Hereford, Texas

On Oct. 24, Administrator Paul Kiecker met with inspection personnel at a beef slaughter and processing establishment. He spoke with the team about staffing, waivers for how beef carcasses and parts are presented to FSIS for inspection, and the numerous employee centered programs and opportunities available to FSIS employees, including the $1,000 Referral Award (see Notice 55-22), shadow and development opportunities (see Notice 38-22), and tuition reimbursement available to all employees (see Notice 34-22).

Pictured, from left: Executive Associate for Regulatory Operations Paul Wolseley; Food Inspector (FI) Laura Arguijo; Deputy District Manager Dr. Kinsey Naylor-Byles; FIs Rafael Moralez, Ismael Padilla, Silvia Lopez, Mark Maes, and Richard Martinez; Kiecker; FI Judith Ponce; Frontline Supervisor (FLS) Jaclynn Gilbert.

Pictured, from left: Woolsey; Naylor-Byles; Supervisory Public Health Veterinarian (SPHV) Dr. Kenneth Joyce, Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) Fabian Machado; Supervisory CSI Ralph Hernandez; SPHV Dr. Jaime Penne; CSIs Mark Scrogg and Christopher Uriegas; Kiecker; Gilbert; SPHV Dr. Alfredo Santiago.

Photos by Deputy Chief of Staff Robert Witte.

Friona, Texas

On Oct. 24, Administrator Paul Kiecker met with inspection personnel at a beef slaughter and processing establishment.

During the visit, leadership spent some time working the line. Between heads, Deputy District Manager Dr. Kinsey Naylor-Byles (pictured, left) and Supervisory Consumer Safety Inspector (SCSI) Fred Fothergill shared a laugh about keeping a sharp knife.

Kiecker also talked with the team about issues including staffing, beef waivers for how carcasses and parts are presented to FSIS for inspection, and the numerous employee centered programs and opportunities available to FSIS employees, including the $1,000 Referral Award (see Notice 55-22), shadow and development opportunities (see Notice 38-22), and tuition reimbursement available to all employees (see Notice 34-22).

Pictured, seated, on left to back: Food Inspectors (FIs) Ruben Aleman, Doug Cecil, and Raymond Mares-Aguilar; Naylor-Byles; FIs Rafaela Copas and Ninfa Quezada; Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) Angelica Sauceda.

Sitting, on right to back: Frontline Supervisor Jaclynn Gilbert; FIs Mark Maes Jr., Carlos Martin Jr., Jason Haygood, Yesenia Reyes, Katarina Guevara, and Lizet Sosa.

Standing, back row, from left: FIs Shawn Bucksath, Sara Saucedo, and Ana Pantoja; Kiecker; Fothergill; Executive Associate for Regulatory Operations Paul Wolseley, CSI Natividad Perez; FIs Cassidy Gilliam and Gustavo Higareda; CSI Roland Solano.

Standing, front row, from left: FI Jajuan Camacho; Supervisory Public Health Veterinarian Dr. Philip Stanley; FIs Rosa U. Garcia, Natalie Garza, and Daniel Corrales; CSI Gayla Bucksath.

Photos by Deputy Chief of Staff Robert Witte, OA.

Cactus, Texas

On Oct. 25, Administrator Paul Kiecker met with inspection personnel at a beef slaughter and processing establishment. The team and Kiecker talked about staffing, waivers for how beef carcasses and parts are presented to FSIS for inspection, and various employee centered programs and opportunities available in FSIS.

Pictured, seated, from left: Deputy District Manager Dr. Kinsey Naylor-Byles and Executive Associate for Regulatory Operations Paul Wolseley.

Standing, from left: CSI Jesus Garcia (back left); Frontline Supervisor Dr. Jonathan Klemme; Food Inspectors (FIs) Claudia Regalado and James Pryor (back); Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) Oscar Perez; FIs Edward Wiener, Norma Garcia, Avis Tugwell, Modesta Cooper, and Olga Kounlavong: CSI Arturo Dominquez; FI Michael Monday (blue shirt/ face mask); Inspector-in-Charge David Finch (maroon shirt); FIs David Sledge, Joe Rodriguez (behind Sledge), and Bryan York; CSI Jaime Cigarroa (far right).

