New Hope Names 2023 Employee of the Year

Posted on 01/04/2024

New Hope accounting technician Andrea Phinney was named New Hope’s 2023 Employee of the Year at an employee recognition event held in December.

Phinney began with the City in 2020, quickly mastering her expected duties and asking to take on additional responsibilities. Early on, Andrea completed several FEMA courses to ensure financial function redundancy in the event of an emergency operations center activation. When the City transitioned vehicles to a fleet model, she took it upon herself to learn the nuances of enterprise fleet operation. When the utility billing clerk position was vacated this summer, Andrea didn’t hesitate to learn the utility billing system and related operations to ensure a seamless transition for all involved. She also participated in the recruitment process for the new utility billing clerk. She trained them – all while continuing to fully support and complete all tasks required in her accounting technician role.

Additional nominees for the award included Melissa DeLeeuw, evidence technician; Josh Eernisse, patrol sergeant; Tony Portesan, recreation facilities supervisor and Johnny Vang, housing/code enforcement inspector.

The city also recognized the long-tenured employees of New Hope. Employees who reached a five-year milestone in 2023 include:

35 years
Valerie Leone, city clerk

30 years
Mark Severson, recreation facilities manager

25 years
Tom Mahan, animal control officer
Matt Remore, recreation facilities supervisor

15 years
Dave Fritzke, police officer
Mike TenEyck, patrol sergeant
Jeff Winkel, mechanic
Jeana Allen-Hatcher, police office supervisor

10 years
Shari Rains, accountant

5 years
Brad Johnson, maintenance worker
Beth Kramer, communications coordinator
Kelly Thompson, maintenance worker
Johnny Vang, housing/code enforcement inspector