Sunburst Volume 6 Issue 3

8/7/2019 Sunburst Volume 6 Issue 3

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Volume 6 Issue 3

September 2009

2009 Trainee Forum Edition

Trainee Forum 2009 2

Manager Spotlight::Matt Poisson

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Over the Horizon:New Grads in Detroit

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Over the Horizon:Sand, soil, and suds

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Horizon of Excellence 7

First week on the job 8

In This Issue:

Chicago, IL

Giovanni Diaz

Joshua WesthouseNathan Ingersoll

Rhonda Hill

William Winczner

Gregory Tiffany

Elizabeth Madison

Breean Hayes

Bret Culen

Naveed Nabavi

Russell Swickheimer

Katie Brazeau

Matthew Swanson

Cary Kubiak

Gia Roberts

Latrese WilliamsJulia Hagenmeyer

Anthony Silverman

Aaron Schlott

Brian Orr

Lindsey Fahey

Arissa Soper

Ohio Service Center

Joseph Blake

Daniel Essenmacher

David Zeeb

Sarah Zemanek

Bethany Moore

Michigan Service Center

Daniel Nitu

Ronald Smith

Jerrud Parker

Pamela Brown

Thomas Beard

Minnesota / WisconsinService Center

Rosemarie Buchalski

Do you have on a tie?

At a recent telecon-ference panel, to every-ones surprise, that wasthe first question asked!Even though GSA doesnot have an official dresscode, the rule of thumbseems to be come towork dressed better thanyour manager.

I am sure you have

all heard the saying

dress for success im-plying that you shouldarrive to work everydaydressed like you are re-ceiving a promotion.While I am not suggest-ing you wear a suit andtie or stockings andhigh-heeled shoes every-day, you should not getcomfortable with the idea

that no one pays atten-

tion. In fact, it is quitethe opposite EVERY-

ONE pays attention.

The next time youput your tie back on thehanger or reach for yourcomfy flip flops, thinktwice about the message

you want to send.

-Teneshia Miller

Coordinators Corner

Trainees from across the Great Lakes Region descended on the Windy City for the2009 PBS Trainee Forum. The three-day event was packed with informative

panels, employee recognition, and plenty of fun. For full coverage, see Pages 2-3.

Sarah Andrae

Elisabeth

Bordelon

Krystal Blue

Edmee Castro

Justin Costello

Pamela Davis

Bridget Egan

Leslie Gonzalez

Joslann GrayAbdulrahman

Habeeb

Harpreet Heer

Jamakia Harris

Romina Jimenez-Noeckel

Lacie Kaiser

David Lamb

Malcolm Lewis

Marco Lopez

Cecelia

McCoppin

Thomas Nisivaco

Ryan Raschke

Brian Weiss

Brandon Whittier

Shekita

Wimberly

Vanessa Zahora

Congratulations to2009s PBS TraineeProgram Graduates!

Above: A full house for one of the Trainee Forums manyinformative training seminars.

Below: PBS directors such as Jerry Gucfa (far left) sharetheir insights and experience with future leaders.

Horizons

Newest Members:

Dress for success (Part 2 of 4 on Professionalism)


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Page 2

At the end of August, Region 5trainees spent some time in Chicagofor the 2009 PBS Trainee Forum. Forthree days, trainees met in the RalphH. Metcalfe Federal Building forpanel sessions, team-building exer-

cises, and networking opportunities.

Panel sessions covered a varietyof topics and were presented bytrainees, supervisors, and directors.To name a few: trainee Irene Stama-takis discussed architectural licens-ing through GSA; ChristineMcKenna, Client Delivery Team Man-ager, gave an overview of Census2010; and Robert Nawrocki, PBSChief of Staff, presented a sessionabout the national consistency effort.

Nancy Smith, PBS Training Coor-dinator, offered team building activi-ties that involved taking a projectfrom design through construction,and finally to completion and costanalysis. At the same time, Clay Wil-

son and Paul Tsagaroulis offered en-gagement sessions focused on com-piling feedback, thoughts, and sug-gestions for the Trainee Program.

