Ed Allison, Site Engineering Manager, DuPont

Ed Allison is the Site Engineering Manager with responsibilities for the Engineering, Construction and Contractor Management for the Burnside and Pontchartrain sites in Louisiana.

Over the past 32 years with DuPont, Ed has been responsible for over a billion dollars worth of maintenance and construction projects ranging from nuclear, fossil fuel, and petrochemical to disaster recovery operations.  In 1993, under Ed’s leadership, his construction organization achieved a record of over 24 Million hours worked without a LWC.  Since then, his various sites have worked several sets of 2 years and 3 years without an OSHA recordable injury.  His best performance is 6 years and counting without an OSHA recordable injury.

DuPont Engineering has recognized Ed by presenting him the highest safety award, the coveted Silver Triangle for his performance and commitment to contractor safety.  DuPont Polyester has also recognized him twice by awarding him the Dacronâ Safety, Health, and Environmental Excellence Award for activities in contractor safety.

Ed is an active participant on the Gulf Coast Workforce Development Initiative and the “I’m Great” campaign.  He is currently Chairman of the New Orleans Business Roundtable’s Executive Committee, and is the current President of Greater New Orleans Industrial Educational Council, as well as the Chairman of the Greater Baton Rouge Industrial Alliance’s Safety Council Steering Committee.  Ed was the founding president of the Wilmington Area Contractors Safety Council (now known as the Mid Atlantic Safety Council) and has volunteered time and/or held offices with the Mid-South Business Roundtable, New Orleans Business Roundtable, Houston Business Roundtable, Association of Reciprocal Safety Councils, and the Construction Users Roundtable.

Ed received his Bachelor of Science degree from the school of Engineering at Clemson University.  He and his lovely wife, Becky lives outside Gonzales LA.  Their only daughter, Megan and her husband, Josh live in Cary NC.

C. Ashley Baker, VP, Environmental Projects and Construction, Southern Companies

Ashley Baker joined Alabama Power’s construction department in 1979.  During the next 10 years, he worked on the reconstruction of Walter Bouldin Dam, the construction of R.L. Harris Dam, Barry Steam Plant retrofit construction, and Miller Steam Plant units 3 and 4.  He transferred to Fossil/Hydro Generation in 1989, working in various positions at Gorgas Steam Plant.  In 1994, he was named administrative manager, Power Generation Services.  Two years later he was promoted to assistant to the senior production office.  In 1997, he was named manager, Fossil/Hydro Projects - West in Engineering and Generation Services.  Two years later, he was named maintenance planning manager, Technical Field Services.  Then, in 2001, he was named general manager, Fossil/Hydro Projects in Engineering and Generation Services.  Later that year, he was promoted to his current position of vice president, Construction.

Baker is a 1978 graduate of Auburn University where he received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.  Baker also holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  In 2003, he completed Harvard Business School’s advanced management program.  He is a licensed professional engineer in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Florida.

Dr. Edward J. Blakely, Executive Director for Recovery Management, City of New Orleans

Dr. Edward J. Blakely has recently been appointed as Executive Director, to lead a 17 person office and to serve as the leader for marshaling a recovery process in New Orleans.

Dr. Edward J. Blakely is Chair of Urban and Regional Planning and Director of the Planning Research Centre at the University of Sydney. He has been featured in several Australian periodical for his planning work and most recently in the Australian 2026 forecast for the nation. Prior to this post he was Dean of the Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, New School University.  He was Dean and Lusk Professor of Planning and Development for the School of Urban Planning and Development at the University of Southern California (1994-1999).  Previously he served as Professor and Chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California at Berkeley (1986-1994). In 2003, the University of California, Riverside dedicated a new Center for Suburban Sustainable Development in honor of Professor Blakely.

Dr. Blakely has held academic positions in teaching, research, academic administration, and economic development policy for more than thirty years.  He is a leading scholar and practitioner in the fields of planning and local economic development.  He has held senior positions in the private sector at Pacific Telephone Company (1960-65) and in government as a U.S. senior Foreign Service officer (1969-71).

