Alabama

LBYD Inc., a consulting civil and structural engineering firm with an office in Birmingham, Ala., recently announced the appointment of Chris Storey, John Perdue and Brian Hatcher as assistant project managers of the firm.

Storey is a graduate of The University of Alabama at Birmingham with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering. Professional activities and society memberships include the American Concrete Institute, the Structural Engineers Association of Alabama, the American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Perdue is a graduate of The University of Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in civil engineering from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is a licensed professional engineer in Alabama and is a member of the Structural Engineers Association of Alabama, the Precast & Prestressed Concrete Institute, the American Concrete Institute, the American Institute of Steel Construction, the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Hatcher is a graduate of The University of Alabama with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering. Professional activities and society memberships include the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood Inc. recently opened a branch office at 462 McQueen Smith Road South in Prattville, Ala., and named Josh Pierce as Prattville/Millbrook office manager responsible for daily oversight of operations. Pierce has more than 10 years of engineering experience with Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, most recently serving as project manager.

Commenting on the reasons to locate an office in Prattville, David Reed, executive vice president of Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, says, “Locating a new office in Prattville will strengthen the level of service we are able to provide for our clients in the area. We also feel that having valued employees living in Autauga and Elmore counties and now working near their homes will serve to benefit both the employees and clients, providing more efficient and quicker service.

“Josh has proven leadership skills and a vested interest in the area. I am confident that his expertise will enable this office to become a successful part of the community.”

Pierce is an Auburn University graduate with a degree in civil engineering. The Prattville management staff includes Victor Apodaca, project manager for the Civil Engineering Department; Frank Noble leader of the drafting and design team; and Kris Flaherty, leader of the surveying team.

TAG/The Architects Group Inc. of Mobile, Ala., recently announced that Tammy S. Clark has joined the firm as interior designer.

Clark has served as a facility planner and project manager on multiple interior design projects throughout her career and has worked for prominent firms in Alabama and Georgia. In addition, Clark has participated in LEED construction initiatives.

At TAG, Clark will collaborate with the design team in providing clients with in-house, comprehensive interior design services under the direction of TAG’s Director of Interior Design Alice H. Cutright. Clark’s duties will include client contact, design research, space planning, product and finish selection and construction documents. She is proficient in AutoCAD and in drafting floor plans, elevations and details to communicate design intent.

Clark is a graduate of Mississippi State University and holds a bachelor’s degree in interior design, a FMA certificate and designation from the Building Owners and Managers Institute and is a member of the International Facility Management Association.

Arkansas

Cynthia Toney of Cromwell Architects Engineers in Little Rock, Ark., was recently awarded three chapter awards and one regional award at the CSI - Little Rock Chapter’s Annual Awards Banquet in June.

The Member of the Year Award is presented to a member for significant contributions to the chapter and its goals throughout the fiscal year. Toney was nominated unanimously by every active member and leader in the chapter.

The Leo Joseph Hiegel President’s Award is presented to any member for distinguished contributions to the chapter. The chapter president nominates and selects those members who have provided the greatest impact to the chapter during the current fiscal year.

The Chapter Service Award is given to members who have given freely of their time as either an officer or director and are rotating off of the Board of Directors this year.

The Rookie Editor of the Year is a regional award.

Louisiana

The New Orleans/Bayou Chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors Inc. recently announced the appointment of Angela Latino-Geier as its new president/CEO.

“I’m thrilled this opportunity has presented itself and especially at this time when southeast Louisiana is responsible for carrying out one of the largest reconstruction efforts ever faced by our country,” says Latino-Geier.

Latino-Geier brings 23 years of progressive operational management experience in the areas of process & procedure mapping, fiscal sustainability, volunteer activation, program & event implementation and communications/marketing.

She is a native of Hammond, La., and now resides in Metairie, La., with her family. While working full-time in support of her alma mater, she earned a bachelor’s degree in social science from Tulane University in 1990, and is a recent 2008 graduate of Leadership St. Tammany, a comprehensive civic leadership training program.

“There is a tremendous amount of work to be done, on many different fronts, when you consider the volume of commercial and petrochemical construction needed,” says Latino-Geier.

As president/CEO, Latino-Geier will lead ABC New Orleans’ Bayou Chapter initiatives in labor dispute resolution, Merit Shop philosophy promotion and educational programming to advance the professional, technical and managerial skills of local residents in 12 parishes.

Robert Kleinpeter, project specifier for architect Eskew+Dumez+Ripple of New Orleans, has earned the Albert G. Bear Memorial Award from the New Orleans Chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI).