Throughout the Forum, traineeswere able to hear presentations fromdivision directors. This provided anexcellent opportunity to learn aboutthe directors responsibilities, alongwith each divisions role within GSA.Also, trainees were able to meet andnetwork with directors during round-table discussions offered on the sec-

ond day of the Forum.On the second day, directors,

mentors, coaches, and trainees gath-ered for the Annual Trainee AwardCeremony. John Siegel, CustomerProjects Service Centers Deputy Di-rector, emceed the event and deliv-ered a speech about what drew himto government and his passion forservice. Each division and servicecenter nominated a trainee or twowho deserved Outstanding Trainee

Recognition. The recipients were:

Customer Services Service Center

Kristina Wallig

Kimberly Skaff

Budget & Financial Management

Evelyn Yang

Organizational Resources

Ashley Tracy

Mike Mitchell

Client Solutions/Real Estate Acqui-

sition

Yaniv Arazy

Design and Construction CapitalConstruction Projects

Pat McCarthy

Ron Snow

Land Port of Entry

William Chapman

James Guidos

Ohio Service Center

Shawna Goldner

Jordan Dykstra

Michigan Service Center

Rebecca Hoover

Patrick Russell

Southern Illinois/Indiana

Service Center

Douglas Gerlemann

Minnesota/Wisconsin

Service Center

Michelle Bies

Greater Chicagoland Service Center

Lindsey Dault

Eric Firestone

Chicago Regional Office

Ryan Beard

-Mike Mitchell & Kristina Wallig

Above: Kristina Wallig and Kimberly Skaff arerecognized by John Siegel.

Below: Ron Snow and Pat McCarthy receivehonors from Don Whitacre.

At right: Bruce Wagner congratu-lates Douglas Gerlemann on hisOutstanding Trainee Recognition


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The Horizon Committeewelcomed the Trainee Fo-rum fine fashion with flip-pie-floppies on a boat-boat!If you dont watch Saturday

Night Live, go to YouTubeand search I am on aboat, and you will under-

stand.

The Weber Grill was thevenue for dinner and inter-acting with fellow trainees.There were approximately45 trainees in attendance.The food was amazing, withmeals ranging from a basicburger to the world-famousbarbecued chicken or steak.

Trainees were able to mingle for anhour or so during the meal. Soon

after, even more fun began!

From dinner to the boat tour, wehad an interesting downtown adven-ture. Some of the group went one

way, while the rest went another. In

fact, one group ended up so faracross town that they took a limou-sine to the tour. Meanwhile, anothergroup noticed they were walking thewrong way and was a little bit late.Everyone that was with our party

that night, save a few, was ableto enjoy the boat tour.

The Horizon Committee madereservations with a sight-seeingboat tour that included fire-works. The boat trip was awe-some with plenty of amenities.We were able to see one of theworlds greatest skylines lit up atnight. The tour included a nar-rator that called out importantlandmarks, who designed them,and other interesting informa-tion.

Everyone enjoyed themselvesand cant wait for next year.Thank you so much to the Hori-zon Committee for coordinating

everything, and to all the traineeswho were able to enjoy the festivities.

See you next year!

-Daniel P. Essenmacher

Taking in the sights of Chicago

Save Ferris (State). (l-r): Michelle Bies, Eric Firestone, JosephBlake, Lindsay Dault, David Zeeb, Josh Westhouse, Daniel P.Essenmacher, and Liz Madison tour Chicagos lakeshore.

PBS Great Lakes Region trainees commemorate the conclusion of a fun and enriching 2009 Trainee Forum.


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MANAGER SPOTLIGHTMatt Poisson keeps in tune with new challenges

BiographyMatthew Poisson is a Customer

Delivery Team Manager in the Cus-tomer Projects Service Center. Mr.Poissons team oversees the portfo-lio of space assignments for the De-partment of the Treasury, the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency, theDepartment of Agriculture, the De-partment of the Interior, and the

Department of Energy.