Dr Blakely served as a policy advisor to the mayor of Oakland and advisor to the Los Angeles Public School District. He organized and led the Oakland response to the earthquake in1988 and The Oakland Fire in 1991 the largest urban fire in the 20th Century. He ran for Mayor of Oakland against Jerry Brown in 1998 finishing second in a large field. He moved to New York just prior to the attacks at Ground Zero and became one of the leaders in the City recovery effort helping guide the citizen and community planning effort. In addition he serves on a number of task forces and commissions at the local, state, national and international levels on urban disaster recovery.  He was appointed by President Clinton as Vice Chair of the Presidio Trust where he played a key role in the development of the former army base to a profitable civic facility. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Planning Association, the Nature Conservancy, and Fulbright Association. He is also a Director and principle of several private sector firms including Kidzmouse, Board SE Corporation as well as a Managing Partner of Humboldt Realty Corporation. He has served on bank advisory boards for Broadway Federal Savings, Check Spring Bank and other financial institutions in California and New York 

 He received the 1990 San Francisco Foundation Award for improving community life in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2002 In addition, Dr. Blakely was President of the Pacific Rim Council on Urban Development (1993) and remains on the Board of Directors. He was appointed by President Clinton as Vice Chair of the Presidio Trust to serve a two-year term (1997-1999). Elected Fellow to the National Academy of Public Administration. Dr. Blakely was honored as the keynote speaker at the Annual Meetings of the American Planning Association. He was one of the 75 alumni honored for making a difference by the San Bernardino Valley College's 75th anniversary in 2002. He received the Community Development Outstanding Research Award in July 2002 from the Community Development Society. He is a Hall of Fame Athlete UC Riverside as well as co-Athlete of the Year 1959 for the University of California campuses. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of California at Riverside. Dr. Blakely has recently been asked to guide the recovery efforts in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina.

Dr. Blakely is the author of eight books and more than 100 scholarly articles.  His publications include Local Economic Development Finance with Susan Giles (Sage, 2001); Fortress America with Mary Gail Snyder (Brookings Press, 1997-academic book of the year); Separate Societies: Poverty and Inequality in U.S. Cities (Temple University Press, 1992--Davidoff Award for Outstanding Academic Book), Planning Local Economic Development Theory and Practice in its 3rd edition (Sage, 2002), and Rural Communities in Advanced Industrial Society (Praeger, 1979).  His articles include "Room for Whom: Change in the Central Valley" (1990), "Theoretical Approaches for a Global Community" (1989), and "Shaping the American Dream: Landuse Choices for America's Future" (1993).  His work is widely cited and translated into other languages including Arabic, French, German, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Swedish and Italian. 

Dr. Blakely has extensive experience in Europe, Latin America and Africa as well as his background in Asia. He was selected for the French American Urban Exchange program for the summer of 2002 in Paris and Lyon, France. He has been an advisor to local and regional governments in Korea, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, and New Zealand, Vietnam and currently in Turkey and Armenia.

Dr. Blakely chaired the Rhodes Scholarship Committee for the Western United States. He is a member of the National Academy of Public Administration and a Trustee of the University of California at Riverside. The University of California, Riverside announced it intention to establish an Edward Blakely Center of Suburban Sustainable Development in May 2002.

Matt Clark, Dean
CHOICE Construction Technology Institute

Mr. Clark is one of the most distinguished and recognized leaders in the field of Career Technical education in Northwest Florida. His combined 32 years in both the construction industry and career technical education have provided the experience and vision to create the innovative CHOICE Construction Technology Institute.

Mr. Clark is a Master Trainer for the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER). He is also a certified NCCER Project Management and Construction Site Safety Master Instructor and OSHA 500 instructor.

Mr. Clark was selected in 2003 from among 1800 of his peers to represent the Okaloosa School District as their Teacher of the Year in Florida’s state competition. This was the first time in the district’s history that a career education instructor had ever been named as the most outstanding educator in Okaloosa County. Mr. Clark is an experienced, dedicated and professional educator. His leadership is an integral part of the success of the CHOICE Construction Technology Institute.

Ed Clayton, Southern Companies presenting, SEMTA--The Southeast Manpower Tripartite Alliance

Eddie Clayton is the Outage Planning Manager for Southern Company Generation.  His responsibilities include outage optimization for Southern Company's generating fleet and supporting the plants and new construction projects in their needs for craft labor.  He has served as Co-Chairman for the Southeast Manpower Tripartite Alliance (SEMTA) since it's inception in 2005.  Eddie has been with Southern Company for over 25 years, working in progressing levels of management at various plants before attaining his current position.  He is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering. 

