SAVANNAH POST

Gordon L. Simmons, P.E. Chief, Engineering Division Savannah District

APRIL SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT

Gordon L. Simmons became the Chief of Engineering Division for the Savannah District in November 2010. Mr. Simmons is responsible for planning, direct-ing, coordination, and execution of the design of the District’s military, civil, and Hazardous, Toxic and Radioactive Waste program. Prior to assuming his current position, he was the Deputy Chief of Engineering and Chief of the Technical Specialties Branch in the Savannah District. Mr. Simmons served as the Technical Deputy for the construc-tion of the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. The Division he led was responsible for technical coordination of construction-related activities on a first of a kind,

state-of-the-art nuclear processing facility set to disassemble nuclear warhead pits and convert the resulting material to plutonium oxide for further use in power generation.

Prior to his work on the PDCF, Mr. Simmons headed an office of 52 design professionals involved in design of military facilities; construction field assistance; quality assurance; and design or support of civil works Operations and Maintenance projects for the District serving Army and Air Force installations in North and South Carolina and Georgia. He also oversaw work performed nationwide and worldwide in support of family housing, company operations facilities, master planning, sustainable design and other products.

Mr. Simmons served as Chief of the Technical Coordination Branch in the Israel Program Office. He was one of three initial Corps personnel, and the highest-ranking U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civilian who moved to Israel to create and manage this new office in support of the Foreign Military Sales construction of three new military bases associated with the Wye River Accord.

He joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1984 as a structural engineer with the Fort Worth District. Mr. Simmons also served in the construction quality assurance branch at Fort Worth as well as in positions in design, construction and program management in Europe, Japan and the Marshall Islands. He created the CADD Training and Resource Center in Europe to train a continually rotating staff on the basics of the European CADD and GIS systems.

Mr. Simmons has received numerous awards and recognition including the Achievement Medal for Civilian Service for a specialized flood impact study and assistance to the Government of Tunisia. He was presented the Pacific Ocean Division “Hard Hat of the Year” award in 1994, the Corps’ highest award possible that recognizes excellence in construction. He is the recipient of the Connolly Award from the American Society of Military Engineers for notable contributions to engineering.

Mr. Simmons was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas. He graduated from Texas A&M University in 1983 with a degree in Civil Engineering and is a registered professional engineer in Texas. He graduated from Central Michigan University in 2006 with a Master of Science degree in Administration. He actively participates in various church endeavors.

ISSUE 07April 2012

Letter from

Post Secretary

March MeetingHighlights

Student ChapterHighlights

April Sustaining Member Highlight

Save the Date

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05

In this issue . . .

page

page

page

SAVE THE DATEJune 13 & 14, 2012• The Annual Program Review

• Golf Tournament• Small Business Showcase more details on page 5

http://www.same.org/

http://samesavannahpost.org/

http://www.sas.usace.army.mil/

LINKS TO KNOW

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2012 SAMESavannah Post

Officers & Committee ChairsCol Jeffrey Hall

President

Joel Burke1st Vice President

Gwen Parker2nd Vice President

Scott VeenstraSecretary

Gavin CareyTreasurer

Sally RikerChairman of the Board of

Directors and past president

Justin ArnsdorffProgram Chair

Maureen HokeLeadership & Mentoring

Streamer

Anna LucasEducation & Training

Streamer

Adam RagsdaleRelationships & Recognition

Streamer

Kelly HayesEmergency Preparedness & Homeland Security Streamer

Frank RandonScholarships & Camps

Hugh GigglemanSustaining Members

Hollie DupesNew Members

Heather WishartFellow

Emily AndreasPost Web Page

Larry ChristopherNewsletter

Greetings to the Savannah Post Membership !I have served as Secretary for the Savannah Post, Society of American Military Engineers since 2009. During that time, we’ve seen many exciting things happen at the Savannah Post including: huge growth in both sustaining and individual membership, startup of a Student Chapter at Georgia Tech – Savannah, record setting attendance at the Annual Program Review, increased monthly luncheon participation, and growth of our volunteer board to 15 members/leaders to better serve our membership.