Mr. Poisson holds a B.S. inElectrical Engineering from the Uni-versity of Illinois at Chicago, and aMasters in Business Administration

from Roosevelt University in Chi-cago. He is also the lead singer ofInRoads, a local cover band, andwowed the crowd at the 2008 Holi-

day party.

Additionally, Mr. Poisson is theproud father of 10-month old An-thony, who he is raising to be anavid Chicago Cubs fan by takinghim to over a dozen games this sea-

son.

Interview1. How did you get your start atGSA, and how did you get to yourcurrent position?

During my junior year of collegeat UIC, I was looking for internshipsand GSA approached me. I startedas a GS-3 co-op employee, filingdrawings and doing basic clericalwork on the 40th floor of the JCK.After my graduation from UIC, I washired/converted as an electrical en-gineer and began running below-

prospectus projects in the Designand Construction Branch of Prop-erty Management.

I then became a Lead ProjectManager working in the TechnicalServices Branch in Southern Illinoisand Indiana. Following that, I tooka position as a supervisor in theTechnical Services Branch for thestate of Ohio (this was before the

region was broken into Service Cen-

ters).

In October of 2004, I became aCustomer Delivery Team Manager inthe Customer Projects Division (now

Customer Projects Service Center).

2. Do you have any advice for em-ployees new to the GSA?

The best advice I could give is toembrace your rotational assignmentswithin GSA. I took brief rotations asa property manager and as a con-

tract specialist.

While I was a supervisor in Tech-nical Services, I sought an opportu-nity to become a Regional AccountManager (RAM) for the USMS [UnitedStates Marshals Service] before theformal RAM program existed. I vol-unteered for this additional duty inorder to learn more about other partsof the organization. Learning moreabout the customer, their budgetary

constraints, and their space needs,helped position me to take a role inwhat is now the Customer Projects

Service Center.

GSA is a very large organizationwith many opportunities. Search forand create opportunities to learn andgrow here dont just wait for oppor-tunities to come to you. Also, it isvery important to know how what

you do fits in with the rest of theorganization, and rotations are veryhelpful in gaining understanding of

how all the parts fit together.

3. What information and traininghas been most vital to your suc-cess at GSA?

Learning from subject matterexperts has taught me a lot aboutmy job throughout my career. For-mal education can only take you sofar. We often wind up working inpositions unrelated to our formaleducation, and that is where learn-

ing from the experts throughout theorganization comes in. I neverwould have thought, after graduat-ing with a B.S. in Electrical Engi-neering, that I would be a CustomerDelivery Team Manager.

Recently, the most interestingclass Ive taken was an overview ofthe Federal Budget Process. Theclass explained how Congress com-piles, reviews, and passes the ap-propriation bills that fund the agen-cies and how the money works itsway down to the agency level. Oneof the most beneficial parts of theclass was reading through the GSAAppropriations Act to see how GSA

is actually funded.

4. What interesting projects arecurrently on your desk?

Currently, my team is workingon a National Park Service projectfor the Department of the Interior.We are working with the City of In-ternational Falls, Minnesota, as the

developer, to potentially develop alandsite for National Park Serviceheadquarters, office space, and amuseum. This is a high-profile pro-ject with lots of Congressional inter-est, and has kept me quite busy.

As part of the process, the GSAteam met with a counsel man, the

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city planner, and the mayor of Inter-national Falls a couple of weeks ago.

We are now meeting with the Comp-troller of the Department of the Inte-rior to try to work through theirbudgetary concerns. I am not surehow it is going to turn out, but it hasbeen interesting so far.

5. Can you tell us a bit about In-Roads? When and where are youplaying next?

I didnt join a band until I was inmy mid 20s, but I have been playingwith InRoads now for about 11years, and I really enjoy it. It helps

keep me sane! A lot of my friendsplay softball for a hobby. Well, I wasnever very good at softball, so I de-cided to join a band instead. I al-ways had a love for music so I de-cided to work on some skills to make

that possible.

