a note from 8-koi headquarters :: autumn 2020
|
|
The turn of season reminds us time marches on and that change is inevitable. This year many events mark the occasion of change but it is the legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg that runs deep in our culture and serves as a reminder that there's still work to do to pave the path to equality for all.
We honor and celebrate the life and influence RBG has on our current freedoms and rights. Her recent passing inspired me to read about her long running friendship with the late Justice Scalia in an opinion piece written by Eugene Scalia, U.S. secretary of labor and son of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, in the Washington Post. The main takeaway for me is that differences can be appreciated.
According to Justice Scalia’s son, paraphrasing for length:
Appreciation for differences was as integral to the justices’ friendship as the similarities. She had made her mark as a pioneering advocate for women’s rights; my father was a traditional Catholic who came to prominence as a critic of activist courts. The two disagreed vigorously from the beginning to the end, although my father respected what she had achieved in an era when the deck was stacked against her. From her experience he gained insight and depth of understanding. He liked learning and could learn from her.
What we can learn from the justices - beyond how to be a friend – is how to welcome debate and differences. The two justices had central roles in addressing some of the most divisive issues and as they deliberated, they never condemned the other. Moreover, they believed that arriving at their own opinion thoughtfully and advancing them vigorously was essential to the national good. With less debate their friendship would have been diminished and so they believed would our democracy.
Looking back, building the 8-koi team has been an intentional exercise in welcoming differences and appreciating them – it’s shaped us into where we are today, and we’ve come a long way from where we started 12 years ago. On August 8, we celebrated our 12th anniversary. Inspired to reflect on the milestones that make us uniquely 8-koi, I thank you. Truly, it’s the people that matter most – in our lives and in our work.
Let us take a hint from the affable Justices and work towards making positive changes for creating a culture of acceptance and appreciation. If you have ideas about how we can improve the way we work to foster inclusion and cultivate more diverse interpersonal relationships, I would love to hear from you. Often, we are more similar than we think.
With gratitude,
|
|
|
|
Inga I. Young
Founder and President
|
|
Let's face it- email is a necessary evil, and we all have an abundance to read and write. I'm hoping we can improve our email communications by getting back to basics. Please try to follow the guidelines below so we can all better manage our inboxes and send more timely and effective responses:
- Keep it short - no more than 125 words.
- Keep it simple – short, direct sentences, line breaks, bulleted lists – all are appreciated by the reader.
- Etiquette – only reply when addressed "To" you and send the email to the people who actually need to receive it. No one wants more clutter in their inbox.
- The subject line – make the intent of your message explicitly clear in the subject line.
- Name names – use the recipient’s first name in the greeting and clearly communicate who is assigned the task or action.
- The body – be clear and make your point.
- Proofread – check that links work, confirm attachments and pay attention to each sentence checking for accuracy and clarity.
As always your questions, suggestions and thoughtful emails are welcome to help us improve our operations.
Stay healthy and be safe,
Dean
|
|
STAY TUNED
LIVE 8-koi All Hands Teleconference
Friday, December 18th
Get the quarterly update directly from Inga and 8-koi leadership about the state of the company. Details to come.
Email any questions you would like to have addressed:
|
|
Taking a moment to mark the end of a six-week construction site project at the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in GA, Alexis Mota poses with brothers Robert McGowan (L) and David McGowan (R). The team worked together on the electrical switchgear at the RIB building. Robert was the superintendent and David was the quality control safety supervisor at the site. In charge of the site security and badging was Alexis - escorting construction crews in and out of the controlled areas.
"I called them my 'construction dads' because they took care of me for those six weeks while we were all up there," Alexis said. GO Team!!
|
|
8-koi Third Quarter Project Updates and Kudos
Giving Credit Where Credit it Due and Dropping Names - Dean Rosenquist
HEALTHCARE
The 8-koi Walter Reed, Patrick AFB, Brooke Army and USAMRAA employees are fully engaged. We are thankful our customer at The Center for the Intrepid (CFI) was able to bring our Nurse Case Manager Cheryl Sills back on-site and our other employees have been continuously working on-site or remotely. 8-koi medical supply strategy developed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic has been put to the test. We continue to be the go-to company for anything regarding medical supplies. As a certified McKesson distributer, we have access to an enormous medical supply catalogue. The medical supply team has been led by Elizabeth Berry and consists of Chris Manning and Alexis Mota – nice work everyone!