Mark Fields, Global Category Manager-Americas, Shell Oil Company

Mark Fields is the Global Category Manager for Shell Oil, responsible for the development and implementation of strategies for Engineering, Maintenance Services and project outsourcing, for the Chemical plants and Refineries in the Americas. He has over 27 years combined EPC and Maintenance experience in the Contracting and Owners Industrial community. One of Mark’s current responsibilities, is the focal point within Shell for the Americas craft labor and engineering performance, strategies, wages and updates. He is a member of numerous organizations proactively tracking the current, ever changing, craft and engineering labor market.

Duane P. Gapinski, Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired)

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita:  The Unwatering of New Orleans

Duane Gapinski is a Senior Program Manager with HDR, an employee-owned architectural, engineering and consulting firm with more than 5,500 professionals, in more than 130 locations worldwide, who excel at managing complex projects and solving challenges for clients.
           
Recently retired after more than 24 years of military service, Duane served with engineer units in the 9th Infantry Division, 1st Armored Division and 1st Infantry Division. He commanded the 82nd Engineer Battalion from 1998 to 2000 and was the Task Force Falcon Engineer in Kosovo for 7 months during that time.  Duane also served as the Commander of the Rock Island District of the US Army Corps of Engineers from July 2003 to July 2006.  In September of 2005 he was designated the commander of Task Force Unwatering, the operation to temporarily repair levees and floodwalls and pump the floodwaters out of the New Orleans area after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  Because of these efforts, he was named one of Engineering News-Record magazine’s Top 25 Newsmakers in 2005 and one of the top ten Federal Engineers of the Year by the National Society of Professional Engineers.

In addition to a Bachelors Degree from West Point, he holds Masters Degrees in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University.
           
He is a member of the Society of American Military Engineers and is a registered professional engineer in Virginia.

Duane will speak about his experience leading the efforts to unwater Southeast Louisiana after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Robert M. Gasperow, Executive Director, CLRC Construction Labor

Robert M. Gasperow is the Executive Director of the Construction Labor Research Council. He has headed CLRC since its formation. In this position he is responsible for the construction industry’s data base of labor costs and related information as well as the many reports and analyses which CLRC produce to support the unionized construction industry and monitor construction industry performance and trends.

Recently his efforts have also been directed toward industry issues including union market share, labor supply and measures of international construction costs. CLRC is supported by 10 national employer groups, including MCAA.

Richard F. Gill, Chairman, Executive Committee, President, Shaw Power Group

Richard F. Gill is Chairman of the   Executive Committee and President of the Power Group of The Shaw Group Inc., a Fortune 500 company offering a broad range of services to the power, process, environmental, infrastructure and homeland defense markets.  Headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Shaw employs more than 22,000 people at its offices and operations in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr. Gill has over 30 years of experience in the industrial construction and maintenance industry.  He has been with The Shaw Group since 1997 when the Company acquired Merit Industrial Constructors, Inc., an industrial construction and maintenance firm, where Mr. Gill was the Founder and President. 

Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1943, Mr. Gill received his B.A. (1966) and M.B.A. (1969) from LSU.   

George Gritziotis, Executive Director, Construction Sector Council, Canada.

Mr. Gritziotis is currently Executive Director of the Canadian Construction Sector Council where he reports directly to an 18-member Board of Directors comprised of labour and business leaders.  The Construction Sector Council is a national labour management partnership organization mandated to identify and undertake human resource projects and initiatives geared toward meeting the current and future human resource needs of the construction industry.

Mr. Gritziotis has extensive experience working with national labour management partnership organizations in the construction, industrial, and services sectors on human resource development and labour market policy issues.  He managed the establishment of two important partnership organizations, the Canadian Construction Sector Council and the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum.  Through these initiatives, he established strong working relationships with labour and business leaders, and developed a keen understanding and appreciation of the labour market issues facing the construction industry in Canada.

Mr. Gritziotis also participates on the Board or Committees of several national construction industry initiatives including, the Canadian Construction Innovation Council and the Building and Construction Trades Council Apprenticeship Committee.  He has been a volunteer with the Ottawa Branch of the United Way, the Ottawa Nepean Canadians, and the Osgoode Rideau Minor Softball Association.