I am the lead singer and play alittle bit of guitar and harmonica. Ialso manage the business side of theband (booking gigs, etc.) We play

about two shows a month and justhave a blast out there on stage. Weusually draw 75 to 100 people, andthere are a lot of GSA people who

show up (you know who you are).We have upcoming shows at

Healys Westside in Forest Park onSeptember 26 and Galvins PublicHouse on October 10. Since it mightbe a little tacky to list my websitehere, if anyone wants to talk moreabout it, just stop on by.

-Caleb Hansen

Matt Poisson, Customer Delivery Team Manager

On June 17, trainees from theGreat Lakes Regions Michigan Ser-vice Center threw a graduation partyat Bookies Bar and Grille in Detroitfor Jamika Harris and Shekita Wim-berly. Both completed their finalpanel reports and have officiallygraduated from the Trainee Program.

The trip also served as a farewellto Shekita as the Service Center co-ordinator. She made sure to takeplenty of pictures in celebration of

the event.

Miranda Webster organized theouting, as well as a shuttle to trans-port everyone to and from the event.

As a result, this may become thenewest tradition in Detroit.

* * *

Mechanical Engineer Sandra"Vidi" Chavez of the Michigan ServiceCenter recently became the statesfirst Accredited Professional for GSAunder the Leadership in Energy andEnvironmental Design (LEED) pro-

gram.

After studying for months andpassing a three-hour exam on green

building design and efficient buildingoperations, Vidi has distinguishedherself with the knowledge and skills

to successfully steward the LEED

certification process.

* * *

On Friday, July 24, MichiganService Center trainees attended a

Detroit Tigers game. The Tigersplayed the Chicago White Sox and

won 5-1.

Before and after the game, train-ees, along with their friends andfamilies, met up at local bars and

restaurants for food and drinks.

Despite the heat, the trip provedto be fun, entertaining, and a great

bonding experience.

-Seth LaRocque

Michigan trainees batting 1.000

Trainees in Detroit celebrate their newest program graduates. Back row, from left to right:Miranda Webster, Jerrud Parker, Patrick Russell, Seth LaRocque, Aprili Miller, Nic Hus,Daniel Nitu.

Front row (l-r): Jamika Harris, Becky Hoover, Allison Crews, Rachel Ohman, Jeffery Carpen-ter, Shekita Wimberly

-Continued from page 4

Over The HorizonOver The Horizon


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Enjoying local pubs and homegrown grubFertile ground for service-mindedtrainees

Despite a few sprinkles, a hand-ful of trainees volunteered at

Ginkgo Organic Gardens in Lake-view on July 23.

Trainees helped this not-for-profit community garden plant car-rot seeds, clear out overgrown trees,and tend to ailing potato plants.They even got to sample some of thetasty produce. This work helped thegarden prepare for its weekend har-vest and donation of organic pro-duce to a local food pantry.

Think global, drink local

On July 12, several traineesheaded to Lincoln Park for an edu-cational and thirst-quenching tour

of the Goose Island Brewery. Train-ees learned about Goose Island'sbrewing process, from picking thehops to drawing craft beers fromthe tap. The tasting part of the tourincluded samples of 312 Urban

Wheat Ale and India Pale Ale.

Trainees rounded out the socialevent with food at Goose Island's

brewpub.

-Evelyn Yang

Carly Thompson, Brian Bogucki, and RyanBeard sample some of Chicagos finest home-town brew at Goose Island.

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Volleyball squad digs in for fun, teamworkThe end of summer was the

end to GSAs inaugural sand vol-leyball season. Cutting to thechase, the Oily Oysters finishedthe season with a 9-12 record.

Its a little lower than Horizonwould like on its resume, but lets

look at the bright side.

