Happenings
Division 54 Q3 2025 Awards
Associate of the Month – July
Naketia Goodman
Accountant IV Naketia Goodman consistently ensures internal and external customer requirements are met. She exemplifies superior customer service, stepping in to assist with urgent tasks, even outside her responsibilities, without hesitation. Since becoming the Jurisdiction M Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) contract lead, Naketia has streamlined processes, reduced repetitive work and exceeded departmental quality objectives.
Her proactive approach keeps tasks on track, and she supports peers and new hires through education and assistance. Naketia fosters clear communication, adapts to last-minute changes and frequently helps teammates by completing critical reports on time. Through critical thinking and meticulous attention to detail, Naketia has driven multiple Celebrate Process Improvement (CPI) initiatives including optimizing the email prepper for variance reports, ensuring accurate distribution lists and efficient reporting.
Naketia’s dedication, leadership and commitment to quality has earned her Associate of the Month for July.
Associate of the Month – August
Willie Green
Willie Green, Accountant IV, is the go-to resource for cost accounting when Cognos reports need fixing or new reports created. He takes initiative by contacting requestors to gather details before starting, ensuring accuracy and timeliness. His responsiveness and commitment to meeting internal customer needs exemplify superior service.
Although Willie works in the budget department, he actively supports cost accounting’s month-end close by posting key journal entries on time and helping the team meet critical deadlines. He also manages essential budget tasks, including payroll rates and labor allocations and responds promptly to senior management directives to keep processes on track.
Willie’s leadership extends to process improvement. He spearheaded the reporting integration for the upcoming cost accounting system upgrade, ensuring report functionality and data security. His innovation was also evident during budget season, when he implemented a new seeding process while balancing heavy workloads and tight deadlines.
Willie’s initiative and commitment to helping others earned him August’s Associate of the Month Award.
Associate of the Month - September
Renzo Bunch
Renzo Bunch is an accounting I technician who consistently delivers superior customer service through his eagerness to learn and master new skills, enabling him to meet and exceed internal deadlines with efficiency and accuracy.
He sets a high standard in his work and encourages others to do the same. Demonstrating a strong commitment to growth, Renzo completed Pathstream courses to enhance his knowledge and capabilities. He also increased his productivity while maintaining an impressive accuracy rate of 98.83 percent.
Taking the lead on large requests, Renzo effectively utilizes Webadi to streamline processes. By leveraging this tool, he significantly reduces keying time, transforming tasks that once took hours into minutes.
Congratulations to Renzo for earning Division 54’s September Associate of the Month Award.
Coach of the Quarter
Keith Warnick
Keith Wanick exemplifies outstanding leadership and mentorship within the MAC Accounting Team. He invests significant time teaching and guiding the accountants who report to him. His deep understanding of departmental processes allows him to provide clear direction. When answers are not immediately available, Keith proactively collaborates with other areas to secure the information his team needs.
Keith’s commitment to knowledge sharing is evident through his hands-on approach. He has trained team members skills that have proven invaluable across multiple projects. Colleagues consistently praise him for his accessibility, objectivity and ability to keep everyone informed.
Keith also plays a critical role in meeting departmental quality measures. He diligently monitors contract funding against actual spend rates, reviews and updates process documentation and ensures his team implements the latest procedures.
Keith’s leadership extends beyond his immediate responsibilities. When upper management requests special forecast files or urgent reports and Keith’s team is busy, he steps in to complete these tasks. Keith is not only a knowledgeable supervisor but also a trusted resource and team player. He consistently promotes efficiency, quality, and collaboration, making him an invaluable asset to the Cost Accounting department and Division 54’s Coach of the Quarter.
Process Improvement of the Quarter
Subcontractors in ARTS Database
Team members: Denise Dearing, Owen Pirkle, Keith Warnick
Prior to the Subcontractors in ARTS Database process improvement, reconciling missing subcontractor costs and hours for MAC invoices took accountants an average of 4.18 hours per month.
The process improvement enabled the database to recognize a subcontractor labor code, ensuring all costs and hours from uploaded files appear in invoice reports. Now, accountants only review cases where costs exist without corresponding hours. After implementing the process, accountants spend on average 0.52 hours per month on this task, resulting in annual savings of 58.67 hours, an 87.65 percent efficiency improvement. This initiative earned the team Process Improvement of the Quarter.
Team of the Quarter
MAC Cost Accounting Team
Team members: ShaWuana Brown, Denise Dearing, Naketia Goodman, Emily Salley, Sujata Sunthankar, Keith Warnick
The MAC Cost Accounting Team supports two external customers and multiple internal stakeholders. They earned Team of the Quarter for consistently delivering exceptional results during one of the most demanding quarters of the year.
In Q3, periods of performance for the Jurisdiction J MAC and the Railroad Retirement Board Specialty MAC changed on August 1 and the Jurisdiction M MAC period of performance transitioned on September 1. Completing the necessary reports and schedules from one period of performance to the next typically takes two to four weeks and requires close collaboration to avoid disruptions.
Despite Q3’s increased demand, including accelerated timelines and numerous ad hoc reports, the team responded effectively. Their commitment to accuracy was evident in maintaining an error rate of .02 percent overall and 0 percent on invoices, far exceeding the 6.0 percent threshold. Congratulations to the MAC Cost Accounting Team for their exceptional work.
