‘Spirit of the Workforce’ 2025 Winners

Editor’s note: The following individuals were selected as the recipients of this year’s “Spirit of the Workforce” awards, honored at the Mayor’s Energy Summit on October 23.

Aaron Burton, Integrity Engineer Lead

ExxonMobil

Nominated by Scott Buechler

In addition to his leadership at ExxonMobil, Aaron has shown time and again his steadfast commitment to the community he calls home. Aaron is always the first to volunteer at events—whether it be for the United Way or for student STEM initiatives like Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. Aaron is committed to the core principles of our company, like safety and integrity. Every day, he leads by example, and we are proud that he is a part of our team.

Lakin Aaron, Construction Lead

Oxy

Nominated by Clint Kirkes

Lakin leads a team that performs construction activities and manages preventative maintenance for emissions equipment. He has mentored construction specialists and restructured the team to work more efficiently in addressing emissions equipment outages. Additionally, Lakin played a pivotal role in onboarding three new emissions vendors, creating a competitive environment that encouraged vendors to streamline their processes and improve service delivery, which helps Oxy achieve the long-term net-zero emissions goal. Lakin has played a pivotal role in developing talent within the construction team. He invested considerable time mentoring a Construction Specialist, providing guidance on technical skills, safety leadership, and project management best practices.

Through regular coaching, job shadowing opportunities, and constructive feedback, Lakin helped the specialist build confidence and expand their capabilities. As a result of this growth and sustained high performance, the specialist earned a promotion to Construction Leader. This advancement not only reflects the individual’s commitment and hard work but also highlights Lakin’s ability to nurture talent, strengthen the team’s expertise, and create clear pathways for career progression within the organization.

On the safety front, Lakin leads our Safety Coach meetings, bringing together teams from both New Mexico and Texas to discuss behavioral-based safety observations, vendor interactions, and current safety issues. He has instituted monthly safety standdowns for vendors, focusing on recent incident trends to drive awareness and improvement.

In addition, Lakin provides targeted coaching on Lockout/Tagout procedures, addressing one of our highest incident categories and reinforcing safe work practices across the contractor base.

Lakin is deeply committed to community engagement and environmental stewardship. He supports the Roadrunner Food Bank, helping to provide fresh food to those in need, and contributed to the Wish for Wheels initiative, where Oxy employees built and delivered 200 bicycles and helmets to local elementary school students. Twice a month, Lakin and his team conduct lease road cleanups, reflecting pride in our operations and care for the environment. A devoted family man, he is actively involved in his son’s and daughters’ extracurricular activities. Additionally, Lakin played a key role in designing and building a homecoming float that won the People’s Choice Award, showcasing both creativity and a strong team spirit.

Reynaldo Chavarria, Road Foreman

Eddy County Public Works

Nominated By Hazer Archer

I am honored to nominate Reynaldo Chavarria for the “Spirit of the Workforce” award in recognition of his outstanding contributions and commitment across all areas of excellence.

Teamwork: Reynaldo consistently fosters collaboration and respect among colleagues. He willingly shares knowledge, assists team members with challenging tasks, and helps create a positive and productive work environment. His ability to bring people together makes the team stronger and much more efficient.

Safety Commitment: Mr. Chavarria is a leader in promoting safety on the job, ensuring procedures are followed and risks are minimized. He also actively identifies potential hazards, communicates concerns promptly, and models safe practices, helping to protect both coworkers and the community.

Work Ethic: Known for dedication and perseverance, Reynaldo approaches every assignment with focus and determination. He consistently goes above and beyond expectations, completing tasks with a high level of accuracy and pride.

Reliability: Dependable and trustworthy, he can always be counted on to deliver quality work on time. His consistency provides stability for the team, and he always steps up without hesitation when extra support is needed.

Community Involvement: Beyond the workplace, Mr. Chavarria contributes heavily to the community. Some of the engagements and events Reynaldo participates in are Halloween, Christmas, County Fair, equipment rodeos, farmers markets, charity events through car shows, and many other local fundraisers. His involvement reflects genuine care for others and strengthens Eddy County’s positive presence in the community.

Specific Story: In June and July of this year, Eddy County faced severe flooding in multiple areas. Mr. Chavarria was the first person to work. He worked tirelessly to close roads that were a danger to drivers in all the regions of flooding. Mr. Chavarria was called out on the Fourth of July holiday and never once complained or hesitated.

He worked late nights and early mornings, ensuring traffic control devices were in place and different crews were dispatched to destroyed areas. While office personnel were fielding troubled calls, Mr. Chavarria was rushing to correct roadway hazards and prevent future issues. Over these flooding events in two months, Mr. Chavarria had over 200 hours of overtime. A regular month’s work is approximately 160 hours in Eddy County. This means in two months, Reynaldo dedicated over an extra month’s working time to the community and also to road safety.

In every respect, Reynaldo Chavarria embodies the qualities this award seeks to honor. I strongly recommend him for this recognition.

Mike Lee, Master Mechanic

Kodiak Gas Services

Nominated by Andy Golden

Mike constantly demonstrates quality work and the desire to help others and spread his knowledge to anyone that he can. Mike is always willing to help anyone in need.

Any time Mike is on location for a job, he ensures that he and everyone around him adhere to the strict safety standards that ensure everyone is going to head home at the end of the day, the same as they showed up. Mike has, on numerous occasions, gone to assist with difficult-to-figure-out problems through tried-and-true troubleshooting procedures that he has polished over years in the industry. Mike always gets to the bottom of the issue and allows everyone to move on to the next priority. Mike makes it a point to give back to his community through contributions at various Kodiak-sponsored events, such as food drives, school supply and backpack drives, adopt-a-family Christmas, and more.

Mike’s exemplary commitment to excellence, his teammates, and the safety culture that Kodiak Gas Services stands for is what I believe makes him the superior candidate for the “Spirit of the Workforce” award.