Rotary Club honors ‘employees of the year’

Award winners L-R: Richard Ennis, Terri Towry and Patrick Hamilton.

The Rotary Club of Madison presented three awards to the top employees in the city.

Firefighter of the Year – Richard Ennis.

Ennis has been employed with Madison Fire and Rescue since May 2006. Even though a firefighter, Ennis assists in managing or is the person in charge of several programs within the Fire Department.

Ennis is the lead on submitting shift EMS reports to the State EMS Division to ensure national reporting requirements are met.  This is a daily responsibility, requiring communications with shift Paramedics to ensure compliance.  This task is tracked by the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Ennis is also a member of Alabama Heavy Rescue One, a specialized technical rescue team consisting of both Madison and Huntsville Fire personnel.  This team is trained in Hazardous Materials response, Trench Rescue, Confined Space Rescue, High Angle Rescue, and Structural Collapse Rescue.

Officer of the Year – Patrick Hamilton.

Hamilton began his law enforcement career with the Madison Police Department in June 2007.  He was chosen as Vice President of the 142nd Basic Session class of the Northeast Alabama Law Enforcement Academy.

Hamilton has distinguished himself as an exemplary patrol officer, working on second shift.  His efforts have resulted in numerous leads for felony investigations being conducted by our detectives, recovery of stolen property, and confiscation of narcotics and illegal firearms.

In February 2009, Hamilton assisted fellow officers in the apprehension of a subject threatening to kill himself with his two young children unrestrained in the back seat of his vehicle.  The subject drove recklessly at a high rate of speed for several miles before surrendering to officers without physical harm to anyone or property damage.

Employee of the Year – Terri Towry.

Towry has worked for the City of Madison for 10 years.

She leads a team of four that works diligently throughout the year to support over 350 Madison employees. They perform at an extremely high level, are well organized, and Terri is a leader at city hall.

Towry led the recruiting and screening efforts for many new department heads and much of the city’s leadership in the past few years, including six department heads and directors.

In addition to mitigating risk for the City, Towry’s leadership efforts have been instrumental in saving the city money with worker’s compensation costs.  For the past five years the city’s cost experience rate was below 1.0 (with 1.0 being average), and it is currently at an all time low of .75, which results in a 25 percent savings in costs to the City (more than $180,000).

Towry has worked for the City of Madison for 10 years. Terri and her husband Dennis Rolling have one daughter, Madison, who attends Bob Jones High School.  Terri has a Master’s degree and previously worked for The Boeing Company in HR before becoming HR Director in Madison in 2001.  Terri also holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification.