4/14/2021
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Good Afternoon MTAS!
It’s been a while since I wrote a Mustard to you. Thank you to everyone who gave me feedback about this communication. I will try to incorporate those thoughts, ideas, and suggestions.
One of the suggestions was to share the “impact statements” that I collect and send to IPS for potential story ideas in the Brighter TN and news stories that are shared with President Boyd’s office, so that he can tell our story while he is meeting with stakeholders across the state. Impact statements are brief snippets that cover who the customer is that we worked for, what it was that we did for the customer, and the impact of what we did – why the work we did matters. Here are a few recent submissions:
Who: Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS), in conjunction with the Naifeh Center for Effective Leadership (NCEL) through a Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) grant made available by the USDA.
What: Developed and facilitated the first virtual session of a training academy for low-income rural communities in the Appalachian region of Tennessee.
Why it Matters: The primary goal of the program is to improve community facilities and promote economic and community development. This program teaches the importance of leadership, innovation, growth, and resilience, but more importantly, how they are interconnected with community facility improvements, economic development and community development.
Who: The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC)
What: A 1-hour nationwide video presentation via Zoom on Cancer Risk Reduction Strategies in the Fire Service.
What is the impact? 111 people watched the one-hour presentation. The presentation covered topics on how to reduce firefighters’ exposure to cancer causing chemicals and substances in the fire station, on the fire scene, in the apparatus, in their personal cars (as many are volunteer firefighters), and in their homes. The presentation covered cost-effective decontamination processes and provided many resources so participants could create cost-effective training and cancer risk reduction programs in their fire departments. The result will be a firefighter’s increased awareness of cancer-causing exposures, and a reduction in the incidence of cancer in firefighters from their exposure to carcinogens on the job.
Rachel Buczynski, NVFC Program Manager who coordinated the presentation, sent me a post-webinar email that said “I just wanted to follow up and let you know that your session received our highest rankings on our post-event survey!” so the program was well received and MTAS received positive exposure.
Who: The Center for Industrial Services (CIS) reached out to the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) Training and Development Team to assist a mutual customer, the Lenoir City Utility Board (LCUB).
What: MTAS Training and Development Team prepared and facilitated a Developing Positive Work Relationships in-person course for LCUB.
Why it Matters: This is an example of sister agencies working together for the benefit of a common customer.
What we do every day really matters to this state! I hope you never doubt this.
Next, I’d like to highlight a celebration that occurred on February 23: Kelley Myers graduated in the first-ever class of the Administrative Professionals Academy. Way to go Kelley! Here is a photo from the ceremony.
The keynote speaker, Kim Harmon, Inspector General in the TN Department of Finance and Administration, spoke about the four legs that we need to have for balance: (1) emotional – know your limits and respect them because “you find what you’re looking for.” (2) mental – never stop learning; (3) physical – take care of your body because you only get one; and (4) spiritual – believe in something bigger than yourself and give back. “It will get you through the tough times.” Congratulations on completing the program Kelley and for applying what you have learned to improve the outcomes for our customers!
I’ll continue with the celebrations and tell you about all the work anniversaries and birthdays that have happened over the last month and a half. Let’s start with birthdays – happy birthday wishes go to: Stephanie (Feb. 21), Wes (Feb. 25), Michelle (March 8), Betsy (March 10), Peter (March 11), Frances (March 23) and Yolanda (April 6). Next, here are the work anniversaries: Dawn (Feb. 22), Peter (Feb. 24), Al (March 1), Pat (March 1), Sarah (March 1), Kay (March 1), John G. (March 16), Armintha (March 27), Lisa (March 27), and Warren (April 1). Collectively, these ten individuals have an astounding 185 years of service to MTAS. Way to go! Congratulations to all of you for making another trip around the sun.
Now, we passed another milestone in March, and that was the one-year mark of the declaration of the Coronavirus pandemic. We’ve been wearing masks so long now that it’s almost easy to forget what it was like to just walk out the door and not think about wearing a face covering. Please continue to keep your vigilance up however. I received my second vaccination last week and I’m looking forward to the peace of mind that comes with the second shot. That doesn’t mean I will stop wearing a mask though. We are still in the pandemic and need to do everything we can to get through it and past it. Please go get vaccinated – everyone in the state over the age of 16 is now eligible to receive the vaccine. For the latest information on statistics and vaccine locations, here is the link to the department of health’s COVID website: https://www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov.html.
On to a few announcements. President Boyd will be talking directly with MTAS and TLC staff on April 27th at 11:00 eastern/10:00 central - please save the date and plan to attend this virtual meeting with him. If your calendar is booked, never fear, you can join one of the other agency’s meetings on April 27 2:00/1:00 or April 28 2:00/1:00. Don’t miss this opportunity to directly speak with the UT president! Here are all the details you’ll need to attend a meeting:
Municipal Technical Advisory Service - April 27 at 11 a.m. (EST)
Tennessee Language Center
https://tennessee.zoom.us/j/95577736738
Password: 632674
IPS Administration - April 27 at 2 p.m. (EST)
Naifeh Center for Effective Leadership
Law Enforcement Innovation Center
https://tennessee.zoom.us/j/97411881375
Password: 957387
Center for Industrial Services - April 28 at 2 p.m. (EST)
County Technical Assistance Service
https://tennessee.zoom.us/j/91349635257
Password: 751285
In other news, the work from home program (Alternate Workplace Arrangement = AWA) begins IPS-wide on June 1. Wahoo! This is a tremendous benefit and gives us a great amount of flexibility. To participate, you’ll need to attend one of the training sessions and sign the acknowledgement form. To be clear, you don’t have to participate in the program, this is optional. Please know that in the future, those who are in the program may have office space reconfigured. To be blunt, if you are only coming into the office one or two days a week, you may lose your office and instead may make use of a communal “free address” space. Your office may become a locked, rolling “locker” or filing cabinet that you wheel up to an open desk area. Please read carefully the description of the program, particularly the parts about office assignments; and when you sign the acknowledgement agreement, you are stating that you’re okay with this. Please make sure you fully understand the program, its benefits and its potential pain points (if you are only comfortable in a traditional office space).
This program will have an impact on our itinerary database, so I’d like to give you some guidelines on how to enter your location:
When you are working outside of the office, enter “Home Office” or list the locations that you plan to be that day. For example, if I was doing city visits, I’d enter “Bean Station, Rutledge, Blaine and Plainview.”
When you are working in the office, enter “Office.”
If a day is a combination, then enter “Leave in the morning, home office in the afternoon” or “Office in AM, Plainview in PM” or “Meeting on campus in the morning, office in the afternoon.”
From a risk management standpoint, it’s important to know where you plan to be. I’m not trying to track your every move, instead, I want to be able to get help to you if you have an accident or a medical emergency while you’re away from the office.
Okay, this was a lot of information that I just gave to you. I’ll stop it here and try to get back toward a more routine schedule, although the feedback you gave me was that maybe it doesn’t need to be weekly. We’ll see how it goes.
I hope you continue to stay healthy, stay safe, and do awesome work for TN municipalities!
Most sincerely,
Margaret
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