Mr. Gritziotis completed a BA (Honours) in Economics from Concordia University and an MBA with specialization in governance from the University of Ottawa.  Mr. Gritziotis is also an alumnus of the Governor General’s 2000 Canadian Study Tour.

Timothy L. Horst, President, Becon Construction Company, Inc.

Tim Horst is president of Becon Construction Company, a subsidiary of Bechtel Construction Operations Incorporated. Created in 1978, Becon provides merit-shop construction and plant maintenance services in the United States to Bechtel and its clients in the petroleum, chemical, mining, power, industrial, and telecommunications industries.

Based in Houston, Horst has more than 30 years of construction experience in the industrial and government markets. He has worked on nuclear and fossil power plants, telecommunications and industrial projects, and defense facilities.

In addition to his Becon responsibilities, Horst is on loan to the Business Roundtable as program manager for the Gulf Coast Workforce Development Initiative. This partnership between public and private organizations was launched in July 2006 to recruit up to 20,000 new construction trainees in the Gulf Coast region by 2009.

Horst holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of California at Davis and a master’s degree in construction management from Stanford University. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in California.

Brian Lash - CEO, The Target Companies

Brian Lash founded the Target Companies in 1978.   Since then, he has overseen the development and execution of comprehensive transportation, logistics, and lodging programs for corporate, consumer, and government clients.  Beginning with the Sarajevo 1984 Olympic Winter Games, Target has had extensive involvement with the Olympic movement.  In 2002, Brian directed the Target Logistics program that housed over 2,000 Federal Agents responsible for anti-terrorism protection at the Salt Lake Winter Olympic Games; he filled a similar role for US agencies during the 2004 Athens Olympics.  In 2005 and 2006, Brian oversaw a number of Target Logistics’ emergency life-support programs in Post-Hurricane Katrina Louisiana. 

Over the last thirty years, Brian has designed and managed official tour and travel programs for numerous large special events including the Super Bowl, World Series, Woodstock ’94 & ’99, and Harley-Davidson 95th & 100th Anniversaries.  Brian has appeared on the Today Show on NBC, CEO Corner on NECN, and many other national and international media.  He graduated from Brandeis University in 1978 and was awarded a DeWitt Wallace Fellowship.

Sean McGarvey, Secretary-Treasurer, Building and Construction Trade Department, AFL-CIO

Sean McGarvey, formerly General Vice President at Large of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, and since 2005, Secretary-Treasurer of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, leads the on-going work of the Department in:

• Development of disaster response training for construction workers in cooperation with the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor;
• Workforce development and reconstruction planning for the Katrina affected Gulf Coast region;
• The Center for Military Recruitment, Assessment and Veterans Employment (the Helmets to Hardhats initiative).

He coordinates the work of the chairs of the Building Trades’ national standing committees on apprenticeship, legislation, labor-management relations, safety and health, organizing, and women in the trades, and is an active participant in the CURT Tripartite Initiative.

Ron McGillis, Manager Safety Compliance & Contractor Quality, Ontario Power Generation

Ron is currently the Manager of Safety, Compliance and Contractor Quality at Ontario Power Generation.  He has been with OPG for 29 years where he has held numerous positions in various parts of the business including operations, training, emergency management and conventional safety. His main responsibilities include being the process owner for OPG’s Contractor Management Program including all pre-qualifications of contractors in Environment, Health and Safety.  He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ontario Construction User Council. He also sits on numerous other committees and associations including; Construction Sector Council (CSC) National Owners Forum, CSC Ontario Labour Market Information Committee, Council of Ontario Construction Associations (COCA) WSIB and Health & Safety Committees and  Canadian Standards Association Technical Sub Committee on Compressed Air Workers. He also represents the Owner Community on the Construction Advisory Council. Outside of work he also represents both the Canadian Association of Ski Instructors (CSIA) and the Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors (CASI) on the TSSA Ski Lift Advisory Council.