Photo by Deputy Chief of Staff Robert Witte.

Amarillo, Texas

On Oct. 25, Administrator Paul Kiecker met with inspection personnel at a beef slaughter and processing establishment. Kiecker had a conversation with the team about issues such as staffing, beef waivers, and the employee centered programs and opportunities available to FSIS employees such as the $1,000 Referral Award, shadowing and development opportunities, and tuition reimbursement being available to all employees.

Pictured, seated, center foreground: Supervisory Consumer Safety Inspector (SCSI) Marina A. Coronado.

Standing, starting behind Coronado going left: Food Inspectors (FIs) George Escamilla and Guadalupe DeSantiago; Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) Loretta Laumbach (obscured behind DeSantiago); FI Elia Tapia.

Standing, back row, from left: FIs Rafael Hernandez, Amanda Conn, Arthur Dyke, Kaitlyn Alexander and Yolanda Carrera; CSI Jose Ismael Garcia; FI Daniel Saldana; CSI Sammy Escarciga; Supervisory Public Health Veterinarian / Inspector in Charge Dr. Benjamin Atchley, FI Jose Prieto (obscured behind Dr. Atchley).

Seated on other side of table, from right to back: FIs Neihidy Garcia, Cynthia Leon, Salud Almaraz, and Bobbi Fisher.

Standing between Laumbach and Fisher: FI Erik Cruz.

Front row standing behind table, from right to back: CSI Jesus Gonzales; FIs Anne Sandoval and America Perez; Front Line Supervisor Dr. Jonathan Klemme, Executive Associate for Regulatory Operations Paul Wolseley.

Back row standing behind table, from right to back: CSI Jonah Santos; FIs Richard Luna and Leon Merritt; Kiecker; FIs Justin Bernal, Draven LaFuente, Ismael Pizana, Sergio Saenz, and Kristina Ferguson.

Photo by Deputy Chief of Staff Robert Witte, OA.

Omaha, Neb.

On Oct 18-20, members of the Office of Investigation, Enforcement and Audit (OIEA) Federal State Audit Staff (FSAS), International Audit Staff (IAS) and Resource Management and Administrative Audit Staff (RMAAS) met for internal correlation and training sessions provided by the Government Accountability Office’s Center for Audit Excellence. Topics covered during the training sessions included Assessing Data Reliability, Collecting and Assessing Evidence to Produce Sound Audit Findings, and Message Development and Report Writing.

Pictured, seated on floor: Program Auditor Cynthia Whitley.

Seated, front row, from left: Program Auditor Michelle Cox; FSAS Director Keith Gilmore; OIEA Assistant Administrator (AA) Robert Bane; Senior Program Auditor Amadou Samb; Program Auditor Sonya Eden; RMAAS Director Valeria Green; and Acting OIEA Deputy AA Valerie Neris.

Middle row, from left: IAS Director Juan Rodriguez; Senior Program Auditors Chloe Dixon, Jonathan Morse, Alam Khan, Kenneth Witek, Estella Perez and Nader Memarian; and Program Auditors Kathryn Labrunda, Gina Laspata and Shaochong Zhang.

Back row, from left: Program Auditor Andrew Smith; Senior Program Auditor Alexander Lauro; Management & Program Analysts Ryan Bradburn and Jeffrey Wilson; Lead Auditor Jonathan Coleman; Senior Program Auditor Joel Bachert; Management Analyst Jason Waggoner; Program Auditor Linwood Pender; and Program Analyst Jordan Stoltz.

Photo by Staff Officer Thomas Vermeersch, OPPD.

 Wichita, Kan.

On Nov. 8-9, FSIS employees and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) attended an OSHA pilot training on meat processing at the Wichita Area OSHA Office. During the pilot training, FSIS and OSHA employees collaborated through knowledge sharing and training feedback. Feedback will be incorporated into future meat processing trainings planned for OSHA Regional Offices and the OSHA National Training Institute. This is an example of how the Aug. 1 updated memorandum of understanding (MOU) on worker safety entered between FSIS and OSHA allows both agencies to collaborate on safety training.

