(JUNEAU, Alaska) – The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) awarded six individuals and groups for their exceptional service to the State of Alaska during last week’s Denali Peak Performance Awards ceremony, hosted at Centennial Hall Convention Center in Juneau, Alaska. ADOT&PF was one of the most decorated state departments with two winners and four honorable mentions.

“Our employees across the state perform extraordinary tasks every day to keep Alaska moving. The Denali Awards is a great opportunity to return our gratitude for the exemplary service that these individuals and teams contributed to Alaska this past year,” said ADOT&PF Commissioner Marc Luiken.

Winner of the Exceptional Performance Award – Individual is William Giltner, ADOT&PF Maintenance Specialist Electrician. Giltner is known for his hard work and dedication, and is an unstoppable force when it comes to tough, extremely remote bush airport electrical repairs. He nearly singlehandedly reduced ADOT&PF’s Northern Region backlog of remote airport lighting repairs and significantly increased airport readiness.

Winner of the Crisis Responders Award – Team is the Valdez Avalanche Fighters. On January 24, 2014, multiple major avalanches broke lose in Thompson Pass and Keystone Canyon near Valdez. The avalanche debris covered thousands of feet of the highway in snow 40 to 100 feet deep and, as a result, the Lowe River became dammed creating a lake more than a half-mile long, 30 feet deep and filled with an estimated 1 billion gallons of water. The team worked tirelessly in a dangerous environment, day and night to remove up to 200,000 cubic yards of snow. The highway was declared open and safe for travel on Feb 5, 2014 after only a 13 day closure.

Honorable Mentions for ADOT&PF employees were the following:

• Innovation in Cost-Saving – Individual: John Frison, Mechanic, Fairbanks International Airport
• Exceptional Performance – Individual: Shad Parker, Driller, Design and Engineering Services
• Exceptional Performance – Team: Team Kantishna
• Exceptional Performance – Team: Tok District Patch Crew

A complete list of ADOT&PF Denali Peak Performance Award nominees and additional information about the winners and honorable mentions may be found at dot.alaska.gov/denali_awards.

The Governor's Denali Peak Performance Award program recognizes excellence in public service. Thousands of state employees have been recognized since the program's inception in 2006 for their dedication to excellence in their jobs. The program is driven by state employees who nominate coworkers that exhibit peak performance in their service to the people of Alaska.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities oversees 237 airports, 9 ferries serving 35 communities along 3,500 marine miles, over 5,600 miles of highway and 839 public facilities throughout the state of Alaska. The mission of the department is to “Keep Alaska Moving through service and infrastructure.”

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