Jerrod Hurr, who just received James City County’s Parks and Recreation Employee of the Year award, is a man who likes new challenges – and he’s taken on several over the past year in his current role as Park Coordinator.
The County honored Hurr the 2012 Employee of the Month award at the department’s annual event a few weeks ago. He was recognized for his exceptional achievements in skate rink operations, playground safety and pool operations.
“Jerrod has done an outstanding job this the past year,” says Parks and Recreation Director John Carnifax. “He has eagerly accepted additional responsibilities and models the County’s four values of Integrity, Collaboration, Excellence and Stewardship in his daily interaction with customers and staff.”
On top of his regular duties overseeing the County’s pools and Upper County Park, Hurr decided to tackle the challenge of planning the County’s ice rink that had a successful first season last winter. He had to research synthetic ice technology, help put together partnerships to build the facility and then figure out the daily operations.
“It was hard work,” Hurr says. “I had no idea about making ice rinks, so I had to learn all about it.”
His work paid off. Back in January when the County decided to extend the rink’s season, almost 5,000 visitors had taken advantage of the new winter recreation, and the rink brought in more revenue than the County had expected for the first year. (Read a story about the rink here).
Learning new things is something Hurr likes to do whenever he can.
“I like to take on new challenges, I like to fix things and make them work, and I like to look for new projects.”
That’s just what he did with the ice rink, and also what motivated him to become a nationally certified playground inspector.
Hurr took the National Recreation and Park Association Playground Safety Certification course last year, and had to master topics such as hazard identification, equipment specifications, surfacing requirements and risk management methods.
“I haven’t studied that hard since I was in college,” Hurr says with a laugh.
When he passed his test and returned with his certification, Hurr created a new playground inspection program in the county and trained existing staff on how to inspect and manage the 30-plus playgrounds on county and school property. His work saved the county time and improved the efficiency of the program, according to a press release from the county about Hurr’s award.
As though that wasn’t enough to do, last summer, Hurr also assumed management of the County’s outdoor pools. He made some positive changes, including instituting family and pass holder pool nights, developing special events and launching an advertising plan, “resulting in the program’s most successful summer season to date,” according to the County.
“It’s fun,” Hurr says of all the different things he gets to do. “Every season, I get to move on to different projects.”
As for taking home the title of Employee of the Year, Hurr says, “It was humbling to be nominated; there are lots of great employees who work here. We’re one of the best Parks and Rec departments in the country… but it’s embarrassing at the same time.”
Hurr competed for the honor against his wife, Phyllis, who has been a finalist for the award three times in the last four years, according to her husband.
Don’t worry – it didn’t cause tension at home, Jerrod Hurr says.
“My wife is a humble person, she was pulling for me. She doesn’t crave public recognition, and she was proud of me,” Hurr said.
Hurr did not grow up with an expectation of working in the Parks and Recreation field – he started out as a football player and wrestler at Poquoson High School. He had dreams of playing in college, but ended up breaking his leg before he graduated high school.
“Something in me just said, ‘I’m done,’ so that was it,” Hurr says about the end of his dream of a career in pro sports.
He worked at the Newport News shipyard for a while and realized that getting more education was important, so he enrolled at Old Dominion University. During his time there, he worked at Water Country through college and beyond.
He interned with a different Parks and Recreation program in college, but just for a short while. When an opportunity opened up with James City County’s Parks and Recreation in 2004, he decided to make the switch to a new field.
“It was just a great opportunity for me professionally,” he said of the first job he got with the County as the Aquatic Program Coordinator. “I was nervous at first … but I took the leap. It was a great decision.”
Hurr is coming up on 10 years with the County, and the job has been a really rewarding experience.
“We see smiles, laughter, parents and kids having fun together – it makes us know they had a good time, and that feels good.”
