Submitted by Thurston County

Thurston County has been recognized by the Washington Public Treasurer’s Association (WPTA) for excellence in its approach to investing the public funds under its care.

The 2026 Certificate of Excellence Award for Investment Policy – which was awarded after rigorous review of the County’s policy by a statewide panel – highlights the sophisticated operation and the professional staff that function as the financial engine of the County.

“This award represents our promise to the community that their hard-earned money is being protected with iron-clad discipline,” said Chair of the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners Tye Menser. “The Treasurer and his staff are part of the professional team who provide the stability and predictability my colleagues and I rely on to make sound decisions. Because they prioritize certainty over risk, we were able to stare down last year’s budget uncertainties with confidence,” he said. “We aren’t gambling with the community’s future, we’re securing it.”

The Thurston County Treasurer’s Office acts as the bank and investment manager for the County government and dozens of other public entities throughout the county – including Intercity Transit, the Port of Olympia, the Public Utility District, fire districts and nearly every local school, which together make up the Thurston County Investment Pool (TCIP) – collecting and dispersing taxes in addition to managing TCIP investments. 

According to WPTA, three key industry best-practices are at the heart of the County Treasurer’s award-winning Investment Policy: preserving the principle, maintaining liquidity and focusing on safe investments that also have a high yield.  

“We are incredibly conservative,” said Thurston County Treasurer Jeff Gadman who, along with his staff won the award. “We never invest in volatile assets like stocks or crypto currency. We stick to secure investments such as federal agency, U.S. Treasury and municipal bonds, so that when a school district needs a new classroom or the Board finds a rare deal on a downtown property, the money is there, safe and certain.”  

In addition to operating with conservative discretion, the Treasurer’s Office pointed to broad diversification as a fundamental part of the strategy that has provided outsized stability for the County in the midst of broader economic volatility.

“Our investment strategy makes the waves of market volatility feel like ripples,” said Thurston County Investment and Banking Officer, Rodney Reynolds. “Maintaining a two-year weighted average maturity (WAM) is really the secret sauce to the TCIP’s stability. Short term portfolios with 30-45 day WAMs react to every market wave, but our longer WAM increases predictability and generates higher returns over time, consistent with our risk management framework.”

“The County is fortunate to have a Treasurer who values professional collaboration with his staff and all of our offices and departments,” said Thurston County Manager Leonard Hernandez. “This approach makes us more resilient in the face of economic difficulties and directly benefits the people we serve. There’s no surprise they won this award.”  

The 2026 WPTA Investment Award is part of a larger and growing culture of accountability and professional excellence at Thurston County government. In 2025, the Thurston County Assessor’s Office earned the Certificate of Excellence in Assessment Administration (CEAA) from the International Association of Assessing Officers for recording a 97.9% accuracy rate, the highest professional honor a jurisdiction can receive for adhering to rigorous industry standards. The award represents the County’s intense focus on fairness and accuracy in taxation. 

The County’s other offices and departments also brought home a spate of awards for innovative programming and services in 2025.

The County Treasurer’s Office previously received WPTA’s Certificate of Excellence for Investment Policy in 2020, and a Certificate of Excellence for Debt Policy in 2023. They also received a Government Investment Officer’s Association Policy Certification in 2020, and a State Auditor’s Stewardship Award for outstanding accomplishment in accountability, transparency and good stewardship of public resources.

Learn more about the County Treasurer’s Office including their award-winning investment policy and to see how the County is delivering progress in the face of budget tightening efforts this year, visit the Thurston County website.