Eleven individuals have received the Governor’s Achievement Award for overcoming personal barriers to achieve professional success. Rendell administration officials and representatives of state workforce development agencies personally recognized them for their accomplishments.

The awards were presented at the 26th annual Pennsylvania Partners Employment, Training & Education Conference, held at the Hershey Lodge & Convention Center on May 19.

The awards are jointly sponsored by state workforce development agencies – the departments of Labor & Industry, Aging, Education and Public Welfare – and Pennsylvania Partners to recognize exceptional employees who have benefited from the state’s many workforce development programs.

“The individuals we honor today are proof of what people and Pennsylvania can accomplish when working together toward a common goal: career-focused employment that pays a family-sustaining wage,” said Christine Enright, director of the Department of Labor & Industry Bureau of Workforce Development Partnership. “These accomplishments are extraordinary, and these individuals are to be admired.”

The awards also salute employers who hire older workers and former cash assistance recipients, and honor employers who are dedicated to expanding education and employment.

“CVS did a study of its older workers and found that they are much less likely to call in sick. When CVS looked at their job duties, more myths were bashed. Seventy-year-olds were still lifting heavy boxes; 90-year-olds held demanding managerial positions. This is why we’re here,” said Secretary of Aging John Michael Hall. “It’s because you’re proving that your generation has made -- and still is making -- a tremendous contribution.”

“These inspiring individuals serve as great examples of what can be accomplished when self-determination and hard work are coupled with, and supported by, the vision of the commonwealth and its employers,” said Department of Public Welfare Secretary Harriet Dichter.

Pennsylvania Partners, an association of workforce development professionals in each of the commonwealth’s 22 workforce investment areas, sponsors this annual event that attracts more than 1,200 private and public job-training experts from across Pennsylvania.

For more information about individual winners, visit www.paworkforce.state.pa.us.

The award winners recognized are:

Pennsylvania Department of Aging

Outstanding Senior Community Service Employment Program Participant

• Kathleen Thomas, Philadelphia County 

Direct Care Worker of the Year

• Marian Hollibaugh, Beaver County
   

Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry and Pennsylvania Partners Workforce Investment Act Awards

Workforce Investment Act Youth Program Participant

• Joshua Calvin, Lawrence and Mercer counties

Workforce Investment Act Adult Program Participant

• Walter Harnett, Bucks County

Workforce Investment Act Dislocated Worker Program Participant

• James Henderson, Bucks County
   

Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Program Participant Awards

• Angela Barretta, Lawrence and Mercer counties
• Jenny Bosak, Fayette and Westmoreland counties
• Tina Dixon, Lehigh and Northampton counties
• Stephanie Marcel, Philadelphia County
• Christopher Williams, Lancaster County
• Jason Babis, Erie County