Tawn Nugent Recognized as ‘Engineer of the Year’ during Engineers Week Luncheon

Engineers Week (EWeek) was started by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) in 1951 to promote a diverse and well-educated engineering workforce through understanding and interest in engineering careers. During the annual EWeek luncheon, the Eastern Chapter of the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers (KSPE) recognizes one individual for their contributions to the profession.

GBA is honored, for the second year in a row, to have an employee recognized by KSPE as Engineer of the Year. Tawn Nugent, P.E., was awarded the 2014 Kansas Society of Professional Engineers (KSPE) Eastern Chapter ‘Engineer of the Year’ during the annual Engineers Week Luncheon on February 21. The award recognizes her service to the organization and the profession.  As the winner of the Eastern Chapter award, Tawn is nominated for the KSPE Engineer of the Year State award which will be announced in June at the annual KSPE conference.

An active member of KSPE, Nugent currently serves as the Engineering Preparation committee chair.  Her involvement in KSPE focuses on recruitment and outreach of future engineers.

Nugent, who joined GBA in 2000, is an Associate with the Highways and Streets Group where she provides project management and design for highway, interchange and roadway projects for state and local agencies. 

Congratulations, Tawn!

GBA wins ACEC Missouri Engineering Excellence Honor Award for Church Street in Downtown Wentzville, Missouri

GBA was awarded an American Council of Engineering Companies of Missouri (ACEC MO) Engineering Excellence Honor Award for the Church Street Reconstruction project. An awards banquet was held Saturday Feb. 8 where Dan Shane accepted the award on behalf of GBA.

With deteriorating pavement, increased traffic volumes and a lack of pedestrian facilities, the reconstructed Church Street is now safely serving the public while complementing and enhancing this vibrant and changing area.

As part of a downtown revitalization study, the City of Wentzville chose Church Street as the first roadway infrastructure project programmed to implement recommendations from the study to a new planning district known as Village Center.  With the area located near I-70, it’s an important connection between Pearce Street and the interstate. In order to preserve the historic character of downtown while encouraging growth and development, aesthetics were an significant factor to City Officials and local business owners.

Wentzville selected GBA to provide professional engineering services for design of the reconstruction and enhancements including field and land survey, design of roadways, retaining walls, storm sewers, water line, street lighting, pavement marking, permanent signing and construction sequencing. GBA also provided landscape and streetscape architectural design services. Utility coordination and public involvement were important aspects of the project as well.

Communication presented one of the greatest challenges for the project with the multiple stakeholders that included City Officials, Public Works and Planning staff, the Downtown Village Center Enhancement Organization, business owners, utilities companies, and other consultants. Since enhancements to the area were a goal, public involvement was crucial. The Downtown Business Association was actively involved throughout all phases of the project.  Rose Lambi, Downtown Business Association President said, “The enhancement of Wentzville Village Center has been the focus of The Downtown Business Association as well as many other organizations in the community.  With the energy of many, we were able to enhance the Church Street project with a welcoming monument with personalized bricks from businesses, organizations and individuals.  This monument is visible when entering the Village Center at Church Street.”

The organization coordinated a “personalized brick” campaign as a fundraiser, and the bricks were incorporated into an entry monument structure designed by GBA which served as a brand for the “Village Center” district. A primary objective of the project was to

revitalize downtown Wentzville and make people want to visit. Church Street helped make that vision a reality with pedestrian friendly aspects such as sidewalks, multi-purpose trails, bike racks, park benches, decorative street lighting and landscaping. The project will be used as a template for future infrastructure projects associated with the Village Center.

The Church Street reconstruction and enhancements project exemplifies a solution for the upgrades to the transportation infrastructure, as well as provides a unique place which can be enjoyed by the residents, business owners and patrons throughout downtown Wentzville.

Ampio Pharmaceuticals Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony for Colorado Manufacturing Facility

Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Denver-based biopharmaceutical company, recently broke ground on its new location in Englewood, Colo. On January 10, the company held a ceremony to announce the start of construction on its new facility, which will become the manufacturing site for their leading drug candidate.

GBA was honored to be selected by Ampio to design and construct a clean room,

laboratories, a warehouse and offices within the new facility. GBA’s Life Sciences team will also serve as the project and construction managers on the project.

The facility is expected to be up and running this summer, and will add approximately 40 new jobs to the Denver Metro area over the next two years. Once completed, the site will have an annual production capacity of approximately ten million doses of Ampion, an anti-inflammatory drug that treats patients with severe knee pain due to osteoarthritis. In addition to Ampion, Ampio also produces medications for kidney, eye and metabolic diseases, among others.