Kathy Davis, Communications

WSDA’s Animal Services Division recently lost a beloved member of their work family when Stacia Speck passed away on Oct. 31. 

Common themes emerge when coworkers describe working with Stacia and the impact she had on each of them, as well as on the division’s work and the state’s agriculture industry. She gained a reputation as hard-working, organized, wise and supportive – with a big dose of humor and fun. 

“She was a reliable, nonjudgmental, no-nonsense, ‘git ‘er done’ kinda coworker, colleague and friend,” said Dr. Amber Itle, acting state veterinarian. 

Field veterinarian Dr. Ben Smith added, “One thing about Stacia, you never had to wonder where you stood with her. She was outspoken, funny and not shy with her opinion or a smart retort.”

Stacia started her career with WSDA in March 2007 as the fiscal technician for the Livestock Identification Program. She then accepted a promotion to administrative assistant for the Animal Health Program in October 2009. Nine years later, she promoted to division coordinator.

Asset in emergency response

Among her many, varied responsibilities, Stacia jumped into action on many animal emergency responses, from the Oso mudslide to wildfires and the avian influenza outbreak.

Stacia at a biosecurity training in 2010. 

 

Rick Daugherty, compliance investigator, asked for her help dealing with animal mortalities from the Carlton Complex fire in the Okanogan area. “Stacia arrived at the command post and immediately went to work doing what she did best – organizing -- including required documentation, reports and daily briefing paperwork. She also helped draft our current animal mortality protocol.”

Dr. Minden Buswell, Reserve Veterinary Corp coordinator, noted that “Not everyone is cut out to deal with these situations, but Stacia’s competence, intelligence, and pragmatism made her an asset to our emergency responses.”

She was also held in high regard by the animal and livestock industry who comprise the division’s primary customers and stakeholders. 

“She had a way with talking to our cattlemen so they would understand our regulations or the problem at hand, and although they didn’t always agree, they highly respected Stacia because of the way she worked with them” said Jodi Jones, the division’s operations director. 

After all, she was one of them. Stacia and her family own TSA Limousin, the cattle company where they bred, raised, and showed Limousin cattle. She enjoyed the shows, visiting with cattlemen and cattlewoman, and spending time with her family and friends, according to Jodi.   

‘Kept us grounded’

She connected with her coworkers in personal and significant ways. 

“Stacia pushed me to be a better coworker and gave great advice on navigating work life. I am sad that I won’t have more time to learn from her as my career grows,” said Brennan Kimbel, Livestock Inspection Program assistant.

“Like a mother hen, she kept us working together as a team, always said good morning to everyone and kept us all grounded. I hope she is still keeping an eye on us,” said Kerrie Pfalzgraf, Animal Health Program specialist. 

Field veterinarian Dr. Dana Dobbs added, “You could always rely on Stacia to lend a hand with holiday celebrations, annual staff meetings, and presentations. Her smile, quick wit, and fun attitude were a breath of fresh air no matter what the occasion.” 

Fun with coworkers. 

As a colleague and a friend, Stacia had an outsized impact on the entire division and with many others across WSDA. 

“I worked very closely with Stacia and can honestly say she was an employee that anyone would love to have on their team,” Jodi noted. “I am so very thankful for the many years of friendship we had. Stacia would tell us “Put your big-girl panties on and move forward’.”

“It’s hard to imagine the Animal Services Division without Stacia. She touched all of our lives in one way or another; she was loved, and she will be greatly missed.” Dana added.

Stacia’s husband Tim let the division know the family plans a celebration of life in the spring. In the meantime, you may share a card or message with Stacia’s family via the division’s Olympia office (P.O. Box 42560, 1111 Washington St. SE, Olympia, WA 98504-2560), in care of Jodi Jones.

In summary: WSDA’s Animal Services Division recently lost a beloved member of their work family when Stacia Speck passed away on Oct. 31. Common themes emerge when coworkers describe working with Stacia and the impact she had on each of them, as well as on the division’s work and the state’s agriculture industry. She gained a reputation as hard-working, organized, wise and supportive – with a big dose of humor and fun. 

