Navy Civilians Earn Recreational Lodging Awards

SILVERDALE, Wash. - Two employees from Jim Creek Navy Community Recreation Area earned 2017 Navy recreational lodging awards.

Jim Creek Site Manager, Michael Yates, earned the Recreational Lodging Manager of the Year Award, while Jim Creek Recreation Assistant, Allen J. de Asis, was named the Recreational Lodging Associate of the Year, in the 2017 Navy Lodging Program and Navy Getaways employee recognition program.

Jim Creek Recreation Area is located just outside of Arlington, Wash., about 1 1/2 hours north of Seattle. Located in the foothills of the North Cascades, Jim Creek serves as a Naval Radio Station and regional outdoor recreation facility for active duty, reservists, retired military, DoD civilians and sponsored guests. Jim Creek offers a wide variety of outdoor recreational opportunities, including camping, fishing, boating, hiking, biking and team building programs.

"Both Yates' and de Asis' work throughout the year resulted in a high level of customer satisfaction. Positive customer feedback averaged 89 percent the past 12 months," said Ryan Leavy, Community Recreation Manager.

Yates manages the Jim Creek campground staff and park maintenance. He is responsible for training new hires and empowering his employees, ranging from recreation to custodial workers.

Several of Yates' accomplishments from the past year include:

  • Providing new equipment rentals such as sleds, tree tents, and hammocks
  • Providing staff at the park's Twin Lakes, resulting in additional sales and boating rentals
  • Facilitating private reservations for the park's Alpine Tower, reaching out to Navy commands and community groups, which more than doubled its use
  • Leading a $60,000 profit turnaround
  • Managing a $490,000 renovation project at Jim Creek, including two apartment style lodgings, four RV Pads, a jumping pillow, expanded dog park, and four picnic shelters to enhance guest experience

In November 2017, de Asis was promoted to a full-time position overseeing the administration and storage program within Naval Station Everett's Morale Welfare and Recreation Community Recreation Department.

Several of de Asis' accomplishments from the past year include:

  • Managing the Jim Creek Recreation site front office, reservations, and day-to-day operations. His work is recognized as meticulous and error free
  • Receiving kudos from both the Navy Region Northwest internal review and CNIC Accreditation team for the organization, accessibility, and timeliness of the wide range of fiscal duties he accomplishes
  • Assisted in creating processes and procedures for ensuring orders are placed both accurately and timely, as well as ensuring vendors are paid properly
  • If there is a way to streamline, cut costs, or improve efficiencies, he does an excellent job at making it happen for the benefit of the program

For more information on Jim Creek, visit https://jimcreek.navylifepnw.com

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