Daily Herald honors eight employees for excellence

Eight employees of Paddock Publications Inc., parent company of the Daily Herald and other publications, were recognized this week for professional excellence and commitment to the community in 2015.

"It is staff members such as those selected and dozens of others who were nominated who lead the company in this time of change in our business," said Douglas K. Ray, chairman, publisher and CEO of Paddock Publications, which also publishes the Business Ledger, Reflejos and other publications. "They represent the best of the best and are the primary reason our company has been successful when so many other media companies have not. It is true that a newspaper is only as good as those who produce it, and our staff is the best."

This year's winners of the company's Excellence Awards, given since 1972, are:

• Administrative Excellence Award: Linda Calato of Elk Grove Village. Calato, the editorial department's executive secretary, also takes her responsibility as payroll chief seriously "and treats it with meticulous care," said Senior Vice President and Editor John Lampinen. Calato has spent 17 years with the company.

• Margie Paddock Flanders Advertising Excellence Award: Tammy Bruno of Hoffman Estates. Bruno, a three-year employee, was recognized for being "friendly, focused and formidable," said Assistant Vice President and Director of Advertising Pete Rosengren. She "raises her game to whatever level is necessary to win the business," he said.

• Operations Excellence Award: Kari Irwin of Chicago. A three-year employee, Irwin helped create the Daily Herald Media Group website and has taken classes in marketing, HTML and web design on her own time, said Assistant Vice President and Director of Strategic Marketing and Innovation M. Eileen Brown. "She is the master at figuring things out," Brown said.

• Editorial Excellence Award: Bruce Miles of Schaumburg. Miles, the dean of Cubs beat reporters, is a "coveted individual that people embrace," said Lampinen, pointing to his 18,000 Twitter followers and appearances on TV and radio. Miles was also named the Illinois Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association in 2014. He started covering high school sports for the Daily Herald in 1981.

• Stuart R. Paddock Jr. Manager Excellence Award: Tom Quinlan of Mount Prospect. An employee for 37 years and Sports Editor for almost two decades, Quinlan "put his arm around the sports staff and others in the newsroom to be a source of strength and comfort" following the untimely deaths of hockey writers Mike Spellman and Tim Sassone, Lampinen said.

• Production Excellence Award: Jim Masel of Elgin. The 10-year employee started at the printing center as a mechanic, but the company tapped into his commercial printing background when it purchased a new sheet-fed press and needed someone to run it, said Senior Vice President and Director of Production Stefanie Anderson. "His attention to detail and quality is just spectacular," she said.

• Excellence Award for Part-Time Employees: Lisa Benson of Hoffman Estates. Benson, a three-year employee, volunteered to take over responsibilities of the company's retirement plan. "Lisa has an excellent accounting education and much experience, but what really sets her apart is her customer service attitude," wrote Senior Vice President and Treasurer Kent Johnson.

• Robert Y. Paddock Sr. Community Service Award: Cesar Navarrete of Hanover Park. After his night shift, the 7-year pressman volunteers at his church, Lutheran Church of the Master in Carol Stream, by feeding the homeless and removing and sanitizing beds and linen. He also packs food boxes for Feed My Starving Children, which ships food to Third World countries.