CONSTRUCTION
The construction team continues to excel at NAS Jacksonville, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Patrick AFB (PAFB) and Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay. Led by Otto Herrera – David McGowan, Robert McGowan and Joe DeBlasio’s work in the Jacksonville area has been tremendous. This year, we finished the Lasik (NAS Jax) and RIB (Kings Bay) efforts and the Chutes (NAS Jax) project continues to move ahead with high marks for customer satisfaction.
Our KSC and PAFB customers keep coming back to us because of the superb work of Matt Charmbury and Trevor Baumann. All of these projects are kept on track by the watchful eye of Emily Tirado. Also, a big shout out to Alexis Mota who spent most her summer in Kings Bay, GA, herding the subcontractor “cats” though the badging and security process at the base.
DESIGN ENGINEERING
Our Cape Design Engineering division is staying busy and delivering high quality results too. The many projects include such notables as: USDA Lab Fort Pierce FPL Energy Services, B85200 LOX Storage Building Repairs, NOTU/CCAFS, City of Port Orange Performance Art Pavilion IAQ Study and Design, The Eastern Florida State College Study of Existing Stacked Structures at Fire Training Center, Palm Bay Campus.
The largest project for this quarter is the Energy Conservation Measures for Eastern Florida State College with FPL Energy Services. We are preparing the construction documents and the project will begin construction in November. We are also working on various projects with PAE-STG for the BOSS contract at KSC. These projects include HVAC renovations at Building K6-1096 and Fire Alarm replacement at Hangar AE. Victor Diaz is leading the CDE team and we recently welcomed Abdus Sabur (electrical engineer III), Ben Garner (mechanical engineer IV) and Robert Collins (CAD designer) to the team.
TECHNICAL ADMINISTRATION
I had the opportunity to meet virtually with employees Von Coleman and Leo Godet about their efforts in support of the Navy Personnel Command, Millington, TN. They are doing some great work for our customer. We continue to receive customer accolades for our NAVWAR employees Alan Wright, Debbie Dash and Tim Borowski and our Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) employee Jill Bond. I also had the honor to welcome Kevin Hill to the company. Kevin is supporting a Classified US Army Geospatial program at Ft. Belvoir, VA. Robin O’Connor has moved from Design Engineering to supporting divisional administrative tasks and overseeing credentialing packages for a commercial client.
EARNING PRAISE
|
|
Debbie Dash, government site executive admin, recently received the praises of customer Ken Johnson, Sea Warrior Program PMW 240, and Debbie Streufert, NAVWAR Branch Head, for “the exceptional on-boarding process” and the seamless efforts to hire the new contract specialist government civilian. Debbie was recognized with a coin for her efforts and support.
|
|
Recently recognized for supporting the mission of Brevard Achievement Center (BAC) Inga Yong, 8-koi president, was honored to help create employment opportunities for a member of BAC.
About BAC and their mission:
We employ more than 800 people, the majority with disabilities, to fulfill state and federal contracts as partners with SourceAmerica, implementers of the AbilityOne Program, and RESPECT of Florida.
Through these partnerships BAC directly employs people with all skill sets through innovative services, outreach and employment, BAC seeks to build a community that fully supports people of all abilities in achieving personal success.
|
|
8-koi’s first employee, Joseph Ogershock, senior medical instructor, veteran and advanced EMT, continues to impress. Students of all ranks remarked in a recent Pentagon survey that Joe’s “professional and caring demeanor” makes him an excellent instructor and team member. Thank you for your loyalty, dedication and service to our country and 8-koi.
