Congratulations to Jessica Martin, Our June Employee of the Month

The PUD manages over 20,000 invoices and works with more than 200 vendors every year. That’s a lot of paperwork, emails and stress.

Fortunately, Team PUD has Jessica Martin to help us navigate it all.

Jessica, our star Office Coordinator in Accounting, is an invoice-approving machine. With her department down a co-worker for the better part of a year, even more tasks fell to Jessica. But her work ethic and attention to detail never wavered. Her commitment to excellence helps keep everything moving at the PUD – and has earned her recognition as our June Employee of the Month.

“Jessica is like the glue that holds a lot of the Accounting Department together,” said Jeff Bishop, Chief Financial Officer. “She does so much work behind the scenes to ensure things run smoothly for workgroups across the PUD. I don’t know if there’s a department she hasn’t worked with and helped out. The amount of invoices, emails, requests and questions that end up on her desk is hard to believe, and she makes sure to complete each one effectively and efficiently. We are incredibly lucky to have Jessica at the PUD.”

Arin Ricchiuti, Manager, Accounting, who supervises Jessica continuously praised how hard she works. Some recent turnover in the department has led to Jessica essentially having the workload of two employees, which she’s handled with ease.

“She has had to be a one-person show, basically doing two people’s jobs,” Arin said. “She has coordinated everything and kept track of where everything is at. Those of us who get to work with her every day are so lucky to work with such a caring, compassionate and fun co-worker. Jessica is amazing and I feel  so lucky and honored to have her on the team! We can’t function without her.”

The PUD averages about 24,000 invoices per year and sets up anywhere from 200 to 300 vendors. The Accounts Payable group also gets three to eight fraudulent emails a day that need to be vetted to make sure we’re not paying fake invoices or vendors.

Jessica managed all of them. Luckily, the department recently filled the open position, so help is on the way.

“Somehow, she’s also maintained a positive attitude,” Arin said. “Those are some pretty big numbers. She’s having to route things back and forth and nothing falls through the cracks. Jessica is an unsung hero, she works behind the scenes ensuring that we pay our vendors on time and accurately.”

“Jessica is one of the hardest working employees I’ve known in almost thirty years of working at public entities,” said Shawn Hunstock, Senior Manager, Controller and Auditor. “Jessica has a desire to do the best job she can every day for the benefit of the PUD and our ratepayers. Jessica’s dedication goes so far that our managers require her to leave her laptop at the office rather than taking it with her on vacation.”

Seemingly everyone who has worked in the same department as Jessica reveres her incredible abilities and skills.

“It’s always a pleasure to work with her,” said Tania Cornwell, Contracts & Purchasing Specialist. “She’s always a source of guidance and support, and I have complete trust in her abilities. She has a strong commitment to her work and always goes the extra mile. She is someone that I can always count on.”

“Jessica’s superpowers include: Understanding IRS jargon, training others with patience and coaxing plants to thrive,” added Cressa Johnson, AP Accountant. “I love working with her because she is great to hash out ideas with and has a great attitude.”

Multiple people also pointed out how quick Jessica is to jump in and help others.

“Jessica is a delight to work with,” said Trisha Jorgenson, Facilities Administrative Assistant. “She’s very knowledgeable and understanding. She helped me tremendously when I was hired and is very patient when I ask questions. Sometimes things go sideways, and she is always willing to help get it back on track.”

There isn’t a lot of humor and appreciation in the invoice-heavy world of Accounts Payable. But Jessica’s even able to make it fun.

“I’m always amazed at how well she can keep such laser sharp focus in her work,” said Barb Peterson, Contracts & Purchasing Specialist. “She’s got a great sense of humor too.  We often work together on billing issues that can present challenges, and it’s not always easy to find something to laugh about in those situations. Somehow, she always manages to make me laugh out loud.”

Jessica Martin came to the PUD over 17 years ago. She remembers her first week – mostly because she was incredibly sick.

But Jessica persevered through that week, and a few other tough weeks along the way. At first, she felt a little in over her head when she started, but now she’s the go-to person for Accounts Payable questions.

That is what she’s most proud of.

“I’ve gone from not having any experience, to feeling confident in my abilities and what I do,” Jessica said. “I’ve learned through just doing the job, making mistakes, learning from those mistakes, and talking with people within the same field of our industry. You can ask me pretty much anything related to accounts payable. People also think I know way more than I do. But we can usually figure it out or I can point them in the right direction.”

One of Jessica’s favorite parts of her job is the problem-solving that comes with so many moving parts. She can jump between tasks and is never bored while the days (usually) fly by.

When she’s not at work, Jessica loves traveling with her husband Shane. They recently caught the travel bug  and have taken numerous trips across the continent. When the pair are at home, they take care of their family of cats and plants.

“Because of her job duties, people may sometimes miss out on seeing Jessica’s warm and caring side,” said Andrea Duffy, Office Coordinator, Market Segments. “She and her husband have three cats, and she adopted the stray one that started coming around their house. She loves to travel, crochet, and if she could, she’d work from a paddleboard on Lake Stevens in the summer.”

Jessica was incredibly surprised when she found out about the honor but is incredibly grateful to everyone she gets to work with – including the anonymous coworker who nominated her for the award.

“I was very surprised, very honored, very thankful. All the things,” Jessica said with a laugh. “It’s very weird, but that’s OK. Thank you whoever you are! And thank you to everyone!