Alabama

Graham Black has joined Arlington Construction Services Inc. as a project manager.Black has 10 years construction industry experience in Mississippi, Florida and Alabama.

At Arlington Construction Services he will provide project management on the construction of mixed-use and single-family units currently underway in Alabama and Florida.

Prior to joining Arlington he was with Weitz Golf International in North Palm Beach, Fla.

Black is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College.        

Arlington Construction Services, a sister company of Arlington Properties Inc., provides construction services for Arlington Properties’ on company projects throughout the southeast.

Gallet & Associates is pleased to announce the appointment of the following employees: Dewey Trapp as the Tuscaloosa office manager and senior project geologist, Kane Roy as computer systems analyst located at the Birmingham Office, Eddie Walker and Kevin Burt as senior engineering technicians at the Birmingham office. 

The Alabama Nursery & Landscape Association has named a new board member: Stephen Presley. Presley is the president of Landscape Workshop Inc. of Birmingham, Ala., and has been with the company since November 1995.  Landscape Workshop is one of the largest landscape contractors in the Southeast.

Over the past 12 years, Presley has helped direct the steady growth of the company while maintaining unprecedented quality.

After graduating from Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in ornamental horticulture, Presley worked in the landscape contracting business both in Atlanta and Birmingham.

Established in 1951, the Alabama Nursery & Landscape Association is a professional association for those involved in and allied to the ornamental horticulture industry. The mission of the ALNLA, a non-profit trade association whose business is conducted by an elected board of directors, is to promote the rapidly-growing ornamental horticulture industry in Alabama. 

Through its annual Gulf States Horticulture Expo, educational seminars around the state, participation in the Southeast Greenhouse Conference, the Southern Nursery Association, and the Southern Plant Conference, and its links with other organizations both in Alabama and across the nation, the ALNLA strives to provide the information and support to make horticulture businesses more efficient and profitable.

Louisiana

Thomas “Tommy” Indest of Baton Rouge, La., has been named Louisiana Territory sales manager for Lafarge North America.

Indest, who has more than 30 years in the concrete and construction industry, will be responsible for the promotion and sale of Lafarge bulk cement, slag and fly ash in the Baton Rouge and surrounding markets.

Indest has sold admixtures for 22 years and has also worked for a testing company in New Orleans. He is a graduate of the University of New Orleans.

Indest is a certified ACI Field Technician and has taken courses in sales and management. He has served on the board of several associations, including the Concrete and Aggregates Association of Louisiana and the Gulf South Precast/Prestressed Concrete Association.

Bryon Hume has become a partner in the architecture, planning and interiors firm of Tipton Associates APAC. Hume has enjoyed more than 20 years in the practice of architecture on healthcare, educational, agricultural and civic projects.

He began his career with Tipton Associates in 1995 and is a graduate of LSU’s School of Architecture. Hume has served as project manager, information technology coordinator and quality control leader for the past 12 years at Tipton Associates.

Darrin Badon has become a partner of Tipton Associates APAC while celebrating his 10th year as project architect and senior designer with the firm. Badon is a graduate of LSU’s School of Architecture and his work in educational, student life, civic and religious project design has received awards and recognition on both local and national levels.

Badon serves as senior designer and project architect on projects throughout the country, contributing to the firm’s portfolio expansion to more than 100 college campuses in more than 24 states.

Daniel M. Zito has become a partner of Tipton Associates APAC. Recently relocating to Baton Rouge after 25 years in New York, his building type experience includes health and education facilities for special populations, senior living, medical offices, schools and religious facilities. Zito is a graduate of LSU’s School of Architecture and earned his master’s degree from Pratt Institute. Zito serves as senior studio leader for Tipton Associates overseeing office operations and project management.

Tipton Associates is a professional architecture corporation which has been located in Baton Rouge, La., since 1879, and will continue to operate under the leadership of managing principal & CEO Kenneth Tipton, Jr.

Scotty Gaudet has been named vice president of sales and marketing for Aerial Access Equipment, headquartered in Baton Rouge, La., according to AAE President Gene Torrence.

Gaudet, who has 18 years in the construction industry, will be in charge of sales and operations for the AAE locations in Baton Rouge, Belle Chasse, La., Nederland, Texas, and Gulfport, Miss. Prior to joining Aerial Access Equipment in June, he was regional operations manager for a national rental company in Louisiana.

Serving as branch managers are Darrel Arthurs, New Orleans, La., area; Ron Johnson, Gulfport, Miss., area; and Jeff Jones, Nederland, Texas, area.

Aerial Access Equipment offers sales, rentals, leasing, maintenance and repair work on aerial lifts, platforms, and forklifts equipment. They have machines to reach heights of 142 ft and also track mounted aerial lift platforms to reach from 40 to 70 ft.

TOPCOR Services Inc. announced the promotion of Jon Gary to vice president, Specialty Coatings and Linings/General Operations, and James Kennison to vice president, Restoration and Cathodic Protection Services. 

The two have served as project managers at TOPCOR for 14 and 10 years, respectively, and are both graduates from LSU’s Construction Management program. TOPCOR Services is an affiliate of TOPCOR Companies LLC.  Other affiliates include TOPCOR Augusta LLC, TOPCOR Offshore LLC, TOPCOR BELCO LLC and US FUSION LLC.

