From the Health and Facilities departments to Four Directions Productions and Turning Stone, Oneidas are giving their all for their careers and their Nation. The following long-term employees bring their unique skill sets to the workplace, and each is helping to secure the future for generations to come.

Bill Kaulback (Turtle Clan)
In 1994, Bill received some sage advice from his boss at Sears and Roebuck. The store was re-structuring and future job prospects looked rather bleak. Seeing the proverbial writing on the wall, his boss advised Bill to look for another job.

“My manager convinced me to put my name in for a maintenance supervisor’s job at the Nation,” recalled Bill, who also held a second job, working at Onondaga Community College (OCC) at the time. “He told me I needed to get down here while things were on the ground level. He told me I could be sitting in a nice job someday.”

After 16 years of working two jobs, Bill took the advice. But he didn’t get a supervisor’s job – yet. Instead he was hired as a construction foreman for the Design and Construction Department.

Worried about his ability to do the job – his background was in building maintenance – he convinced his manager at Sears to give him a 30-day leave of absence in case things didn’t work out. He needn’t have worried.

This coming August, Bill will have worked for the Nation for 16 years. From his foreman’s position, he was promoted to a supervisor with Maintenance, which eventually became the Facilities Department, where Bill is now manager.

“When I started, we had no Home-ownership Program, but the Nation owned 20 properties and then bought more,” said Bill. “I started at Facilities in 1995, and our job was to maintain all the properties. This was before the hotels and Children and Elders Center and all the golf courses. The White Pines was just being built, and bingo was still held on the Territory.

“I can honestly say I love my job, and I have a good boss to work with, Dave Falkenmeyer. The guys are great. They’re what makes my job run smoothly. It’s a challenging job that I enjoy.”

But it’s not easy. Winters are particularly hectic with all the plowing. However, Bill maintains that everyone keeps their sense of humor, even if it sometimes is at his expense.

“I admit I snapped at a couple of the guys one day,” said Bill. “When I came back to my office, they had painted ‘Grizzly’s Den’ above the door. I just started laughing. It’s been up for four years.

“I’m content with my job and want to stay right here. I like being out working with the guys. I don’t want to be behind a desk all the time. I love my position; it’s demanding and rewarding.”

Amy Ross (Turtle Clan)
Working swing shift from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. has been Amy’s routine since she started as a craps dealer at Turning Stone nearly 16 years ago. She loves her schedule and the freedom it allows her during the day.

Although her shift has remained the same throughout her tenure at the resort, her job has not. After working for 18 months on her first job, she was promoted to box person for an additional 18 months. For the next 10 years, Amy was floor supervisor, moving up to pit manger three years ago. Eventually, Amy’s goal is to become an assistant shift manager, but, she said, she can wait, enjoying the job she’s in for the present.

“My job is interesting,” said Amy. “There is something different every night. It never gets boring, and I get to meet a lot of people.”

One of her biggest pleasures throughout her career at the resort has been watching it grow, she said. When she first came on board, Amy said, the casino looked like “a factory with big decks of cards on the wall.”

As the resort evolved, so too did Amy. She continued her education, earning a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Morrisville in resort and recreations services management.

“My education has helped me learn the inside and outside of the business. It taught me to look at things differently.”

Watching the resort grow and thrive has been the punctuation point to her career.

“Before the hotels and the restaurants, it was small,” said Amy.”When the first hotel opened, we had such fun. Then, of course, another highlight was seeing Tiger Woods play at Atunyote and just watching golf grow here. It’s been amazing.”

Charmaine (Charmy) Frederick (Turtle Clan)
Just like Amy, Charmy has been involved in the Nation’s growth from the ground level, beating Amy’s start date by five years. It has been more than two decades since Charmy took her first job as clerk/typist for the Nation, working three days a week while pregnant with her first child. Charmy is now director of the Nation’s Health Department.

Those early years were tough, as she was living in Watertown with her husband. During the week, she would stay with her mom, returning to her home on weekends.

