On Tuesday, Feb. 18, the Dakota County Board of Commissioners held its 2025 employee recognition ceremony celebrating some of its longest-working employees.
The ceremony celebrated the longevity of the county’s workforce, recognizing those employees who had stayed with the county from 10, all the way to 50 years. Manager of Accounting Payroll Brian Christensen was recognized for his 50 years in the county. Alongside his wife Cathy Christensen, who is Technical Services Supervisor at Dakota County Library, the couple has worked for Dakota County a combined 97 years.
The board also presented several awards at the ceremony. First was the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Award. The IDEA award was created in 2023 and is awarded as a group and to an individual for work advancing at least one of three of the county’s IDEA goals: ensuring an environment welcoming of diversity, recruiting and retaining a workforce that is reflective of the community served, and having a culturally aware workforce.
The group winner of the 2025 IDEA award is Mental Health Matters employee resource group (ERG) Co-chairs Janan Putz and Amanda Harrer. Mental Health Matters is an ERG that “has been pivotal in sparking necessary dialogue and change around mental health awareness and destigmatized treatment,” said County Manager Dr. Heidi Walsch. Mental Health Matters has held workshops and discussions aimed at reducing the stigma of mental health issues, worked with health care professionals to provide resources to employees and organized community events to promote mental health awareness.
The individual IDEA award winner is Elmore Roundtree, founding chair of Black Employee Network. Started in 2017, the Black Employee Network is an ERG that has worked in “encouraging discussion around the experience of Black employees,” said Walsch. The Black Employee Network, now one of the county’s largest ERGs, is involved in community outreach like the “adopt a family” program and Thanksgiving turkey drive as well as the creation of mentorship programs and weekly events for Black History Month.
The board also presented an honorary IDEA award to former Dakota County Program Supervisor Terra Shuman who recently passed away. Schuman was awarded the honorary IDEA award for her dedication to the county’s IDEA work, according to Walsch.
“Terra we love you, we miss you, and we will carry your legacy forward,” said Deputy Director of Employment and Economic Assistance Tiffinie Miller.
Finally, the HEROES award was presented. The Honoring Effective Responsive Outstanding Efficient Service, or HEROES Award recognizes collaboration across the county that demonstrates the county’s mission and showcases its values.
This year the winner of the HEROES Award is the Library Self-Service Hours program. The Library Self-Service program launched in 2023 and is an extension of Dakota County library hours for registered users. The program extends regular library hours to 6 a.m. until 11 p.m. and allows users to “access resources, host gatherings, use computers, Wi-Fi and borrow books,” said Walsch. The program adds more than 50 library hours across each of Dakota County’s 10 libraries.