Steve Mongiardo, Senior Director, Global Engineering Services

Steve Mongiardo has been with Merck & Co., Inc. for 22 years, currently as Senior Director of API, Infrastructure, and Environmental Projects, Global Engineering Services. In his position he is responsible for all major capital Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients projects and utilities/infrastructure projects which support new research and manufacturing facilities.  These projects include new manufacturing facilities,  power generation facilities, water treatment facilities, office complexes, site infrastructure, and utilities generation and distribution facilities.   Steve is also responsible for all Environmental Remediation projects worldwide for Merck

Steve currently manages projects at domestic Merck sites including West Point, Pa, Danville, Pa, Albany, Ga., Elkton, Va. and Barceloneta PR. Prior positions with Merck include Engineering Manager – Rahway Plant and project engineer, West Point Facilities Engineering.

Prior to Merck Steve worked for Bechtel Power Corporation on the Hope Creek Generating station construction project and for Owens-Corning Fiberglas as a project engineer in Kansas City.  He has a BS Degree in Civil Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, an MBA Degree from Rutgers University, and is a Registered Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

C. Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans, Welcome to the City

Mayor C. Ray Nagin has defied the conventional wisdom from the beginning of his political life.

His surprise victory in the New Orleans mayoral election in May 2002, proved that New Orleanians were looking for the city’s leadership to take bold new steps to protect their future. He became the first New Orleans mayor to rise to the post in nearly 60 years without holding a previous elected office. Nagin put his career as a successful business executive on hold to lead the city where he was born.

Shortly after he was elected, Mayor Nagin revealed that he would not tolerate the atmosphere of political corruption that pervaded city government. He instituted a criminal and administrative probe with the help of the New Orleans Police Department and the Metropolitan Crime Commission – an area watchdog group - that resulted in the arrest of 84 city workers and the restructuring of the New Orleans Utilities Department. Mayor Nagin is resolved to erase the image of New Orleans as place where graft is part of the old-world charm. New Orleans is now open for business!.

The success or failure of New Orleans will largely be determined by its ability to work with surrounding cities and parishes. Mayor Nagin has proven his commitment to regionalism isn’t just political posturing. In July 2002, he convened a meeting of leaders from three parishes to plan the future of Louis Armstrong International Airport. The airport, owned by New Orleans but located in the city of Kenner and St. Charles Parish, presents a number of thorny political issues, but the mayor believes those can be resolved for the benefit of the metropolitan community.

Before becoming Mayor, Nagin served as the vice president and general manager for Cox Communications in Southeast Louisiana. He transformed the local operations of the cable company from one of Cox’s poorest performing markets to one of its most profitable assets. He hired a staff that put a new emphasis on customer service and used technology to gain efficiency. Those two strategies are playing key roles in Nagin’s efforts to transform City Hall as well.

Mayor Nagin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting at Tuskegee University in 1978 and received a Masters of Business Administration at Tulane University in 1994.

He is married to Seletha Smith Nagin. They have three children, Jeremy, Jarin and Tianna, and live near Bayou St. John in New Orleans.

Jim Pavesic, Plumbers Union

Jim Pavesic has been a member of the United Association for 29 years. He joined Pipe Fitters Local 597, Chicago, IL, in 1978 as an apprentice. In over 25 years of field service his duties have consisted of pipe fitter, welder, process controls technician and supervisor. He was an instructor at the Local 597 training center, teaching journeymen and apprentice classes. Jim instructed classes at the UA’s Instructor Training Program, Ann Arbor, Michigan, since 1999, and he holds many certifications with the UA, Local 597, ISA, NICET and EPRI.

In March, 2005, Jim became a Training Specialist for the UA Training Department and recently became Administrative Assistant to the Director of Training, Mike Arndt.

There are many duties performed by Jim and a few are; Program Director of the certified instrument technician program, the certified valve repair technician program, the certified industrial rigging program and the foremen certification program. Overseeing the International Pipe Trades Bookstore, which has over 100 publications of trade related educational materials, is one of his primary duties. When directed, he performs investigations for educational grants for UA locals in the Midwest.

The committees that Jim serves on are; the EPRI TPE steering committee; the technical committee for the Uniform Mechanical and Plumbing codes and the Uniform Mechanical code Correlation and Standards committees.

Jim lives in Chicago with his wife Diann and their 3 children. When he has free time he enjoys golf, fishing and cooking.

Jim B. Porter Jr., Vice President And Chief Engineer, DuPont Company

James B. Porter, Jr. is Chief Engineer and Vice President – Engineering and Operations for DuPont.  Jim joined the company in 1966 as a chemical engineer in the engineering service division (ESD) field program at the Engineering Test Center in Newark, Delaware.

