Page 30 - Georgia Forestry - Spring 2020

#IAMGFC! Agency headquarters employees gather for a group shot in Dry Branch.
“ The people I work with make it a joy to come in every day. It fulfills you. You treat
‘em like family because they’re your heart, your drive, every day.” — Ken Keuper
SERVICES PROVIDED BY GFC PROFESSIONALS
Fire Detection Issuing Burn Permits
Wildfire Suppression & Prevention Services
Emergency & Incident Command System Expertise
Rural Fire Department Assistance
Forest Management Assistance to Landowners & Communities
Marketing and Utilization of Forest Resources & Nature Services
Growing & Selling Quality Tree Seedlings for Planting
Visit gfc.state.ga.us for more information
Stasia Kelly is a media relations specialist with Georgia Forestry Commission. Stasia is focused on telling the story of forestry and the immense impact of the industry on Georgia’s environment, economy and heritage.
of Alabama and Abraham Baldwin Agriculture College, which now offers a Forestry degree. GFC’s Forest Man- agement Department offers a summer internship program in which six rising seniors are able to experience a variety of jobs and disciplines within the agency. Some interns have gone on to be hired at GFC after graduation.
realistic. Yet the folks who share the “I Am GFC” motto don’t readily go there. Instead, they talk about their colleagues as “family.”
“When my four-year-old was diag- nosed with cancer, I had to take five months’ leave,” said Womack. “I had maybe three or four weeks banked. An email was sent out to the agency, and within a half hour, my colleagues had donated the entire time off I needed. I was amazed.” Lynn’s son is coming up on his two-year cancer-free milestone.
Ken Keuper, Fabrication Shop Super- visor in Macon, echoed that sentiment. “The people I work with make it a joy to come in every day. It fulfills you. You treat ‘em like family because they’re your heart, your drive, every day.” ■
At the Heart
of it All
While retirement, health and other benefits attached to state service are an attractive feature of government employment, it’s accepted that salaries comparable to the private sector are not
28 | GEORGIA FORESTRY
WE ARE GFC