Promotions and New Hires
Baxa Promoted at BM
Jeffrey Baxa has been promoted to vice president, preconstruction, at Barton Malow, a full-service construction and design company.
In his new role, Baxa oversees the 67 professionals who perform preconstruction and architectural/engineering services, including estimating, planning, scheduling and design. He will continue to lead the development of new and enhanced processes and procedures to assure consistency throughout the company on a national level.
Based in Southfield, Mich., he joined the company 16 years ago as an intern and worked his way up through the ranks. Most recently, he served as a preconstruction director. He holds a bachelor’s of science degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from Lawrence Technological University.
“Jeff has both the technical and leadership skills to help move the company forward,” said Lester C. Snyder, III, chief operating officer of Barton Malow Company. “He is dedicated to the very best in customer service.”
Barton Malow Company provides construction management, design-build, program management, general contracting, technology and rigging services throughout North America. The ISO (quality) certified company has LEED® Accredited Professionals on staff and is an industry Building Information Modeling (BIM) leader. Niche market specialties include health care, education, federal, industrial, energy and special event facilities. Barton Malow has a staff of 1,500 in 13 offices and is headquartered in Southfield, Mich. Annual firm revenues exceed $1 billion. For more information, visit www.bartonmalow.com.
Hoffman Professionals Earn LEED® Accreditation
Hoffman, LLC employees Dave Dickinson and Wendy Leeman recently earned their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) accreditation, adding to the planning, architecture and construction management firm‘s total of U.S. Green Building Council-recognized sustainability experts. Both were successful in their first attempt.
Dickinson, who has been with Hoffman since 1999, is one of the firm‘s project superintendents whose main responsibility centers on the coordination of daily activities at construction sites. Preparing for the LEED AP examination enabled Dickinson to expand his knowledge base.
As one of Hoffman‘s project managers, Leeman is responsible for overseeing the construction management process and ensuring complete customer satisfaction with budget, schedule and quality of the finished product. She viewed her accreditation as integral to Hoffman’s current practices.
Industry News
B&V Talks Water
Black & Veatch held a special media event on March 17 with news representatives in Melbourne, Australia, to discuss the latest issues affecting the global water industry. The Black & Veatch event was held during Ozwater ’09, Australia’s largest annual water conference and exhibition.
“The water industry has been affected by the global economic downturn,” said Dan McCarthy, president and CEO of Black & Veatch’s global water business. “Water utilities are facing a drop in revenue and more difficulty in accessing finance for projects.”
The recent U.S. economic stimulus package was a welcome boost, with $6 billion being set aside for water and wastewater projects, but the levels of investment are well below what many in the industry were hoping for.
“To put this in perspective, we estimate that the annual investment in water and wastewater systems approached $50 billion in the United States last year,” he said.
He also noted the large funding gap between investment levels and real infrastructure needs.
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that a $200 billion funding gap exists for wastewater and a $270 billion funding gap for drinking water through 2028,” he said.