Joe is at work in this photo teaching a tactical combat casualty care course at Fort Detrick.
|
|
Happy Birthday
October
8 - Olson Richardson
11 – Matthew Gough
14 – Kathryn Ansel
18 - Alexis Mota
23 - Joe DeBlasio
24 – Inga Young
November
4 – James “David” McGowan
5 – Jeyssa Hook-Mast
10 - Joseph Ogershok
10 - Alexzander Murray
12 - Abdus Sabur
19 – Timothy Borowski
23 – Leo Godet
December
4 – Otto Herrera
9 - Benita Lee
11 – Emily Tirado
16 – Victor Diaz
|
|
Happy Work Anniversary
October
2 years – Cheryl Sills
2 years - Benita Lee
2 years - Olson Richardson
3 years – Otto Herera
5 years – James MCGowan
6 years – Robert MCGowan
November
1 year – Dean Rosenquist
1 year – Jessica Manzano
2 years – Treavor Baumann
2 years – Emily Tirado
3 years – Leo Godet
13 years – Lance Beck
16 years – Sami Mized
December
1 year – Von Coleman
4 years – Joseph DeBlasio
|
|
|
MEET THE TEAM ::
Victor Diaz
Engineering Vice President
Victor Diaz serves 8-koi and its clients as the engineering manager and engineering VP of CDE. Since March of 2019, when CDE was sold to 8-koi, Victor was appointed to the lead engineering role – a position fit for Victor’s seasoned experience and extensive career in engineering.
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and raised in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Victor spent his early life going to school and working in the Caribbean island. In the early 90s Victor earned his bachelor of science in engineering at the School of Engineering of the University of Puerto Rico. Fresh out of college, he worked for a local government agency in Puerto Rico designing illumination systems for roads and highways. Shortly after, he started working with a consulting engineering firm and has been in the business of consulting engineering ever since.
A career move in the early 90s brought him and his wife Catherine to Virginia Beach and a few years later to Orlando where he and his wife would stay and raise their two children, David and Sofia. During that time, for almost 10 years, Victor worked for a MEP consulting engineering firm TLC Engineering. He then went on to work for a small MEP company Mater Engineering and the larger Architectural-Engineering firm Atkins North America.
In need of an electrical engineer and designer, CDE hired Victor in 2013. A year later another engineer joined the team and Victor took the opportunity to rejoin TLC for a higher position. Not long after, he returned to the family-oriented company he grew to miss and has been with CDE since February 2016.
Victor and Catherine have been married for 26 years and currently reside in a downsized apartment in Brevard, closer to work. Their grown children David (21) now lives in the US, returning from school in London, England, and Sofia (20) attends college in Madrid, Spain.
Outside of work, the Dave Matthew’s Band and Reggaeton fan is used to looking for fun at festivals, concerts, parks and at the beach. On the hunt for flavor, atmosphere and experiences, Victor looks forward to continuing his search in foreign places.
“When I take vacations, we like to travel internationally if we can. We are big believers that travelling makes you more humble and realize that people around the world have many things in common and very little differences.”
When you see Victor talk to him about good places to eat and sports, especially NBA basketball and European futbol.
|
Would you like to be featured in WAVES?
|
|
|
Did you weigh in? Are you staying on track? Don't let that Halloween candy get in your way! Soon we'll have the top four weight loss winners and new Fit Bit owners. Keep your eye on the prize and stay tuned! |
|
|
Take Advantage of Preventative Care Benefits
As we enter our second year with health insurer Cigna we encourage you to get familiar with what’s covered for preventative care and schedule an annual exam. Keep your health in check and know your numbers – blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol – all routine maintenance for a well informed and empowered you!
|
|
8-koi is Across the US
Check out 8-koi team members, customers and locations across the country here and in the 8-koi Employee Portal.
|
|
PASSION | EXCELLENCE | DEPENDABILITY | THOUGHTFULNESS |
|
|
|
8-koi is expanding its team!
Currently seeking physicians in Bethesda, MD:
Organ Transplant Surgeon
Neurologist
Pulmonologist
|
|
Are you all caught up with 8-koi kurrents?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Read past issues of WAVES
|
|
|
Share Your News
Let us know what you're doing in the community, share what you're reading, send your suggestions, stories, photos and we'll help to spread the word through our networks. We'd love to hear from you!
|
|
Look out for more WAVES... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
