CARY, NC – With nearly six years of employment with the Town of Cary and an outstanding commitment to teamwork and service, Ken Gordon has been named the Town of Cary ’s 2008 Employee of the Year.  Gordon, 49, currently serves as a Firefighter II and was chosen from a field of 16 excellent nominees from the Town’s nearly 1,115 employees; Gordon is the first nominee from the Fire Department to ever receive the Employee of the Year award.  He was honored with a plaque and a $1,000 savings bond.  

The announcement was made today at the Town’s Annual Employee Recognition Luncheon at the Herb Young Community Center in Cary, during which dozens of staff were also recognized for reaching years of service milestones.

"We’re very proud of Ken’s accomplishments and his commitment to providing our community with outstanding firefighting services,” said Interim Town Manager Ben Shivar.  “Like so many of this year’s nominees, Ken represents the type of exemplary employee we strive to attract and retain in the Town of Cary .”

Gordon came to the Town of Cary with 25 years of fire service experience, and since that time he has unselfishly contributed his knowledge to help improve the department and the way the Town does business.  According to one of his colleagues, his “peers, supervisors, clients continually express admiration, awe and humility at the contributions he so, unsolicitingly offers all of us.”  Following his award presentation, Gordon continued to express his generosity, commenting that the honor would not have been possible without the love of his family and the teamwork of his fellow firefighters.

In his spare time, Gordon enjoys demonstrating his blacksmithing skills and spending time with his wife and three children.

The Town of Cary ’s Employee of the Year program was established in 1989 to recognize employees who consistently perform well beyond what the job description requires. Nominees are consistently courteous and helpful to others, and they strive to improve themselves and participate in the community.  Many nominations included accolades from Cary citizens.  For more about the program, see Employee of the Year at www.townofcary.org.

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