My responsibilities as Post Secretary include: • Recording and publishing monthly Board meeting minutes.• Acting as backup for our Post Treasurer (as needed).• Assisting the Post President to ensure we always have speaker gifts to provide to our luncheon speakers. In addition to my volunteered service, HDR has been good enough to allow Ms. Audri Baker and Ms. Susan Coyne to manage registration for the Annual Program Review for the past 5+ years. Look for their friendly faces again June 13th and 14th.

See you all April 16th at our next monthly luncheon.

Scott Veenstra, Secretary, SAME Savannah Post

LETTER FROM THE POST SECRETARY

On January 12, 2012, the SBA issued interim final rules amending the acquisition thresholds under the Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program to reflect corresponding FAR adjustments. Adjustments include an increase in the maximum contract amount thresholds from $5M (construction) and $3M (all others) to $6.5M and $4M, respectively. (77 Fed. Reg. 1,857, 1/12/2012.)

New Rule issued January 2012 that is effects Woman-Owned Small Business

We need members to notify us if they are planning to take or have competed training in the past 3 years for IS-100.a (ICS), IS-200.a (ICS) and/ or IS-700.a (ICS 700). Please contact Kelly Hayes at 704.651.7585 or e-mail her at KHayes@sepiengineering.com if this applies to you.

2012 Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security Streamer

Assistant Treasurer Needed for BoardThe SAME Savannah Post Board is looking to fill the assistant treasurer position. This person must be located locally within the Savannah region, and if you are interested, please contact Sally Riker at sally.riker@loweengineers.com or 770.857.8426.

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MARCH MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

SAME STUDENT POST MEMBERS

March Speaker James Gatling starts his presentation

Gwen Parker with AECOM runs the March SAME Board Meeting

Kristen King, one of our Georgia Tech SAME Student Post leaders, attended the SAME post leaders workshop in San Diego, CA. The group visited North Island the Naval Air Base on the north end of the Coronado Peninsula on San Diego Bay.

$5,000 donation to the SAME Education & Mentoring Fund from the Atkins Foundation

Below, Paul Tucker with Volkert listens to the March presentation

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JANUARY AECOMAlliant CorporationAMECAmerican StructurepointApplied Engineering Solutions, Inc.Applied SoftwareARCADIS AtkinsBarge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon Inc.Bechtel-S CorporationBhate Environmental Assoc. Inc.Brasfield & Gorrie General ContractorsBristol Alliance of Companies

FEBRUARYBrown & Caldwell BRPH Companies Inc.Building & Earth Sciences Inc.Burns & McDonnellCAPECardno TBECarolinas Concrete Masonry AssociationCarothers Construction, Inc.Castle Engineering, LLCCDA ArchitectsCDM SmithCEMS Engineering Inc.CH2MHILLClark Nexsen

MARCHCogdell & Mendrala Architects, P.C.Collins Engineers Inc.Columbia Engineering & Services, Inc.Cromwell Architects EngineersCrowder Construction CompanyCTI and Associates, Inc.Davis & Floyd, Inc.DewberryDulohery, Weeks & Gagliano Inc.EA Engineering, Science & Technology, Inc.Eaton corporationECCEdifice

APRILElkins Constructors, Inc.Engineering Strategies, Inc.Environmental Services, Inc.Florence & Hutcheson, Inc.GEL Geophysics, LLCGolder Associates, Inc.

Goodwyn Mills & Cawood, Inc.Government Services Integrated Process Team LLCGreenhorne & O’MaraGuidon Design, Inc.Harvard Jolly ArchitectureHatch Mott MacDonaldHDR

MAYJETC Conference

JUNEAnnual Program Review

JULY HNTBHoward W. Pence, Inc.IKHANA, LLC.J2 Engineering, Inc.JacobsKBE Building Corporation KBR Government & InfrastructureKnight Architects, Inc.LBYD, Inc.Leetex Construction, LLC.Leo A DalyLG2 Environmental Solutions, Inc.

