AASHTO Journal - PennDOT EV Team Wins Governor’s Award for Excellence

Governor Josh Shapiro (D) recently presented a group of employees from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Strategic Implementation with a Governor’s Award for Excellence, recognizing their work to deploy federal National Vehicle Infrastructure or NEVI funding to help build out electric vehicle or EV charging infrastructure statewide.

[Above photo by PennDOT]

The honorees, all based in PennDOT’s central office in Harrisburg, PA, are:

Derrick Herrmann, highway administration program manager.
Colton Brown, administrative officer.
Dorothy Holloway, administrative officer.
Gunnar Rhone, civil engineer consultant.

The Governor’s Awards for Excellence recognize exemplary job performance or service that reflects initiative, leadership, innovation and increased efficiency.

PennDOT added that its EV team was among 83 employees from 17 state agencies honored by Gov. Shapiro for exceptional accomplishments in 2025.

The agency noted that Pennsylvania leads the nation in rollout of NEVI funding, with nearly $62 million already committed to public EV charging stations across the Commonwealth, along with more NEVI-funded EV charging stations in operation than any other state.

[Editor’s note: Josh Rodriguez – program director for environment at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials – recently discussed how state and local transportation agencies are helping develop and build electric vehicle or EV charging infrastructure nationwide on a podcast produced by strategic consulting firm Atlas Public Policy.]

Roughly 44 charging stations have been built in Pennsylvania so far and 45 more are in various stages of planning and construction, PennDOT said.

That agency also noted that its Bureau of Strategic Implementation has claimed “the highest amount of funding from the NEVI program,” ensuring Pennsylvania will receive the entirety of the $171.5 million in EV infrastructure funding obligated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA.

“The PennDOT team has worked quickly and diligently to lead the nation in EV charger rollout, skillfully deploying these federal funds to meet the needs of our state’s residents and visitors driving electric vehicles,” said Mike Carroll, PennDOT secretary, in a statement. “We are proud to see these four dedicated individuals recognized for their hard work creating the critical infrastructure needed to support Pennsylvania’s economy for the next generation.”