Dec 6, 2012
ROCHESTER, NY – The Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI) has selected Ann Marie Mistretta as its 2013 Peter J. Salmon Employee of the Year. The announcement was made at the organization’s employee holiday event held at the Rochester Radisson Riverside Hotel on December 4, 2012.
As ABVI’s Peter J. Salmon Employee of the Year, Mistretta will accompany ABVI President and CEO Gidget Hopf to the National Industries for the Blind (NIB) National Conference being held in 2013 in Washington, D.C., and will be considered for the national award.
The award was established in 1968, and is named after the late Dr. Peter J. Salmon, one of the nation's outstanding advocates for people who are blind, who was instrumental in the passage of the original legislation that created the AbilityOne Program. Nominees must not only demonstrate successful on-the-job performance but also for other positive activities, both at work and in the community.
“Since starting with ABVI as a customer service representative, this individual caught on very quickly to the daily responsibilities and requested early-on to cross train on other contact center contract,” says Hopf.
Hopf notes that Mistretta became proficient in four other call center contracts within months of starting. All the while, Hopf says, Mistretta maintained a high level of customer service acumen. This led to her promotion to Information Specialist answering calls on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Substance Control Act line.
Over the course of the last year, Hopf says Mistretta has taken on additional responsibilities to back up the shift supervisor such as checking the Federal Registry on a daily basis for new, relevant entries and forwarding those to the appropriate people and sending weekly progress reports to the program manager at the EPA.
“Ann Marie is always eager to assist in any way she can,” says Hopf. “She is surely an asset to ABVI and inspiration to all who know her.”
Photo Caption: Ann Marie Mistretta, right, is congratulated by ABVI President and CEO Gidget Hopf upon the announcement that she is ABVI's 2013 Peter J. Salmon Employee of the Year.