Governor Haslam Honors Ward Tarkington For Excellence In Service

NASHVILLE — Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam is honoring Ward Tarkington for exceptional service to the state and his fellow Tennesseans. Tarkington serves as the Data and Technology Unit Leader for the Forestry Division of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

Tarkington is among 22 state employees receiving the first Governor’s Excellence in Service Awards, a program to honor outstanding state employees. The employees, selected by their department’s leadership to receive the biannual award, are helping transform the way state government delivers services. By exceeding leadership and customer expectations, creating an innovative solution or improving a process or service, these employees are helping provide Tennessee taxpayers with the highest quality service at the lowest possible cost.

“Great service in state government is like great service anywhere-- the key ingredient is great employees,” Governor Haslam said. “Ward Tarkington and the other employees receiving this honor are on the front lines of what we do, leading the effort to help us make Tennessee the best managed state in the nation. I appreciate all the work they and other state employees do to help make Tennessee the best place to live, work and raise a family.”

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture chose Tarkington in recognition of his work on a time-saving shared database of employees, facilities, vehicles and equipment. He worked with departmental programmers to build these systems. Additionally, Tarkington was instrumental in establishing an online burn permit system which enabled the division to issue 387,559 permits in 2015. He continues to help the system evolve to better protect our state’s forest resources and ease the process for citizens to be compliant with the law. The system allows the department to map and share data with local fire departments and gives district managers an effective process to analyze their decisions regarding the issuance of permits.

“We are pleased to see Ward receive this recognition,” Agriculture Commissioner Jai Templeton said. “His innovative ideas have made the department more efficient and have allowed us to better serve Tennesseans.”

Tarkington earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Forest Management from the University of Tennessee and has served as the Continuing Forestry Education Coordinator for the Kentucky-Tennessee Society of American Foresters since 2008. He has received numerous awards and certifications for his service including:  Forestry Employee of the Year in 2011, Outstanding Service Awards from SAF, KY/TN Middle TN Chapter Chair 2006, I-Suite Database Systems, CTSP Computer Specialist for Hurricane Katrina OPS, and GIST GIS Mapping. He is married to his wife Jennifer of 10 years. The couple has three children.

Tarkington and other award recipients were honored at a luncheon at the Tennessee Residence hosted by the Governor and First Lady Crissy Haslam on Thursday, August 4.

For list of other recipients click here. Photographs of the luncheon are available as well as a highlight video.

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