Construction starts on new building for WSDA laboratories

 Kathy Davis, Communications

Left to right: Steve Fuller and Derek Sandison for WSDA,
and Joel Sacks and Craig Blackwood for L&I.

Under a light-but-steady rain, a group of officials wielding golden shovels ceremoniously scooped dirt to mark the start of construction on a new state facility. When completed next year, six WSDA laboratories will relocate to the new building in space custom-designed for their work.

For about five years, WSDA has been partnering with the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) to construct the Safety and Health Laboratory and Training Center in Tumwater near L&I headquarters. 

Staff and managers of the two agencies gathered with representatives of the architectural and construction firms for the official groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 1. 

WSDA Director Derek Sandison expressed appreciation for the partnership with L&I. He also recognized agency staff for maintaining high standards in lab space housed in buildings not intended for scientific work. 

All four Food Safety and Consumer Services Division labs will move from their current spaces in the building on Cleveland Avenue in Tumwater. 

WSDA staff who attended the event, left to right: Yong Liu (in back), Heather Kolowinski, Crystal Verellen, Michael Kasraie, Steve Fuller, Derek Sandison, Greg Haubrich, Telissa Wilson, Nathan Chambers, Tracie Lindeblom, Jennifer Falacy and Sapphitah Dickerson.

In addition, the Plant Pathology lab on Cleveland, the Entomology lab currently housed in the Natural Resources Building, as well as the Pest Program’s Kent office will relocate to the new L&I facility. 

“This is a great opportunity for our labs to move into a facility built specifically for their needs,” said Tracie Lindeblom, WSDA’s facilities manager. 

L&I Director Joel Sacks said the idea for the building formed after the Nisqually earthquake in 2001. L&I leadership realized that, while their main offices withstood the quake because of their construction, they were concerned about how older facilities such as their safety lab handle quakes. 

Along with being reinforced to survive earthquakes, the structure will include electric vehicle charging stations, a lighting system designed to reduce night-time light pollution, high-efficiency water fixtures, and a low-energy LED interior lighting system.

“These state-of-the-art laboratory facilities will replace existing lab spaces that are more than 50 years old,” said Yong Liu, manager of WSDA's Food Safety and Consumer Services Laboratory. “We think we have a chance to be one of the country’s premier human and animal food safety, and dairy quality regulatory laboratories right here in Washington State.”

Architect's drawing; aerial view of building.

Greg Haubrich, Pest Program manager, noted that consolidating the Plant Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics lab with the Entomology lab in the new building will provide crucial improvements and allow for expansion in the future.

“Moreover, colocation of the two labs with the field programs will create greater opportunities for staff interaction and collaboration as they increasingly work together on many of the same projects, such as Asian giant hornet and other vital invasive pest survey projects,” Greg said. 

It may be an expanse of bare ground now, but in 2023 the two agencies expect to move into the 53,000 square-foot facility with room for several laboratories, offices, and conference rooms.

In summary: WSDA has been partnering with the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) to construct the Safety and Health Laboratory and Training Center in Tumwater near L&I headquarters. Staff and managers of the two agencies gathered with representatives of the architectural and construction firms for the official groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 1. In 2023, the two agencies expect to move into the 53,000 square-foot facility with room for several laboratories, offices, and conference rooms.

Seven win prizes in latest QUICK Award drawing

 Kathy Davis, Communications

Oli Silva

Seven WSDA employees became eligible to select a prize because their names were randomly selected from the full list of all those receiving a QUICK Award in the latest drawing. 

Agencywide, employees handed out an even 100 awards to their coworkers, with 44 awarded in Eastern Washington and 56 in Western Washington. (See names below.)

QUICK Awards are presented by employees who see their peers demonstrating good work and service to others – either inside or outside the agency. Below are the prize recipients from the most recent drawing.

