State honors 3 for quality, productivity

Doug Nelson, right, presents an award to Jim Keathley in the Capitol Rotunda during the 2014 Governor's Award for Quality and Productivity. Nelson is commissioner or the Office of Administration and Keathley is a member of the Frequency Acquisition Team, MO Statewide Interoperability Network (MOSWIN) that received the Technology in Government award.
Doug Nelson, right, presents an award to Jim Keathley in the Capitol Rotunda during the 2014 Governor's Award for Quality and Productivity. Nelson is commissioner or the Office of Administration and Keathley is a member of the Frequency Acquisition Team, MO Statewide Interoperability Network (MOSWIN) that received the Technology in Government award.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon presented three awards Thursday to state employees to honor their quality of work, efficiency and productivity.

The 2014 Governor's Awards for Quality and Productivity were presented by the Office of Administration. The program is administered by the Missouri Division of Personnel's Center for Management and Professional Development.

The efficiency and process improvement award went to the Digital Forensic Investigative Unit (DFIU) project, which was a combined effort of the Department of Public Safety and Missouri Highway Patrol. They were awarded for their investigations of the sexual exploitation of children.

"It is certainly a team effort," said Col. Ronald Replogle, Patrol superintendent. "Now that the team has been constructed and the efficiencies implemented, it is anticipated that the number of investigations will continue to increase. In 2014 alone, the DFIU officers have arrested three school teachers from within the classrooms that were responsible for child exploitation. This is a direct and measurable example of the unit's effort to protect Missouri's greatest resource, our children."

The award for innovation went to Missouri Eat Smart Child Care project, which was a combined effort of the Department of Health and Senior Services, the Missouri Council on Activity and Nutrition, the Child Care Aware of Missouri and the University of Missouri Extension. The project improved the health of Missouri's children by encouraging child care providers to meet the Missouri Eat Smart guidelines. These guidelines exceed the minimum standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and state licensing requirements.

"I am happy to be here today to recognize the people who made the (Eat Smart) program a success," said Gail Vasterling, director of the Department of Health and Senior Services. "The initiative was developed as a proactive step to prevent childhood weight issues and to reduce obesity among Missouri's children. Obesity is now the No. 1 health concern among parents in the United States. Today, 138 Eat Smart facilities have been recognized, reaching 7,345 children, of which 76 percent are from low-income families."

The technology in government award went to the Frequency Acquisition Team project which was a project by the Missouri Statewide Interoperability Network (MOSWIN). MOSWIN's project created a land mobile radio communications system that provides interoperability among state, local and federal public safety agencies.

"It is truly my privilege to be part of recognizing the members of the MOSWIN team," said Andrea Spillars, deputy director of the Department of Public Safety. "We now have over 900 agencies and 25,000 radios operating on this system. The system has allowed state and local first responders to communicate during all manners of disasters, including flooding, tornadoes, snow storms and fires. It is not an overstatement to say the MOSWIN will save lives for many years to come."