He left in March of 1966 for a two-year tour in the United States Army. He returned to DuPont as a field engineer at DuPont's Textile Fibers plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1970, Mr. Porter was reassigned to the design division as a process engineer at Louviers and returned to ESD in 1971 as a campus recruiter.  In 1972, he was reassigned to the Engineering Test Center as supervisor of the chemical engineering testing group. In 1975, he became a member of the ESD field staff.

Jim became field manager at Chambers Works Construction in 1979, followed by an assignment in business methods and investment division as manager of investment engineering in 1981. In 1983, he returned to design as a design manager for Textile Fibers and then assumed the responsibility of facilities design manager for Chemicals in 1988.  With the restructuring of DuPont Engineering in November 1990, Jim became director - engineering operations.

In September 1992, he was named director of operations for the Fluoroproducts business.

On May 1, 1995, Jim was appointed director of operations. He also assumed the position of vice chairman of the DuPont Corporate Operations Network.

Jim was named vice president of Engineering on November 1, 1996.  He became Vice President of Safety, Health & Environment and Engineering on February 1, 2004.  He assumed his present position of Chief Engineer and Vice President – DuPont Engineering and Operations on July 1, 2006.

Jim has served as Chair for the Construction Industry Institute (CII) and Delaware’s United Negro College Fund.  He was the 2004 recipient of CII’s Carroll H. Dunn Award of Excellence and in 2005 received the Engineering and Construction Contracting Association Achievement Award.  He is a member of the Board of Governors for the Argonne National Laboratory, the Board of Directors for AIChE, FIATECH, the Mascaro Sustainability Initiative, and the Fieldbus Foundation and participates on various industry advisory boards including AIChE’s Center for Chemical Process Safety and is a member of the University of Tennessee’s College of Engineering Board of Advisors and the National Academy of Construction.
 
Born August 21, 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee, Jim received a bachelor of science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1965.  His daughter Alyson is a Special Education teacher in Pennsylvania.

Steven B. Satrom, Vice President, Engineering Energy Businesses

Steven B. Satrom was appointed vice president of engineering for Energy Businesses in January 2007. In this position, he is responsible for developing and executing new energy projects. He also holds the position of general manager, engineering for the Americas and is responsible for the company’s global construction activities. Mr. Satrom joined Air Products in 1974 after serving as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. His initial assignments involved the management of air separation projects for oil and petrochemical customers, and in 1981 he was named manager of design engineering in the Process Systems Group. Mr. Satrom became director of projects for the company’s Environmental and Energy Division in 1988 and later was named general manager of engineering for the Division. Mr. Satrom was appointed senior vice president, engineering and projects for Pure Air―a joint venture company―in 1990; director of procurement for the gases and corporate segments in 1993; and global lead of the HyCO product supply team in 1996. He was named general manager of the Americas Engineering Center in 2003 before assuming his current position.

Mr. Satrom was born in 1947 in Minneapolis, Minn. He received a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Penn State University in 1969 and an M.S. degree in engineering management from the University of Dayton (Ohio) in 1972. He is a registered Professional Engineer.

Greg Sizemore, CURT Executive Vice President

Mr. Gregory L. Sizemore is the Executive Vice President of the Construction Users Roundtable.  Mr. Sizemore has over twenty years of construction industry and association management experience.  Immediately out of graduate school, he served for three years as the Director for Labor Relations at the Associated General Contractor’s and Allied Construction Industries in Cincinnati, Ohio.  For eighteen years, Mr. Sizemore was the Executive Director of the Construction Owners Association of the Tri-State (COATS) in Cincinnati, Ohio.  C.O.A.T.S. is recognized as one of the leading local user councils in the country. 

In 1989 Mr. Sizemore started Sizemore & Company, a construction industry association management and consulting firm.  Some of Sizemore & Company other client organizations include: COATS, The South Georgia Construction and Maintenance Council, and The Appalachian Construction Users Council. Additionally, Mr. Sizemore serves on various industry and civic boards including the University of Cincinnati’s Industrial Advisory Council, the Advisory Committee to the Albany Technical College and the West Virginia Construction Coalition Conference.  Mr. Sizemore also teaches construction law and workforce development classes as an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati.

