District Office Spooktacular Halloween Fun (Photo Gallery)

Nashua Resident Engineer Receives Leadership Coin

Andrea King gave her leadership coin to Matt Daulton during 

this year's fall meeting. 

Merriam-Webster defines a leader as “someone who leads.”

Intermediate Constructions Inspector Andrea King offered a more descriptive definition at this year’s fall meeting when she presented Resident Engineer Matt Daulton with a MoDOT leadership coin.

“A leader at MoDOT is someone who aspires for greatness and inspires greatness in others,” King said.

King went on to share how Daulton meets that criteria. Daulton has been with MoDOT since 2009. 

He became resident engineer for the Nashua building, where King works, in August of 2016.

“You pushed us to think about why we do the things we do and how we can change and improve,” King said to Daulton at the fall meeting. “Your passion is contagious. You set clear goals and expectations, you mentor and advise. You genuinely care about our personal and professional growth. 

With charisma and confidence, you drive the team forward not by dominance, but motivating the team to drive ourselves. You inspire greatness in all of us. You are a MoDOT leader.”

Daulton did not know that King was presenting him with the leadership coin until she came up front to give her speech.

“It definitely caught me by surprise,” Daulton said. “I was actually reading a work email on my cell phone when they called me up there.”

MoDOT’s “Leadership in Action” program began in September 2017 with 200 leadership coins distributed throughout the department. These coins were then passed on by recipients to other MoDOT employees who demonstrate leadership and continue to be passed on to this day.

King received her leadership coin from District Construction and Materials Engineer Brian Burger in January of this year.

“After Andrea noticed a need for training within our district, she took it upon herself to establish a training team, gathering input from others and the result was two full days of training topics led by her team,” Burger said in an email that outlined why he decided to present King with a leadership coin.

King waited nine months before she passed her coin along. She said she knew it was time to pass it on when she decided to give the coin to Daulton.

“He’s really gone above and beyond to build each person at this office to figure out their strengths and push them to their goals,” King said. “He pushes us not just in our career at MoDOT but in our career path.”

Daulton said he feels proud to have received a leadership coin and looks forward to passing his coin on to another MoDOT leader.

“It made me feel validated that what I’m trying to do is working,” Daulton said. “The leadership coins are a very cool thing.”

Safety First: New Hires Receive Safety Training

Safety and Health Manager Eric Ramsey presented a safety training to 36 new MoDOT employees on Tuesday, Oct. 22.

“This training is designed to establish the fundamental safety information critical to function in this extremely hazardous profession. Employees gain key information about why and how to use personal protective equipment, how to avoid injuries by always using 3 points of contact, safe operation with and around heights, heavy equipment, trenches and confined spaces,” Ramsey said. “The most important aspect of this training is to emphasize our expectation to establish a sustained total safety culture. Safety should be a value we all share—not simply an action or type of clothing. We discuss watching out for one another and working as a team to be safe.”

If new employees walk away from the training with just one thing, Ramsey said he hopes they understand that safety is a value shared at MoDOT.

Along with training for new hires, MoDOT supervisors reinforce the value of safety regularly. Safety Officer Jim Taylor also provides weekly safety news tips posted on our Kansas City News Network televisions throughout the district.  

2019 Veterans Day Breakfast

This year we will honor Kansas City District MoDOT veterans with breakfast on Friday, Nov. 8 at 8 a.m. at Sandy's restaurant, 1255 SW, MO-7. Please pass this information on to all the veterans on our team.

Community Member Gives Richmond Maintenance Team a Virtual Pat on the Back

In the age of Twitter rage and Facebook rants, positive comments often seem like a rare commodity. 

But last week one resident went out of his way to praise the work the Richmond Maintenance Team did near his home on Highway K.

“You went above and beyond on the culvert replacement,” the resident told Senior Customer Service Representative Debra Huwar.

Huwar said the man went on to say, “MoDOT did a fantastic job and he wants to extend a big thank you and pat on the backs to all who did this job.”

This message came through on Thursday, Oct. 17 when the Richmond maintenance team was at the fall meetings.

“They were surprised,” said crew leader Thomas Gray.

People don’t often go out of their way to call MoDOT and compliment crew member but when they do, Gray said the employees don’t take it for granted.

“It makes the crew feel appreciated,” Gray said. “Granted they are just doing their job, but to feel appreciated while doing your job is important.”

MoDOT Participates in Truck or Treat

MoDOT employees spread awareness of maintenance activities and our Buckle Up Phone Down campaign at the Truck or Treat event from noon to 3 p.m., on Saturday, Oct. 19, at Independence Center.

Fall Meetings 2019 - Pie Throwing (Photo Gallery)