Nancy Byers – Food Safety and Consumer Services, Food Safety, Sedro Wooley
"Nancy; sending a thank you for all your work this year on the FDA contracts and letting you know I appreciate the time and effort that has gone into making this year a success! Thanks again!" - Keren LaCourse

Mike Firman – Plant Protection, Chemical and Hop Lab, Yakima

Nancy Byers

"For accurately determining the correct timeline for disposal of a potentially hazardous material." – Chemical and Hop Lab Staff   

Carl Henrickson – Pesticide Management, Pesticide Compliance, Moses Lake
"For FY21, you have exceeded the minimum inspection expectations by conducting 19 and helping do several last minute WPS inspections. Thank You!" – Tim Schultz   

Rusty Sauls – Pesticide Management, Pesticide Compliance, Olympia
"Rusty has demonstrated (performance beyond the minimum expectations) by conducting 22 inspections, 11 investigations, helping train new staff, and representing the WSDA on the DNR Forestry Workgroup. Thank you!" - Tim Schultz

Rusty Sauls

Oli Silva – Commodity Inspection, Fruit and Vegetable Inspection, Yakima
"Thank you for going above and beyond as a supervisor. The positive attitude you have daily and the willingness to help your team in whatever needs to be done. Your approach and knowledge in the way you manage your team is a great example of leadership. Thank you for all you do, it is appreciated." – Robert Newell  

Cindy Wheeler – Administrative Services, Olympia
"Cindy always approaches her work with such efficiency and care. She is an unsung hero in the Administrative Services Division. Cindy works tirelessly by ensuring employees and supervisors are consistently aware of their program budgets, payroll, vacation time, administrative paperwork, etc. She provides this information like clockwork and with high proficiency. Cindy is the tip of the spear and leads the way by ensuring employees have the information they need to be tremendously successful. Thank you." - Ron Hussung

Cindy Wheeler

Lisa White – Food Safety and Consumer Services, Food Assistance programs, Olympia
"Lisa is always amazing, putting a lot of care and consideration into her work. She honestly deserves a quick award every day. Recently she went above and beyond her typical awesomeness. With very little time to implement new biennial contracts for the state's Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP), Lisa learned how to utilize the DocuSign system, ensuring contracts were executed by the new state fiscal year allowing no gaps in funding for hunger relief organizations and tribes across the state. Thank you Lisa for all you do for our programs and for the people of Washington." - The Food Assistance Team 

Congratulations to all WSDA employees, listed below, who were recognized with a QUICK Award from a colleague between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2021. 

Lisa White with Mylo

Eastern Washington 

Robert Ambriz, Ricardo Alvarado, Juan Ballesteros, Amy Benfiet, Debra Bloomer, Aaron Brown, Silvia Capi, Alene Clement, Dan Cochran, Terri Cox, Cindy Davis, Ethan Estalilla, Sara Gray, Erick Hargraves, Alberto Hernandez, Ryan Hevly, TJ Huffman, Alma (Janie) Keating, Amanda King, Candice Lyall, David Magana, Maria Marin, Carmela Martinez, Phen Moua, Chris Norvell, Gaston Perez, Jolie Robinson, Art Rodriguez, Elissa Romero, Paul Sessions, Teriann Skay, Joshua Smith, Roger Smith, Maryanne Tegen, Eduardo Lara Velazquez, Forest Wilson

Western Washington

Tim Ballard, Margie Barton, Liz Bell, Sidney Black, Nathan Chambers, Elloitt DeLuca, Leah Doyle, Roger Flournoy, Dorreen Frohberg, Jason Gambill, Pingol Haydee, Shelly Haywood, Kim Hoffmann, Curtis Kester, Erin Kester, Kim King, Brandon Lamb, Stacy Laney, John Leerhoff, Dan Mason, Robin Meiser, Kyle Merclich, Julie Neil, Jessica Ogden, Edwin Ojukwu, Laura Packard, Michelle Riddle, Victoria Shaffer, Kyong Soh, Deanna Straayer, Stormy Townsend, Karen Ullmann, Jill Wisehart, Nicole Wolf 

December 31 next drawing deadline

When you catch one of your coworkers doing something special for staff or customers, let them know with a QUICK Award. You can find the award form on the intranet. Forms are also available from your division coordinator or agency receptionists.

