Fifty-four emerging leaders in the transportation design and construction industry participated in an intensive “boot camp” introduction to the federal legislative and regulatory processes, then descended on Capitol Hill to press their members of Congress to fix the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) and pass a long-term surface transportation bill.
They were in Washington April 13-15 as part of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association Transportation Development Foundation’s (ARTBA-TDF) 20th Annual Young Executive Development Program (YEDP), which was held in conjunction with the ARTBA Federal Issues Program and Transportation Construction Coalition Fly-In.
There have been more than 600 graduates in the program since the program launched in 1995. YEDP fellows this year represented 22 states and Canada.
The YEDP sessions focused on federal highway program funding, grassroots advocacy, future challenges facing the nation’s infrastructure, P3s, and professional development. Senior ARTBA staff provided an overview of the association’s role in shaping federal transportation policies and regulations.
Participants also heard the perspectives of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), T&I Committee Member Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.), and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) about the HTF crisis and reauthorizing the federal surface transportation program.
The YEDP class of 2015 included:
• Daniel Alvarez, finance manager, Transurban, Springfield, Va.
• Nicholas Amrhein, principal consultant, strategic consulting, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Denver, Colo.
• Paul Armano, lead civil highway/bridge engineer, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Oakland, Calif.
• Cris Asuncion, senior government transportation safety specialist, 3M, Roseville, Calif.
• Barnes Barton, vice president, NC APAC-Atlantic, Inc. - Thompson Arthur Division, Greensboro, N.C.
• Ozzy Bravo, senior staff geotechnical engineer, Terracon, Lexana, Kan.
• Josh Brezezinski, project engineer, Hoffman Construction Company, De Pere, Wis.
• Steven Byars, national business development leader, RS&H, Inc., Orlando, Fla.
• Peter Byrne, civil engineer, Arup, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• John Campbell, project engineer, Granite Construction, Ridgefield, Conn.
• Brian Charlesworth, project manager, Wright Brothers Construction Company, Inc., Ringgold, Ga.
• Dennis Coventon, vice president, project delivery, Plenary Group, Erie, Colo.
• Crystal Cummings, consultant, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Brooklyn, N.Y.
• David Dodson, project manager/design manager, CH2M HILL, Inc., Sparks, Nev.
• Casey Dusza, transportation planner, Texas Department of Transportation, Austin, Texas
• Clint Estess, vice president, Dickerson & Bowen, Inc., Brookhaven, Miss.
• Tucker Ferguson, district engineer, Texas Department of Transportation, Lumberton, Texas
• Kristi Flagg, deputy director, Texas Department of Transportation, Georgetown, Texas
• Christopher Foley, civil/structural engineer, AECOM, Virginia Beach, Va.
• Joanna Franks, business operations manager, Texas Department of Transportation, Austin, Texas
• Scott Freeman, project engineer, J-Track, LLC, Rye, N.Y.
• Daniel Haake, project manager/transportation planner, CDM Smith, Indianapolis, Ind.
• Kevin Harms, vice president of construction/construction superintendent, George Harms Construction, Brielle, N.J.
• Will Hawthorne, project engineer, CH2M HILL, Inc., Winter Garden, Fla.
• Bill Hicks, project manager, Lochner, Tyler, Texas
• Mike Jenkins, senior project manager, AECOM, Wausheka, Wis.
• B. Jones, surety and risk advisor, Scott Insurance. Franklin, Tenn.
• Elizabeth Justison, project manager/senior supervising manager, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Oakland, Calif.
• Lara Karamatsu, senior civil engineer, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Christopher Keppeler, project manager, MAS Building and Bridge, Inc., Boston, Mass.
• Johaan Klein, legislative liaison, Ohio Department of Transportation, Columbus, Ohio
• Brian Lee, pursuit manager, The Lane Construction Corporation, Fort Worth, Texas
• Rico Lepore, senior project engineer, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Heathrow, Fla.
• Robert Mahar, administrative support manager, National Capital Industries, Silver Spring, Md.
• Michelle Martin, civil engineering department manager/senior supervising engineer, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Virginia Beach, Va.
• Paul Nasados, project administration engineer, High Steel Structures LLC, Lancaster, Pa.
• Christopher Nazar, associate, CDM Smith, Denver, Colo.
• Megan Bramble Owings, in-house counsel, David A. Bramble, Inc., Chestertown, Md.
• Luke Peterson, construction manager, Granite Construction, Erie, Colo.
• James Reed, president, SEC, Inc., Arrington, Tenn.
• Brian Reynolds, lead engineer, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Nashville, Tenn.
• Michelle Roberts, construction manager, RK&K, Springfield, Va.
• Christopher Robertson, project engineer/estimator, Mountaineer Contractors, Kingwood, W.Va.
• Pete Rogers, sales operations manager, 3M, Hudson, Wis.
• Joseph Romano, project manager, Larson Design Group, Coatsville, Pa.
• Jeremy Rosario, estimator/project manager, J-Track LLC, Hawthorne, N.J.
• Paul Silber, human resources & benefits manager, George Harms Construction, Manalapan, N.J.
• Dan Sporik, civil engineer, AECOM, Baltimore, Md.
• Jason Sturgeon, transportation engineer, Ohio Department of Transportation, Somerset, Ohio
• Craig Suhoskey, senior project manager/client accounts manager, AECOM, Downington, Pa.
• Joseph Sullivan, project manager, Ammann & Whitney, Drexel Hill, Pa.
• Tom Webb, vice president of strategy/R&D, HCSS, Katy, Texas
• Alex Wright, lead engineer, Parsons Brinckerhoff, New York, N.Y.
• Scott Zeevaart, vice president and transportation division director, Gannett Fleming Inc., Hummelstown, Pa.
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