Pictured, from left: Office of Management (OM) Safety and Physical Security Branch Chief Jerome Yoon, Office of Field Operations (OFO) Regulatory Operations Veterinary Medical Officer Dr. Parrish Endy, OM Safety Team Lead Glenn Kerschner, OM Public Health Officer CDR Elizabeth Van Dyne, OFO Springdale Deputy District Manager Dr. Evan Sumner.

Photo by OSHA Omaha Area Office Director Matt Thurlby.

Vienna, Ga.

On Oct. 3, Administrator Paul Kiecker visited a poultry slaughter and processing plant. He talked with personnel about continuing education and professional development activities, tuition reimbursement, and shadowing opportunities.

Pictured, front row, from left: Consumer Safety Inspectors (CSIs) Madelis Valdes, Sally Passmore, Patricia Lester, Latasha Felder and Carol Harris.

Middle row, from left: Supervisory CSI Richard O’Quinn; CSIs Felecia McKenzie, Tiffany Cosby and Octavia Brown; Frontline Supervisor Dr. Marina Tutt; CSI Marquavious Turner.

Back row, from left: Kiecker, Deputy District Manager Barney Welch, CSI Shonda Jackson.

Not pictured but part of the Vienna, Ga. team: CSI Cikeitha Nosike.

Photo by Chief of Staff Karen Hunter, OA.

Bay Springs, Miss.

On Oct. 21, inspection program personnel at a poultry slaughter and processing establishment wore pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Pictured, from left: Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) Elizabeth Loftin; Supervisory Public Health Veterinarian Dr. Anne Currie; and CSIs Lashundia Reed and Shenquia Hudson.

Photo by a plant employee.

Woodland, Wash.

On Oct. 15, the inspectors at a red meat slaughter and processing establishment celebrated Supervisor Appreciation day for their Supervisory Consumer Safety Inspector (SCSI) Matthew DeBartolo.

After moving to Washington State from Arizona in 2014 to escape the heat and enjoy the Pacific Northwest weather with his wife Jessie, Matt joined FSIS in 2015 with a passion for food safety.

He worked as a food inspector for four years before being promoted to CSI in 2019, then to Supervisory CSI in December 2021. Matthew has hopes to move up even more to positively impact the entire agency and support all our goals to the best of his abilities.

“Matt has worked hard motivating and helping his team to move up in the agency,” said his supervisor, Supervisory Public Health Veterinarian Dr. Earl VanBuskirk. “As a dedicated employee of seven years in the agency, Matt always has a positive attitude no matter how tough the workday may get. He never backs down from working side by side with his Food Inspectors and Consumer Safety Inspectors when needed.” One of the members of Matt’s team, CSI Shirley Merritt, added: “From all your coworkers, Matt, we wish you the best of luck and we know that you will go far.”

Photo by CSI Shirley Merritt.

Kansas City, Mo.

Office of Investigation, Enforcement and Audit Assistant (OIEA) Administrator Robert Bane (pictured, left) presented Senior Compliance Specialist Will Gillingwater with the FSIS Empowered Recognition Coin for his many contributions to the OIEA Compliance and Investigations Division and over 35 years of service to FSIS. Gillingwater is retiring in December.

Photo by Supervisory Investigator Wanda Fuentes, OIEA.

Mira Loma, Calif.

Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) Myrtis Richmond started her USDA career in December 1980 as an egg inspector for USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service in Jackson, Mississippi. In June 1989, she transferred to FSIS, and has worked in slaughter, exports, canning and processing. She’s been here ever since, 33 years at FSIS, and is currently stationed in Mira Loma.

Myrtis says she cannot believe that it has been 42 years since she took the oath of office. She gives credit for her long career to her supervisors and co-workers, and to the training that she has received from the agency.

Myrtis says she feels blessed and loves her job because the learning never stops and because she loves being a consumer safety inspector to protect the public health.

Photo by Richmond.

Richmond preparing a sample.

Photo by CSI Juan Ramos, OFO.