Dakota County honors long‑service employees; names winners of IDEA and Heroes awards

Dakota County officials on Feb. 18 recognized dozens of employees for long service and presented this year’s IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access) and Heroes awards at a public ceremony in Hastings.

County Manager Heidi Welsh opened the program and introduced the awards and years‑of‑service recognitions, which the county said included employees with 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 50 years of continuous service. County staff listed 83 employees at the 10‑year level, 16 at 15 years, 26 at 20 years, 50 at 25 years and multiple employees at longer milestones; Brian Christiansen was recognized for 50 years of service and Tom Novak was noted as another employee with more than 50 years on staff.

The IDEA group award went to the county’s Mental Health Matters employee resource group, co‑chaired by Janan Potts (transportation) and Amanda Harrar (public health). The individual IDEA award went to Elmore Roundtree, who was recognized for founding and leading the Black Employee Network. In announcing an honorary IDEA award, Tiffany Miller, deputy director of Employment and Economic Assistance (ENEA), delivered a tribute to the late Tara Schumann, saying, “Tara was a mentor who challenged assumptions, a leader who listened and a teacher who never stopped learning herself and above all she was a devoted mother who spoke with great love about her children.”

The county’s Heroes award — which recognizes cross‑department projects — was awarded to the Dakota County Library self‑service hours program. The library program, launched statewide at Farmington in 2023, expanded extended access hours (6 a.m. to 11 p.m.) using existing infrastructure; the county reported more than 8,300 visits and more than 56,000 items checked out during self‑service hours through December 2024. Two other finalists were an eviction prevention effort and an interactive voice response (IVR) system for ENEA; the eviction prevention effort assisted 687 families in the county’s housing clinic between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, 2024, with outcome data on roughly half those cases showing eviction was prevented in 83% of tracked instances.

The board took a formal vote to acknowledge and recognize employees, IDEA award winners and Heroes award winners. The motion carried on a roll call vote.

The event included staff introductions, videos describing the three Heroes finalists, group photos and a public reception following the ceremony.

Community context: the awards highlighted work across social services, public health, libraries, IT and facilities, and underscored county efforts on eviction prevention, customer service automation and expanded library access. Officials said the recognitions are intended to increase visibility for public employees and promote cross‑department collaboration.

The board recessed for a reception after the acknowledgement vote and returned later for remaining agenda items.