Brian M. Vega, a recent University of Auburn graduate, has joined The Lemoine Co. LLC team as an office engineer. He earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture, design, and construction with a concentration in building science, and a minor in business. He will be involved in many diverse projects to come, the first of which is the II City Plaza project in Baton Rouge, La. Brian has held past internships with Gleeds USA in Atlanta, Ga., and Vega Builders in New Orleans, La.

He currently resides in Baton Rouge. The Lemoine Co. provides construction management, general contracting and design-build construction services in the southern region markets.

Kevin Williams of Pollock, La., has been named sales representative for W.R. Grace & Co. in Louisiana.

Williams worked 22 years for TXI-Louisiana Ready Mix, including the last 10 years as area manager for central Louisiana, prior to being named to his new sales position with W.R. Grace. His duties will include sales and service of concrete admixtures to the ready mix, precast and masonry industries throughout Louisiana.

He has a professional sales certification from the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association and has more than 24 years in the construction industry.

Basic Industries Inc., an operating company of industrial services provider The Brock Group, has named Romayne Trahan as its controller. Trahan has more than 13 years of accounting experience at Basic Industries. She was most recently assistant controller there.

Basic Industries is a specialty services contractor for the petrochemical, utilities, nuclear, pulp & paper and refining industries. Services include lead and asbestos abatement, coatings, insulation, scaffolding & shoring and tower & vessel maintenance. Basic, based in Baton Rouge, La., has other locations in Houston, Port Arthur and Dripping Springs, Texas; New Orleans; and Washington, D.C.

Founded in 1947 and based in Beaumont, Texas, The Brock Group is one of the largest providers of industrial maintenance services in the country and is the nation’s leading multi-craft maintenance contractor.

Bill Petty has been promoted to president of Walton Construction Co.’s New Orleans Division from his previous position of executive vice president and managing director of the division.

Petty’s new role as president allows his division to be more responsive to client requests and requirements by providing him with the executive authority of the position. He is accountable for the overall success of the division and his responsibilities include business planning, client relationship management, customer service, team building, leadership development, retention management and marketing.

“Bill is making a lasting impact on the leadership of this company,” says Dan Frisbee, chief operating officer of Walton Construction.

“His employees look to him as a role model and we know his abilities and experience will take the New Orleans division to new heights.”

Some of Petty’s most noteworthy projects include Harrah’s Hotel, West Jefferson Medical Center and Acute Care Facility of the Portsmouth Naval Hospital.

Petty has more than 24 years in the construction industry. He earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech.

Walton Construction Co. LLC, which maintains full-service offices in Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Mo., Dallas, and New Orleans, is ranked among the top contractors in the United States by Engineering News Record. 

Mississippi

Dale and Associates Architects P.A. recently announced that Russ Blount has received his certification for Leadership in Entergy and Environmental Design for New Construction, including large renovation projects. Blount received his bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1994 from Mississippi State University. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects and the Council of Educational Facility Planners International. 

Dale has several projects that are LEED certified or are considered Green Buildings by the United States Green Building Council. The firm provided services for the first “green building” in the state, the Department of Landscape Architecture Building at Mississippi State University. 

The Pinnacle at Jackson Place and the U.S. Federal Courthouse are other projects the firm is working on among others that will be LEED certified. 

Other LEED certified employees at Dale include senior project manager Ron Hartley, ASLA, and Intern Architect Kemper Smith.  Several other employees’ LEED certification is pending. 

Tennessee

The Nashville Division of construction firm Robins & Morton has announced the hiring of two new management-level employees.

Wayne Baswell has joined Robins & Morton as a senior estimator. Baswell has more than 25 years of construction experience in operations, preconstruction and business development, primarily in the healthcare sector.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in building construction from Auburn University.

Laurie Gunnells is the new marketing coordinator for the Nashville Division. Gunnells was the trade show marketing manager for Healthcare Management Systems Inc. in Nashville for four years before joining Robins & Morton.

She has a bachelor’s degree in apparel merchandising from Auburn University.

Robins & Morton has completed more than 750 healthcare facilities across 28 states and currently has more than 60 projects under construction or in pre-construction throughout the country. Division offices are in Nashville, Birmingham, Orlando, Dallas and Huntsville, Ala.

The firm is ranked as the nation’s second-largest healthcare construction company by Modern Healthcare magazine.

Region

Spider, a division of SafeWorks LLC, recently hired Mike Gibbs as area director for the Gulf Coast Region.

As area director, Gibbs will lead, manage and inspire branch sales and operations in the Gulf Coast region. Spider branches in his territory are in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and Pensacola.

Before joining the Spider team, Gibbs served as fabrication manager for Guardian Industries Corp., a leading supplier of fabricated glass and exterior automotive products. In this role, he managed new product developments from the engineering through the product launch marketing phase. 

Gibbs also led a lean manufacturing program roll-out, which reduced corporate inventories by an average of 85%, increased productivity and eliminated costs. 

Mike previously was business unit manager for Ellison Windows and Doors in which he was responsible for a variety of supervisory and employee development initiatives. 

He also served in the U. S. Navy for eight years, specializing in power plant operations.