On This Veterans Day…

Thank you to the men and women who have served or are currently serving in the military.

 

This display is in honor of family members who have served or are currently serving in the military.

 

We are honored these men and women are our family and served to protect our freedom. Some of them made the ultimate sacrifice and for that we are truly grateful. Many of these displayed fought in wars that most of us only read about in our history books. We have a great-grandfather that was in the Civil War, an uncle who witnessed the flag being raised at Iwo Jima, a grandpa that survived kamikaze pilots sinking his ship, a dad that was a ball-turret gunner on a B-17 who flew 30 missions, a grandpa that was paratrooper, and a dad that stormed the beaches of Omaha on D-Day. These are only a few of the heroic men displayed.

We, at GBA, want to welcome back Tony Casella. He recently spent six months in Oman serving as a firefighter with the US Air Force Reserves. We are glad to have him back safely and thank him for his service.

 

To all the heroes who have served over our nation’s lifetime and those currently serving, thank you.

No Tricks, Just Treats

There were no ghosts or goblins, but we did see Mini Mouse, a dinosaur, and a watermelon. Employees brought their kids to the office for trick-or-treating on Halloween at the end of the workday. It was fun to see some of the classics like Mickey and Mini Mouse, and Cinderella. A few of the other costumes included a train conductor, a rock star, and a cow. After getting their buckets full of candy here, the kids went home to go door-to-door in their neighborhoods and get more candy. What a fun holiday. 

Happy Halloween!!

Kansas Wind Brings Energy to El Dorado

The familiar Kansas wind was exactly what the City of El Dorado was hoping for on October 23, 2012 when it held a ribbon cutting for the new 1 MW wind turbine at the Wetlands and Water Reclamation Facility. The turbine is the first of its kind in the State to help power a water treatment plant. Former Gov. Mike Hayden along with representatives from the City of El Dorado, GBA, and GBA Builders were present to dedicate the new wind turbine.

Over the next 20 years, the City could see a savings of $5 to $8 million in energy costs as a result of the project. “Cities across the United States are increasingly tasked to do more with less. The City of El Dorado has made a conscious effort to invest in green technology, so that we can do more and hold down our operational costs,” said Kurt Bookout, the City of El Dorado Public Utilities Manager.

Reducing its carbon footprint is important to the City and installing the wind turbine at the treatment plant is a positive step in that direction.

 

To see the dedication, please click on the video below.

 

GBA Welcomes Michelle Brewer as New Controller

Michelle Brewer has joined GBA as the new Controller.  As the Controller, Brewer will be responsible for day-to-day financial and accounting operations and will play a key role in developing and implementing financial and accounting strategy and policies. 

“We are very excited for Michelle to join our team. Her public accounting experience, CPA designation, and familiarity with our company are going to be tremendous assets to us,” said GBA's CFO, Shaun Kotwitz, CPA. 

Michelle joins GBA with 13 years of experience in the financial and accounting fields, including most recently serving as an Assurance Manager with McGladrey.  Brewer is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in Kansas and a graduate of Truman State University, where she graduated with a MS and BS degree in Accounting.  

Welcome to GBA, Michelle!

Big Dawg Open

Our hometown Great Plains SPCA had great weather and even better turn out for the Fourth Annual Big Dawg Golf tournament. The golf tournament helped to support the organization’s mission to save, protect and improve the lives of animals, while strengthening the relationship between pets and their human companions. With projected gross revenue of $228,000, the tournament raised enough money to save thousands of animals.

Tawn Nugent represented GBA’s hole sponsorship and joined 257 other golfers on the course. One of our valued partners, Trent Robinett with TREKK Design Group, joined in the fun to show his support of the organization as well.

Golden Manhole Society Inductee

No, it’s not a secret society, but it is a prestigious one. On August 29^th, Tim Schneller was awarded with the Golden Manhole Society honor at the Kansas WaterEnvironment Association (KWEA) annual awards luncheon. He joins fellow co-workers Bill Carter and Gary Beck who have won the award in past years.

 

The Golden Manhole society was founded in 1998 and recognizes top professionals for their contributions to the collection system industry through volunteerism on regional and national collection systems committees, writing of papers and articles and over all respected reputation. Tim’s reputation has definitely contributed to his induction. He is known as “The Professor” for his innovation, thought-provoking solutions and willingness to share his knowledge.

 

Congratulations, Tim! It is quite an honor.

Beautiful Day for Golf

"Challenge the Teen” is what participants were faced with on August 24 in the Rocky Mountain Chapter ISPE Golf Tournament in Brighton, Colorado. GBA sponsored Hole 11 where Michelle Marquardt and Katie McKenzie oversaw the game. Joe Winslow’s teen son is quite the golfer and teams had an opportunity to challenge him for a chance to win money.  Team participants were entered in the drawing to win in one of two ways: If participants opted to “Challenge the Teen” from the blue tees they were required to tie their score with GBA’s teen. The alternative option resulted in teams playing from the blue tees while GBA’s teen played at a longer distance from the black tees. In this event, ISPE golfers had to bring in a lower score than our teen. All teams were able to play the hole as a scramble affording them with several opportunities to tie or beat our teen. Winners were Ryan Penny, Brent Beisharr, and Jon Schlottman from Haldemann-Homme and Jeff Keckler with Amico. Congrats, gentlemen!

 

With an overall participation of 35 teams, GBA’s Life Sciences Group had two teams of four which included Mike Glasker and Becky Rivoire hosting clients from GlobeImmune and QSPEC. Joe Winslow participated on the second team with clients from Piper Electric and Aerotek Scientific.

 

As it turned out, it was a beautiful day for golf.