West Virginia Department of Transportation

09/26/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/26/2025 06:09

WVDOT Public Relations Team Brings Home Three Wins in AASHTO's Transportation Communications Competition

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Longtime local news writer turned West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) press writer and photographer, Rusty Marks, was awarded Public Relations Professional of the Year at the American Association of State Transportation Officials' (AASHTO) Transportation Communications Committee Annual Meeting (TransComm) in Chicago, Illinois, on September 23, 2025.

Graphic Designer, Chris Moynahan, was awarded the Spirit of TransComm Award.

The WVDOT Public Relations team also took home a TransComm Skills Award for Episode 239 of its WV on the DOT podcast, featuring Jonathan Schaffer, MS, MBA, WVDOT's Executive Administrator of Government Relations.

Listen to the WV on the DOT podcast!

"It is not just the amount or quality of work Rusty and Chris do that brought home wins for these two professionals," said Jennifer Dooley, West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) Public Relations Division Director. "It's the manner in which they work. Rusty's diligence, Chris' patience. Rusty's reliability, Chris' positivity."


WVDOT's public relations team consists of nine employees who handle all the media responses, press releases, social media, video, and event work statewide. Releasing hundreds of press releases a year, the team pairs words with photos, videos and graphics to keep the public informed on road and bridge projects around the state. In emergency situations, the team works to get information quickly to news stations around the state.

Skill Award categories are judged by peers from state Departments of Transportation across the country. Each state Department of Transportation is permitted to enter up to six products from the year, such as videos, graphics, news releases and social media campaigns. The winning podcast episode featured Jonathan Schaffer as the guest, with Jennifer Dooley and Rusty Marks as co-hosts, and Luke Creasy, who recently joined WVDOT's public relations team, presenting the Around the DOT news segment.

"With the podcast, we're holding a conversation with one of the real people who work either within WVDOT or with one of our partners in the industry," said Dooley. "We chose episode 239 with Jonathan Schaffer to submit because he has a real passion for legislation and is a true public servant who is able to describe, in a very down-to-earth manner, how the legislative process impacts transportation."

Citizens can visit transportation.wv.gov, click on Public Relations and Archived Newsroom to read press releases, follow WVDOT on Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn and YouTube and listen to WV on the DOT podcast on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.

West Virginia Department of Transportation published this content on September 26, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 26, 2025 at 12:09 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]