Kleinpeter is the first candidate in eight years to meet the criteria and be selected for the award.

The CSI Albert G. Bear Memorial Award is the highest single honor given by the New Orleans CSI Chapter in recognition for dedication and outstanding service and accomplishment to all levels of The Construction Specifications Institute.

The award was announced at the 50th annual CSI New Orleans awards banquet on June 24. An advocate of the CSI principles, Kleinpeter serves as the New Orleans Chapter professional director, technical chairman and certification chair.

He has more than 40 years of professional experience, focused on technical performance of the building envelope and coordination of engineering systems.

Kleinpeter is certified by CSI as a Certified Construction Specifier and Construction Document Technologist.

Group Industries LLC, a Baton Rouge-based commercial and industrial construction company, recently announced the following promotions:

Kirk Johnson has been promoted to executive vice president. In his new role, Johnson will oversee Group Industries’ daily operations. He has 22 years of experience.

In his previous role, Johnson served as the company’s vice president - general manager.

Lynn Oehrle has been promoted to secretary treasurer. Oehrle will be responsible for handling assets, cash management, banking and loans. In her previous role, Oehrle acted as chief financial officer.

Shane Kirkpatrick has been promoted to vice president of operations. Kirkpatrick will be responsible for overseeing project management, running the day-to-day operations of Arrighi Construction and will continue to handle promotions and marketing. Kirkpatrick was previous serving as operations manager.

Phil Berniard has been promoted to vice president of estimating. Berniard will serve Group’s customers by reviewing individual estimates for each job and providing the information necessary to meet clients’ needs. In his previous role, Berniard served as estimating manager.

Tom Howard has been promoted to vice president of piling. He will be contributing 20 years of experience to this new position, the last three of which have been devoted to Group Contractors. Howard will handle the piling division, with specialization in industrial and commercial pile driving along with auger cast piles. Howard previously served as Pile Division manager.

Kevin Gourgues has been promoted to vice president of drilling. Gourges has been with the company since 2004 serving as Drilling Division manager. This promotion allows Gourgues the opportunity to work more directly with state-of-the-art equipment for all industrial, environmental and commercial clients.

Lee Currault has been promoted to Industrial Division manager. Currault has been with Group Contractors since 2001, utilizing his construction education and MBA from Louisiana State University and 10 years of experience. Currault previously served as project manager.

Foster Marketing Communications recently expanded its operations with the addition of Gary Meeks as controller and Kristy Bonner as account associate.

Meeks, a certified public accountant, comes to Foster Marketing from Superior Offshore International Inc., where he was general ledger accounting manager. He was also an accountant for Reliant Energy and Air Logistics and is a graduate of Texas A&M University.

Bonner was previously the senior editor of custom content for the Lafayette Daily Advertiser, which included overseeing two monthly magazines. She has also served as a city editor, business editor, design editor, assistant managing editor and senior data/digital editor and has won numerous state and national awards for writing and design.

She will assist Foster Marketing with account service and Web site development.

Foster Marketing Communications is a 28-year-old business-to-business marketing, advertising and public relations firm. The firm serves clients internationally in the oil and gas industry from offices in Lafayette, La., and Houston.

Mississippi

Allen Cooley Jr. and Jeff Williams have been named principals of Burns Cooley Dennis Inc.of Ridgeland, Miss.

Cooley joined BCD in 1993 and was employed for a year as a staff geotechnical engineer. He returned to BCD in 2003 in the capacity of senior pavements/materials engineer.

He has more than 16 years in the civil engineering profession and currently works at the BCD Construction Materials Engineering and Testing (CMET) facility. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Mississippi State University in 1992, he completed his master’s and doctorate degrees at Auburn University.

Williams joined BCD in 2004 as a senior geotechnical engineer. Currently, Williams serves as branch manager for the Hattiesburg and Gulfport offices. He has worked on a variety of projects in geotechnical engineering over the past 17 years.

He has a wide range of geotechnical experience over geographical regions throughout the South. Williams received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Mississippi State University in 1990 and a master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Houston in 2001.

Tennessee

Rentenbach Constructors Inc., a Knoxville, Tenn.-based general contracting firm, recently announced the following promotions in the Knoxville office:

• Tiffany Fleming promoted to project manager

• Fletcher Holland promoted to project manager

• Chris Myers promoted to project manager

• Jeff Lumpkins promoted to estimator

• Nicholas Lawrence promoted to project engineer

• Thomas Gilley promoted to project engineer