Paddock cites nine employees for outstanding efforts

The Daily Herald and its parent Paddock Publications have recognized nine employees in an annual celebration of excellence throughout the company's operations.

The 45th year of the Daily Herald recognition cited the efforts of individual employees in every major department of the company and this year added categories to encompass southern Illinois publications Paddock has acquired in the past two years. Included among the awards were separate citations to employees for involvement in community service in the Daily Herald circulation area and in the southern Illinois region.

"For those of us in senior management and for the staff, the awards are special, in that the winners set the standards for all of us," said Doug Ray, Paddock's chairman, publisher and chief executive officer. "It is literally true that a newspaper is a special place, where the product is only as good as those who produce it. Every day we start from scratch, and now digitally it seems every few minutes, creating a local news report along with a variety of information for our readers which in the end helps make the community a better place. Every department contributes to that mission, and these award winners were standard-bearers of excellence in 2017."

Winners of the awards this year were:

• Administrative Award of Excellence: Brent D. Koss, assistant building engineer, who joined the company in 2012.

• Margie Paddock Flanders Sales Award of Excellence: Jessica E. Washington, multimedia sales executive, who joined the company sales team in 2015

• Editorial Excellence Award: Photographer John Starks, a Daily Herald staff photographer since 1997.

• Stuart R. Paddock Jr. Leadership Award of Excellence: Donald Stamper, director of production, who joined the company in 2014.

• Operations Award of Excellence: Tracy Hancock, production coordinator and a Daily Herald employee since 2013.

• Part-time Award of Excellence: Lance Givens, a newspaper processor with the company for more than 10 years.

• Robert Y. Paddock, Sr. Community Service Award: Kim Becker, a multiplatform copy editor with the company since June 1993.

• Robert Y. Paddock, Sr. Community Service Award: Holly Kee, a southern Illinois reporter with the company since October 2016.

• Southern Illinois LOCAL Media Group Award of Excellence: Kathy Metcalf, a multimedia sales executive who continues in a role with Paddock that she assumed in southern Illinois in 2005.