Even though the team atemore sand than the crowd whocame to watch its games(seagulls), the losses on the courtwere certainly offset by the winsand the Oysters spirit. Power for-ward and resident cheerleaderCarly Thompson has dubbed this arebuilding year for the team. Wellhave to check her math, giventheres been nothing to build from,but I think we can appreciate heroptimism. Carly struck fear in thehearts of her opponents when charg-ing the net for a spike like MistyMay-Treanor, only to admittedly gethit in the head with the ball becauseit came down at a weird angle. Ididnt know gravity pulled objects

north-northeast.

Many other GSA trainees partici-pated to make the event worth theprice of free admission. Irene Sta-matakis won the teams 110%

award. Greg Rackow was namedthe teams Most Valuable Player.His creation of the Triangle ofDoom maneuver accounted for ex-

actly 1.5 of the teams nine wins.Unfortunately The Tomahawk, an-other of Gregs signature moves, was

blamed for 12 of the teams 12losses, so maybe those MVP voteshad a few hanging chads. BridgetEgan also made a guest appearancefor the Oysters. The team was ex-cited a recent graduate of the pro-gram helped out for one game. Sheseemed to have lived up to the hype,leading the Oysters to their mostdominating victory of the season.

Although the Oysters cooperatedwell throughout the year, as an up-standing journalist, I had to refuse

Caleb Hansens bribes of Raw Barmoney to report on the infightingthat occurred on and off the court.Kimberly Skaff received flak from theteam after suffering a wrist injury

early in the season to end her2009 volleyball career. Kim-berly, to my knowledge neitherGSA nor the North AvenueBeach Volleyball Association

tests for steroids... be a teamplayer and get back out there.

Ironically, she received mostof her criticism from teammateRyan Beard. According to anunnamed source (this one I didaccept a bribe from), Ryan at-tempted to play a match the dayafter a 200-mile, three-day bikeride. I dont know if he thoughthe was Superman, but that day

volleyball truly was his kryptonite.Ryan would not stop complaininghow his legs were hurting him. Afterbeing told by Nathan Ingersoll thatmaybe he should sit this one out,Ryan went to a karaoke bar with hisbike-riding friends to drink his sor-rows away. Proof can be found atYouTube.com. Accordingly, I willaccept bribes to give you the link.

All feuds aside, the Oily Oystersfound a way to come out of their firstseason with some wins under theirbelt, and their heads held high.Maybe Kyle Van Someren can usesome of his memories from the sea-

son to create a slogan for next yearsteam. Might I suggest, A Pursuit of

Volleyball, A Legacy Unknown

-Brian Bogucki

Set for success: Back row: William Chapman, JessicaChapman. Front row (l-r): Amy Brentz, Nathan Inger-soll, Greg Rackow, Irene Stamatakis, Carly Thompson



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In every edition of the Sunburst, we like to shine thespotlight on a few top-performing trainees in Horizon ofExcellence. In this edition, Daniel P. Essenmacher and

Andrew Daglas tackle difficult questions posed by

Sunburstwriter and fellow trainee Patrick J. McEleney.

Horizon of Excellence

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Don Melcher, from the LandPorts of Entry Service Center, came

to Horizons monthly meeting todiscuss his job at GSA and what

LPOE does for its customers.

Melcher began by noting thelocations of the Land Ports in Re-gion 5 and mentioning the chal-lenges the program faces. Each pro-ject presents a collection of chal-

lenges: from the terrain andweather, to the sentiment of localcitizens and their governing offi-cials.

He went on to discuss some ofthe larger projects LPOE is workingon, including: the construction of anew Land Port of Entry at Warroad,Minnesota; the Feasibility Study ofa new Land Port of Entry at Inter-

national Falls, Minnesota; and theroof replacement in Sault Ste.Marie, Michigan the first LPOEproject in Region 5 to use AmericanRecovery and Reinvestment Actfunding.

LPOEs main customer is Cus-toms and Border Protection, a

branch of the Department of Home-land Security. Since it inspects thepeople and vehicles crossing intothe United States, CBP is consid-ered the countrys first line of de-fense. And, since GSA constructsand maintains our nations LandPorts of Entry, the program is ex-

tremely critical.