Mr. Sizemore is a frequent guest speaker at industry events, where he represents “the voice of the owner to the construction industry. “

Mr. Sizemore holds a Bachelors degree in Economics and a Masters degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from the University of Cincinnati.  He earned his law degree from The Northern Kentucky University, College of Law and is a licensed attorney in the State of Ohio.

Gerald Sprentall, Intel Corp., CURT Workforce Co-Chair

Mr. Gerald (Gerry) Sprentall is a Construction Manager for Intel Corporation.  Gerry has over twenty five years of industrial construction experience.  Gerry began his career in construction working as a General Contractor with J.A. Jones Construction Co. and I.D.C. for a combination of 15 years.  In 1996 Gerry changed his career to the owner’s perspective working for Intel Corporation for the past eleven years.

Gerry is a co-chairman of the CURT workforce development and industrial relations committee and is currently serving on the NCCER board of trustees.

Gerry holds a Bachelors degree in Industrial Construction Management from Colorado State University.

Gerry lives with his wife, Terri and two children, Sarah and Joey in Chandler Arizona.

Joseph J. Sprys, Manager, Project Planning & Administration Worldwide Facilities Group - Capital Projects, General Motors

Joe Sprys is the Manager of Project Planning and Administration in GM’s Worldwide Facilities Group.  The PP&A group provides services to GM’s facilities construction operation in the areas of long-range Project Planning, estimating, scheduling, financial, legal, and other project support.  In addition to project support, Joe also has responsibility as GM’s interface with the Building Trades.  Currently, he serves as the Chairman of the Owner Advisory Committee of the National Maintenance Agreement Policy Committee. 

Joe has over 25 years of experience in the construction industry, working for a general contractor and a construction consulting firm prior to joining General Motors.  

Leonard P. Toenjes, President, AGC of St. Louis

Len Toenjes began his training career as a carpentry apprentice instructor, and continued on to become Director of Training for AGC of St. Louis prior to being named President of the association in 1996. He served on Missouri Governor Carnahan's School to Work Board and on Missouri Governor Ashcroft's State Council on Vocational Education. Len currently serves as an Executive Committee member for the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment. He has authored six textbooks for the building trades, and has been named AGC of America's Chapter Executive of the Year in 2000 and again in 2006.

Janice L. Tuchman, ENR Editor-in-Chief

As editor-in-chief, Janice L. Tuchman directs the editorial operations of the Engineering News-Record enterprise—delivering news and analysis online, in print and in person at events.  She works on strategic planning and develops new editorial products, projects and issues.

Under Tuchman’s leadership, the ENR team won two prestigious Jesse H. Neal awards in 2007 for Best Website and for Best Online Series of Articles.

Tuchman launched the “In Demand” series of magazines for the Dept. of Labor. These magazines connect high schools students to careers in industries that have a high demand for workers, such as construction.

In 2002, she became only the sixth woman to be elected to membership in “The Moles,” a prestigious heavy-construction industry leaders organization. She also serves on the Industry Advisory Committee of the Department of Civil Engineering at Columbia University. She co-authored a book on Exposed Structure in Building Design and won McGraw-Hill Corporate Achievement Awards for Information Technology and Editorial Excellence.

Tuchman earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Charles E. Ware, Executive Vice President, AGC Wyoming Contractors Association

Charles Ware is the CEO of the Wyoming Contractors Association.  He has served in this position for the past eleven years.  He also serves as General Manager of WCA’s McMurry Training Center and is Executive Vice President of the Construction Careers Foundation, a 501 c  (3) foundation charged to develop and support education and training for careers for Wyoming’s construction and energy industries. 

Mr. Ware was appointed to the Governor’s Workforce Development Council in 1999 and became Chair of the Council in October 2002.  Governor Freudenthal has kept him in that position. He is currently Chair of the National State Workforce Boards Association. He is the First Vice President of the Executive Leadership Council of the Associated General Contractors of America, a 100 member organization representing 38,000 contractors across the United States.  Mr. Ware also serves as a lobbyist, both at the state and national levels, for construction and workforce issues impacting Wyoming.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Santa Clara University and a Master of Arts Degree from San Jose State University.  Prior to joining WCA, Mr. Ware was in private business for twenty five years; first as the owner and President of Frontier Feeds and then Meta Dyne Technologies.  He holds one patent in animal feed supplements.