In summary: WSDA staff presented 100 QUICK Awards during the third quarter of 2021. Seven names were randomly drawn to receive prizes. See who they are and why they were recognized by their colleagues. Insider now also lists all employees who received QUICK Awards during the previous quarter. 

Randy Treadwell departs WSDA for national public health role

 Kathy Davis, Communications

Who you gonna call in an emergency? For the past several years at WSDA, that response buster was usually Randy Treadwell. Currently manager of the agency’s Rapid Response and Emergency Management Program, Randy will leave WSDA as of Nov. 1 to take on a new career challenge. 

He has been hired as a project manager with the Association of Food and Drug Officials. AFDO is an international, nonprofit organization that aims to streamline and simplify regulations nationwide by collaborating with the public and private sectors to improve food and medical product safety.

In his new role, Randy will work with many in the same network of food safety and emergency response professionals he has come to know. His work will focus on the FoodSHIELD online platform that allows public health officials to securely collaborate and share information and data. 

"Randroid" could be
seen rolling around
NRB pre-pandemic

“Part of this work will be serving as liaison between IT developers and food safety regulatory partners to develop tools useful for protecting public health,” Randy explained. 

Career path

Randy started with WSDA right after earning a master’s degree in public health from the University of Washington in 2009. Gena Reich in the Food Safety Program hired him as a food safety officer for Eastern Washington.

“I have always appreciated Gena’s willingness to take a chance on a recent public health grad with no experience in food safety outside of the classroom,” he said. 

He joined the Rapid Response Team (RRT) project, becoming the coordinator, and the RRT program manager.  RRT was then merged into Animal Feed Program, where Randy also served as program manager. 

He is particularly proud of the success and growth of Washington’s RRT, a multi-agency effort that works with local, state and federal partners to respond quickly to food and feed emergencies, such as contamination and food-borne illness outbreaks. 

“In outbreak response you’re often ‘in the trenches’ with folks from various agencies for long hours through holidays and weekends, and you form a kind of bond and friendship,” Randy said. “While it might not be as often, I’m excited that I’ll continue to work with much of my work family in a different capacity.”

Stepping up

Erin Coyle, who has worked with Randy since July 2019 as the agency’s emergency management specialist, will become interim program manager upon his departure. 

“She has done an absolutely stellar job, and I am certain that her energy and collaborative approach will continue to serve the program and the agency,” Randy noted. 

Erin joined WSDA five years ago. She worked as a certification specialist in the Organic Program for three years before joining the Rapid Response and Emergency Management Program. She credits Randy’s mentorship for the growth and leadership opportunities she’s had in the emergency management field.  

“It was through Randy’s support, partnership, and mutual respect that our program was able to navigate 626 (and counting) days activated to support an unprecedented state response to the COVID-19 pandemic and concurrent natural disasters,” Erin said. 

Erin also noted that she appreciates being able to maintain the personal friendship she developed with Randy and his wife, since they will both continue to be based in Spokane for their work. 

“I can’t say enough nice things about Randy; he has been a true asset to this agency,” she said.

Randy, center, with colleagues from WSDA, Washington Department of Health, and the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration at a national RRT meeting. 

In summary: Randy Treadwell, currently manager of the agency’s Rapid Response and Emergency Management Program, will leave WSDA as of Nov. 1 to take on a new career challenge as a project manager with the Association of Food and Drug Officials. Erin Coyle, who has worked with Randy since July 2019 as the agency’s emergency management specialist, will become interim program manager upon his departure. Read more about it in this Insider blog post.