Union Pacific recently held its inaugural CEO Excellence Awards, honoring 41 employees who made tremendous strides advancing the railroad’s Safety, Service and Operational Excellence strategy. The awards acknowledge many of the employees who contributed to the railroad’s historic performance in 2024.
Union Pacific's CEO Excellence Awards - Celebrating Success
Union Pacific's inaugural CEO Excellence Awards honored 41 employees who made tremendous strides advancing the railroad’s Safety, Service and Operational Excellence strategy.
“A strategy is only as good as the culture that fuels it,” said CEO Jim Vena. “These employees represent teams across our system who embody Union Pacific’s strategy in action every day.”
Vena created the awards to celebrate the teams who pursue the possible and achieve it. During his remarks, he took time to recognize the thousands of employees not in the room who work every day to move the goods Union Pacific’s customers and the U.S. economy rely on.
The nine award categories are tied to the pillars of Union Pacific’s Safety, Service and Operational Excellence strategy: Safety, Service, People, Asset Utilization, Cost Leadership, Growth, and the best-performing Transportation, Mechanical and Engineering teams.
A cross-departmental committee selected award recipients from more than 200 employee submissions and used performance-based metrics to identify the best-performing Operating teams. With the winning groups ranging in size from 10 to 1,100 employees, leaders selected representatives to attend the in-person recognition event and accept a trophy created from a slice of authentic Union Pacific rail.
Winning teams will hold local celebration events to acknowledge all employees who contributed to their award win, showing off the trophy and thanking them with a special CEO Excellence Award coin and pin.
“These 11-pound trophies aren’t easy to hold because our work isn’t easy to do,” Vena told the audience of 160-plus honorees, guests and executive hosts. “It’s my honor to celebrate you and the people in your lives who made your success – and Union Pacific’s success – possible.”
Please help Union Pacific congratulate its first-ever CEO Excellence Award recipients. Learn more about their efforts in these nomination form excerpts.
2024 CEO Excellence Award Recipients
J.C. Kenefick Safety Award: Randy Terrell, backhoe operator
“Randy excels in breaking down barriers, promoting a collaborative safety culture and coaching employees to recognize and prevent unsafe behaviors. His dedication to safety and genuine concern for his co-workers make him a respected figure in Engineering and a sought-after source for safety advice and recommendations.”
From left: Randy Terrell, backhoe operator; Jim Vena, CEO; Rod Doerr, vice president and chief safety officer.
Abraham Lincoln Service Excellence Award: Canpotex Volume Surge Team
“This Marketing & Sales and Operating team collaborated to develop and execute a plan that moved double the volume of potash shipments into Canpotex at the Port of Portland’s Terminal 5. Their innovative approach opened avenues for Canpotex to expand globally while demonstrating Union Pacific’s capabilities, helping us secure additional future volume.”
From left: Nick Smith, general director-Unit Service Solutions; Beth Steele, general director, Marketing and Sales; Jim Vena, CEO; Adam Hancock, manager-Train Operations; Ethan Moody, senior manager-Train Operations; Eric Gehringer, executive vice president-Operations.
Spirit of Union Pacific Award: Big Boy Steam Tour Team
“This team leveraged Union Pacific’s unique assets to showcase our rich history and value in a way that engaged the public and our employees. Together, the Westward Bound and Heartland of America tours spanned 84 days, drew crowds of over 500,000, interacted with more than 11 million social media users, attracted 11,000 new Steam Club members, and generated nearly 600 media stories reaching 2 billion people.”
From left: Austin Barker, manager-Heritage Fleet; Ed Dickens, manager-Heritage Operations; Jim Vena, CEO; Beth Whited, president; Robynn Tysver, manager-Media Relations; Jimmy Thompson, lead boilermaker/blacksmith; Kirt Clark, engineer.
Shield of Excellence in Asset Utilization Award: NetControl Implementation Team
“This cross-functional team realized a years-long pursuit of successfully implementing NetControl, Union Pacific's cutting-edge transportation management system. Their efforts secured our place as the first Class I railroad to accomplish transformative system upgrades across all three core operating platforms. Their hard work, planning and attention to detail ensured a seamless transition that safely protected Union Pacific operations.”