“It was fun back then; we were starting from nothing,” said Charmy. “We went around and interviewed Members. We had big dreams, and it was grassroots stuff. We felt we were making a difference. We had a dream that could come true.”

Four employees worked in the Nation’s office in Canastota at the time: Charmy; Sheri Beglen (Wolf Clan); Chuck Fougnier, Wolf Clan Council Member; and Dale Rood, Turtle Clan Council Member.

From modest beginnings, Charmy is pleased with the growth of the Nation and particularly with its Health Department. She notes that before the Nation instituted the health insurance programs for Oneidas, they would seek care at emergency rooms. Today, Oneidas have medical and dental access and a sense of trust in their providers, she said.
Yet, as every good health care provider will attest, providing health care is only a small portion of what it takes to help people maintain their health.

“It’s a challenge to help change lifestyles, a huge, ongoing commitment to wellness,” said Charmy. “People who come here say they receive good care. We have challenges, but we strive to improve. The Health Department is always setting the bar higher for better quality of care and patient services. We don’t want patients to feel that we don’t know them as a person.”

But Charmy admits she never thought she’d be holding the position she has attained. She has escalated from administrative assistant to acting health director to health director to Health and Human Services Director.
What sounds facile in print was arduous in reality. Working full-time, she also went on to college – while continuing to care for her growing family that includes two more children – earning experience as she worked. What she was learning in class she came back and put into practice on the job.

Still questing to improve, Charmy’s goal is to earn a master’s degree in public health/health and human services management. More goals are in her scope, including networking with outside health organization and her big target goal of acquiring accreditation for the Health Department as an ambulatory care facility.

“We are very close to applying, but I want to make sure we are really ready before we apply,” said Charmy. “We know we meet the standards, but we want that stamp that recognizes our efforts. Accreditation tells people we meet certain standards of care.”

As she works through the requirements for accreditation, she is also spending her time working toward self-improvement. A recent graduate of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Ladder to Leadership Program: Developing the Next Generation of Community Health Leaders, Charmy was one of only 30 health care executives from Central New York to participate in the 16-month program.

“It was like leadership boot camp,” said Charmy. “I want to continue this type of activity, networking to see what we could tap into at the Health Department. Plus, it’s good to help educate people and dispel misconceptions about Indian country.

“I’m happy to come to work and at the end of the day I feel like I’ve done something important. I’m content.”

Dale Rood, Turtle Clan Council Member
When Dale took his first position with the Nation over 20 years ago, selling bingo cards at the original Bingo Hall on Territory Road, little did he realize that he would eventually run the video, animation and multimedia production house of Four Directions Productions.

“It’s incredible really,” said Dale. “When I started out, I had a variety of jobs, from working security to a position on the business committee to programming cash registers. Then I really got involved in computers, becoming a tech.”

One of his first tech missions was to set up a network for the 10 computers and one printer for the staff in the Canastota office. This was in 1992-93. Dale became more and more integrated into the computer field, working for MIS and then working toward setting up the Nation’s Internet connection.

Another one of his jobs was researching non-linear editing systems that digitize whatever is being worked on, which was cutting-edge technology at the time. Preservation work, videotaping Elders, was one of his tasks.

“That all eventually led to my current position,” said Dale, who is now director of studio operations for Four Directions Productions. “But beyond my job, I’m proud of all the work the Nation has been able to do these past years. We’ve been able to bring our people to a level that was only dreamt of in the past. There’s always room for improvement, but it all takes time.”

As for his work, Dale plans to continue preserving the culture of the Oneida people and passing it on.

“I enjoy my job,” said Dale. “If it weren’t for the Nation I wouldn’t have been able to see or experience the things I have. We are so blessed by what we have been able to accomplish. If something happened to me today, I can think of no regrets I have in my professional life.

“I’ve done more than I ever thought I would. I guess I thought I’d be a mechanic of sorts. The Nation provided me with opportunities, and I am grateful.”