More than 50 “young guns” in the transportation design and construction industry took part in an intensive “boot camp” introduction to the federal legislative and regulatory processes, and 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 June 9 to 12 as part of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) Foundation’s 19th Annual Young Executive Development Program (YEDP), which was held in conjunction with the ARTBA Federal Issues Program and Transportation Construction Coalition Fly-In.
The 2014 class marks the largest ever in the program’s history. YEDP fellows represented about half of the states, the District of Columbia and Canada.
The YEDP sessions focused on federal highway program financing, grassroots advocacy, future challenges facing the nation’s infrastructure, transportation construction safety, P3s, ethics, and featured a visit to the U.S. Department of Transportation Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center. 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.), Senate Environment & Public Works Committee Ranking Member David Vitter (R-La.), and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) about the HTF crisis and timeline for the reauthorization of MAP-21.
The 2014 class roster included:
• David Ballard, project manager, Granite Construction Co., Raleigh, N.C.
• Justin Berglund, project manager and estimator, David Nelson Construction Company, Palm Harbor, Fla.
• Andrew Bremer, deputy director of legislative affairs, Ohio Department of Transportation, Columbus
• Clarence Brickey, division president, APAC-Atlantic Oldcastle Materials, Greensboro, N.C.
• Gary Brown, project executive, Granite Construction Co., Lewisville, Texas
• Spencer Cameron, contracts manager, major bids, Aecon Construction Group Inc., Toronto, Canada
• Bradley Cooper, project manager, HNTB Corporation, Bellevue, Wash.
• Marcus Coronado, PPP project manager, Texas Department of Transportation, Austin
• Andrew Craig, project engineer, KCI Technologies, Charlotte, N.C.
• Nick Davis, bridge manager, Mid-State Construction Co. Inc., Livingston, Tenn.
• Scott Delesdernier, assistant vice president, Michael Baker Jr. Inc., Rocky Hill, Conn.
• Garrick Edwards, project director, AECOM, Atlanta, Ga.
• Irene Eells, senior associate-highway department, Ammann & Whitney, Philadelphia, Pa.
• Ben Engelhardt, area engineer, Texas Department of Transportation, Austin
• Matthew Frantz, Florida transportation director, TRC Worldwide Engineering Inc., Tampa, Fla.
• Christopher Frieberg, business development manager, Kiewit Corporation, Littleton, Colo.
• Rebekah Gaudreau, structural engineer, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Manchester, N.H.
• Troy Gerry, U.S. business manager, 3M Traffic Safety & Security Division, St. Paul, Minn.
• Troy Gjerde, South Texas area manager, Webber LLC, The Woodlands, Texas
• Ryan Gorman, business development manager, Corman Construction, Colonial Heights, Md.
• Joseph Grantham, senior project manager, Parsons Transportation Group, Washington, D.C.
• Martha Gross, senior consultant, Arup, New York, N.Y.
• Jason Hardell, assistant vice president construction, George Harms Construction Company, Farmingdale, N.J.
• Daniel Hart, regional office manager/vice president, Gannett Fleming, Orlando, Fla.
• Dan Healey, vice president engineering, George Harms Construction Company, Howell, N.J.
• Yamila Hernandez, senior project manager, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Miami, Fla.
• Jonathan Hirschfeld, vice president of project coordinator/business development, Hirschfeld Industries, Greensboro, N.C.
• Lisa Hoeke, structural engineer, H.W. Lochner, Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Jake Hutchinson, vice president of engineering, VCE Inc., Nashville, Tenn.
• Auden Kaehler, consultant, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Seattle, Wash.
• Steve Katko, project manager, CH2M HILL, Portland, Ore.
• Jimmy Kendrick, vice president, asphalt division, T.L. Wallace Construction Co. Inc., Columbia, Miss.
• AJ Kuhrmeyer, senior government transportation specialist, 3M Traffic Safety & Security Division, Chicago, Ill.
• Charles Labarbera, supervising construction engineer, Parsons Brinckerhoff, New York, N.Y.
• Valerie Lefler, special assistant to the dean, University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Benjamin Lehr, Virginia bridge practice leader, RS&H Inc., Glen Allen, Va.
• Eduardo Maeyama, engineer/transportation planner, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Washington, D.C.
• Eric McElroy, engineer, Smith Seckman Reid Inc., Nashville, Tenn.
• Joey Merril, project/field engineer, Hoffman Construction Co., Black River Falls, Wis.
• Allen Minks, geotechnical department manager, Terracon Consultants Inc., St. Louis, Mo.
• Kyle Oszeyczik, project manager, AECOM, Phoenixville, Pa.
• Craig Parks, director of development, American Structurepoint Inc., Indianapolis, Ind.
• Keith Quernemoen, deputy project manager, HDR Inc., Omaha, Neb.
• Julie Rabeux, innovative finacing coordinator, Texas Department of Transportation, Austin
• Tom Ringelstetter, senior construction engineer, CH2M HILL, Englewoord, Colo.
• Peter Ruscitti, senior transportation planner, Parsons Brinckerhoff, San Diego, Calif.
• Brian Smith, estimator/project manager, LoJac Enterprises Inc., Hermitage, Tenn.
• Jacob Stone, project manager/estimator, Wright Brothers Construction Co., Charleston, Tenn.
• Aaron Stover, project manager, Michaek Baker International Inc., Louisville, Ky.
• Robert Taylor, federal markets manager/assistant director of transportation, Gannett Fleming, Camp Hill, Pa.
• Eric Vansciver, project manager, AECOM, Philadelphia, Pa.
• Sara Vink, associate, Beveridge & Diamond PC, Washington, D.C.
• Jake Weaver, operations leader/project manager, CH2M HILL, Chicago, Ill.
• David White, vice president-operations, Superior Paving Corp., Gainesville, Va.
• Rebecca Wood, president, Superior Paving Corp., Cordova, Tenn.
• Robby Wood, vice president of operations, Superior Paving Corp., Christiana, Tenn.
For more information, visit www.artba.org.
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