From left: Ryan Wolfe, director-Accounting; Rahul Jalali, executive vice president and chief information officer; Chris Finke, principal engineer; Jim Vena, CEO; Courtney Duggan, principal engineer; Stacy Wellman, general director, Tech; Manas Bharadwaj, senior director-Measures and Evaluation.
E.H. Harriman Cost Leadership Award: Benefits Savings Initiatives Team
“Union Pacific employs roughly 30,000 employees and has another 15,000-plus retirees. With that large population benefiting from our various retirement plans, it’s critical we manage the assets and process efficiently. In 2024, Benefits and Finance team members collaborated to complete several high-impact savings initiatives to reduce company spending and safeguard Union Pacific’s pension plan assets.”
From left: Jack Sullivan, general director-Employee Benefits; Shawna Smith, senior manager-Employee Benefits; Corrie Shumaker, general director-Business Development and Planning; Jim Vena, CEO; Jennifer Hamann, executive vice president and chief financial officer; Shibani Velluva, senior manager-Employee Benefits; Tim Graumann, general director-Tax Counsel.
Summit Award: Grain Products Team
“Union Pacific was a dominant force in the renewable diesel market thanks to this team laying strategic groundwork that set us up to outpace the market for growth. Their growth strategy focused on business development, market share gains and collaboration. Efforts included creating challenger messages selling our superior manifest network; securing our position as the first railroad to join Clean Fuels Alliance America; and hosting a cross-functional customer webinar.”
From left: Luke Baatz, senior manager-Resource Planning; Maureen Haney, senior manager-Information Management and Business Integration; Chris Gosch, director, Marketing and Sales; Chris Kankousky, general director, Marketing and Sales; Jim Vena, CEO; Stevie Gerken, manager, Marketing and Sales; Brandon Dlugosz, manager, Marketing and Sales; Kenny Rocker, executive vice president-Marketing and Sales; Jake Gradoville, manager, Marketing and Sales.
Steel Wheel Award: De Soto Car Shop
“The De Soto team has faced challenges in the past, particularly concerning safety. Through relentless effort, they achieved a remarkable turnaround that’s contributed to over 800,000 injury-free work hours. Their focus on safety and innovative problem-solving has set new standards of excellence that reduced cycle time through the shop and cost-per-car repaired, unlocking potential revenue.”
From left: David Call, manager-Mechanical Maintenance; Jeremy Givens, vice president, Mechanical; Damon Campbell, director-System Car Facility; Jim Vena, CEO; Tirenna Mann, manager-Shop Operations; Nathan Portell, manager-Mechanical Maintenance; Anthony Polley, senior manager-System Car Facility.
Golden Spike Award: South Texas Bridge Maintenance Team
“The South Texas Bridge Maintenance Team maintains a vast territory that spans over 1,000 miles and encompasses more than 2,300 structures and 800 bridges. These structures face powerful hurricanes, devastating tornados and extreme heat. Last year, they responded to more bridge-specific callouts than any other bridge group systemwide. They also achieved the exceptional milestone of working more than 12 years without any injuries.”
From left: DJ Ytuarte, bridge foreperson; Raul Gaitan, bridge foreperson; Brandon Gray, manager-Bridge Maintenance; Jim Vena, CEO; Wade Seelye, bridge foreperson; Russ Rohlfs, vice president, Engineering; Jose Avila, bridge foreperson.
Building America Award: Roseville Terminal
“Collaboration across all departments in Roseville, California, is ensuring safe and efficient maintenance, inspection and train movement, setting the example for a ‘win together’ mentality. The team drove significant improvements in efficiency, productivity and cost savings – improving car connections 17% and through train dwell 60% while reducing terminal car dwell 22%. They also worked more than 580 injury-free days while reducing rail equipment incidents.”
From left: John Turner, senior vice president-Operations; Ray Schwarz, yard controller; Paul Bertolozzi, manager-Locomotive Maintenance; Jim Vena, CEO; Cade Shimek, superintendent-Train Operations; Joe Martinez, track supervisor; Michael Avila, manager-Train Operations.
;void(0))