-William Chapman

Land Ports of Entrys Don Melcher (center)shares his experience with trainees, includingJim Guidos (left) and William Chapman (right)

Trainees briefed on LPOEs unique domain

In May, Hal Bohanand I delivered a presen-tation to the Battle CreekChapter of Green DrinksInternational. The pres-entation focused on en-ergy efficiency, EnergyStar ratings, and greenbuildings in relation tothe Hart-Dole-InouyeFederal Center. Atten-dees included BattleCreek city officials, citi-zens, and local compa-

nies and non-profit or-ganizations.

Green Drinks Inter-national strives to pro-mote discussion of localenvironmental issuesand connect the BattleCreek community to en-vironmental efforts and

information.

Also, Hal and I areBattle Creek Area CleanWater Partners Public

Education and Informa-

tion Subcommittee mem-bers. The subcommitteeaims to increase environ-me n ta l aware n e s sthrough education, ad-vertising, and localevents, such as RiverClean-Up Day. Servingon this subcommittee ledHal and I to our partici-pation in the local chap-

ter of Green Drinks.

-Dan Bartley

Green outreachin Battle Creek

Dan Bartley addresses eco-friendliness and energy efficiencyin the community


Daniel P. Essenmacher

Interesting Fact: I would like to get an MBA.

Where did you go to school? When did you gradu-ate? Major? Ferris State University, 2008, Facilities

Management.

Who are your favorite sports teams? Michigan StateUniversity or Ohio State University - College; Pistons -Pro Basketball.

What do you enjoy doing outside of the office?

Working on computers.

If you knew that today was your last day on Earth,

how would you spend it? I would spend it skydiving. Iprobably wont ever do that unless I KNEW which day itwas.

3 words your friends use to describe you? Person-able, precise, and prompt.

What is your favorite movie? Classic - Dumb and

Dumber; recent release - Iron Man.

What did you do before working at GSA? I worked inFacilities Management for a credit union in Michigan.

If you could have lunch with anyone, alive or de-

ceased, who would it be and why? Frank LloydWright, just to pick his brain.


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Andrew Daglas

Interesting Fact: In college, I interned at WGN Sports. I gotto work on the production of Cubs, White Sox, and Bulls tele-casts, including assisting at the announcers table and broad-

cast booths. I also had the chance to watch part of a gamefrom atop the Wrigley Field scoreboard.

Where did you go to school? When did you graduate? Ma-jor? I have a journalism degree (2003) and an MBA (2008),

both from DePaul University.

Who are your favorite sports teams? Bulls, Bears, Black-hawks, Cubs.

What do you enjoy doing outside the office? I read a lot,and I enjoy fairly obscure strategy board games (a.k.a.

eurogames). On a related note, Im single.

If you knew today was your last day on Earth, how would

you spend it and why? Laundry. Guess I couldnt put it off

any longer at that point.3 words your friends would use to describe you? Please goaway.

What is your favorite movie? The Apartment, with Jack

Lemmon.

What did you do before working at GSA? Most recently,third-party transportation logistics. I did a brief stint as asportswriter after college.

If you could have lunch with anyone, alive or deceased,

who would it be and why? Teddy Roosevelt. Or AnneHathaway.

HORIZONU.S. General Services Administration

Public Buildings Service

I hope you enjoyed this issue of Sunburst: AHorizon Newsletter! If you have any ideas forarticles, or would like to submit your own,

please send an email to [email protected] [email protected]. If you are

interested in assisting Kristina with theSunburst newsletter, please contact her.

Page 8

SUNBURSTSTAFF

Horizon of Excellence

CO-CHAIRS

Ashley Tracy

Kristina Wallig

CONTRIBUTORS

Dan Bartley

Brian Bogucki

William Chapman

Andrew Daglas

Dan Essenmacher

Caleb Hansen

Rebecca Hoover

Seth LaRocque

Patrick McEleny

Teneshia Miller

Mike Mitchell

Carly Thompson

Evelyn Yang

Documents

Sunburst Volume 6 Issue 3