AUGUSTLindbergh & Associates, LLCLowe EngineersLS3P Associates Ltd.Mashburn Construction CompanyMason & HangerMcDonough Bolyard Peck, Inc.Merrick & CompanyMicah Group Environmental Contractors, Inc.Michael Baker CorporationMoffatt & NicholMRI Architectural Group, Inc.MWH

SEPTEMBERNorth Wind Inc.O’Brien & Gere ParsonsParsons BrinckerhoffPersaud Companies Inc.Pinnicle Construction & Development Group, Inc.Pond & CompanyPort City Design Group, LLC

Prime Engineering Inc.Ramey Kemp & AssociatesR.C. Construction Co., Inc.R2TReeves Construction Company

OCTOBERReynolds, Smith & Hills, Inc.Rosser InternationalQ Solutions, Inc.S&ME, Inc.Science Applications International Corp.Sherlock, Smith & AdamsSiemens Industries IncSmall Business Group, Inc. (DBA SBG-EEG)Southern Energy ManagementSpatial Engineering Inc.SpecPro Environmental Services LLCStanley Consultants Inc.Stantec Inc.

NOVEMBERSTOA ArchitectsSuffolk Construction Company, Inc.Sundt Construction, Inc.Teng & Associates, Inc.TerranearPMC, LLCTetra Tech, Inc.The Angus CorporationThe Louis Berger Group Inc.The Sack Co. & SCM Inc.The Shaw Group Inc.The Whiting Turner Contracting CompanyThomas & Hutton Engineering Co.Thompson Engineering Inc.

DECEMBERTidewater Environmental Services, Inc.Toland & Mizell Architects, Inc.Toltest, Inc.Trans SystemsTRCUnited Consulting Group, Ltd.URS CorporationVolkert, Inc.WalbridgeWeston Solutions, Inc.W.G. Yates & Sons Construction CompanyWK Dickson & Co., Inc.Wolverton & Associates, Inc.Woolpert, Inc.

SUSTAINING MEMBER BRIEFINGS 2012For 2012, the Savannah Post SAME is offering Sustaining Member firms the opportunity to submit an article on their company for the monthly newsletter, and to have a two-minute briefing to discuss their firm at the monthly SAME meeting. Each firm will be asked to bring a gift to raffle. A list of all sustaining members is below with each member’s assigned month. We ask that all articles be forwarded to Larry Christopher at lchristopher@brasfieldgorrie.com. Please contact Hugh Giggleman at hgiggleman@cemsengineering.com for more information.

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SAVANNAH POST

Headquartered in Omaha,

Nebraska, HDR was

founded in 1917 as the

Henningson Engineering

Company. The employee-

owned company pioneered water and sewer systems for

new cities and towns throughout the Midwest, helping them

emerge from frontier status.

Today, HDR is an architecture, engineering and

consulting firm with more than 7,800 professionals in 185 locations

worldwide. All of them are committed to helping clients manage

complex projects and make sound decisions.

HDR is consistently ranked among the top architecture

and engineering firms by leading industry publications including

Engineering News-Record, Modern Healthcare, Environmental

Business Journal, Interiors, and Building Design and Construction.

For example, Modern Healthcare has ranked HDR in the top four

healthcare design firms every year since 1978, and ENR has

ranked HDR among the top 50 design firms since 1967.

HDR has a leading role in landmark projects ranging

from the Hoover Dam Bypass to design upgrades for the

Pentagon and key projects in the Comprehensive Everglades

Restoration Plan, the world’s largest ecosystem restoration

effort. Thousands of smaller projects across the nation are not

as instantly recognizable, yet they improve the quality of life for

residents of the communities where they take place.

While HDR’s services have evolved to manage

increasingly complex projects ranging from nanotechnology

to infrastructure security, one thing that hasn’t changed is

commitment to the values upon which HDR was founded.

These values include respect, integrity, empowerment,

innovation, teamwork and responsibility. HDR’s mission is

to be a superior professional firm known for vision, value and

service to our clients, our communities and employees.

sveenstra@hdrinc.com

(704) 973-6868

www.hdrinc.com

SUSTAINING MEMBER HIGHLIGHT APRIL 2012

If you have an article or announcement you want to include in

future issues of the newsletter, please submit them by the end

of the previous month to Larry Christopher with Brasfield & Gorrie

General Contractors at lchristopher@brasfieldgorrie.com

We want your input