Pye-Barker Fire & Safety is proud bestow the annual Kim Bishie Golden Award upon Tess Jimenez, Branch Manager of PBFS Austin. The Kim Bishie Golden Award was introduced last year to recognize an individual that gives entirely of himself/herself to the company with unmatched dedication and outstanding effort. The award is in honor of a valued member of the Pye-Barker Fire family who passed away unexpectedly in January 2020 due to health complications, leaving behind a legacy of selfless service to our customers and employees.
Tess Jimenez joined the Pye-Barker Fire family through the acquisition of her company, AAA Fire & Safety Equipment, Co in late 2019. It immediately became clear to Pye-Barker Fire’s leadership team that Tess would not be needing any close supervision to get the job done. She impressed them all with the level of productivity she was able to achieve. From scheduling every single ticket, to coming in early to personally meet with and hand off work to her technicians, to being the around-the-clock person to answer and schedule emergency calls, Tess never stopped working and accepted nothing less than perfection in the running of operations.
This work ethic is matched with a deep care for her team, who she considers family. After experiencing a personal tragedy which left her hospitalized, Tess had her laptop brought to the hospital so she could keep supporting her team remotely until she was well enough to return. At the time of the acquisition, she postponed an annual family visit so she could stay with her team in the early days of transition. She plans her life around being available for her team and will never ask someone else to do a job she can do herself, even if doing so makes more work for her.
It is common to visit her branch and find her inspecting extinguishers and attending to walk-in customers, while on the phone with one of her techs and working on schedules for the next day. Once Pye-Barker Fire acquired her company, Tess did not use the opportunity to slow down or shift some of the responsibility to someone else. Rather, she continued showing up and giving Pye-Barker an equal level of her time, talent, and non-stop effort. It is our great privilege to have her in the PBFS family and to honor her with this award today.
Thank you for your selfless dedication and admirable commitment, Tess!
The Kim Bishie Golden Award is an annual distinction presented annually to an individual that gives entirely of himself/herself to the company with unmatched dedication and outstanding effort. It includes a monetary gift of $10,000 as a thank you for his/her dedication. The award is in honor of a valued member of the Pye-Barker family who passed away unexpectedly in January 2020 due to health complications. Read about the award’s namesake and establishment here.