Beck and Cantrell to Co-Lead GBA’s Water Environment Group

Gary Beck

Gary Beck and Dennis Cantrell have taken over the leadership duties of GBA’s Water Environment Group, and together will be responsible for the strategic direction of the team. The leadership transition occurred because of the recent retirement of Bill Carter.

Using his more than 30 years of professional experience,

Dennis Cantrell

Beck will have direct oversight of the management of projects and department operations; which includes developing field training, design standards and process improvement programs to strengthen the team’s project management capabilities. Beck joined GBA in 1986 and has completed project management services for large scale sewer improvement programs in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska. He sits on the Water Environment Federation’s Collection Systems Committee.

In addition to directing marketing, client development and investment growth opportunities in the group’s four locations, Cantrell will also identify new hires and manage individual staff development. Cantrell joined GBA in 2011 and has 39 years of consulting engineering experience. He has worked on large infrastructure projects throughout the U.S. and several countries around the world.

GBA’s Water Environment Group has offices in Lenexa, Kansas, Omaha, Nebraska and O’Fallon and Chesterfield, Missouri. The staff of nearly 40 consists of 16 licensed engineers, technicians, scientists and GIS specialists.

Sue Marino Joins GBA

Sue Marino has joined GBA as a senior engineer in the Omaha, NE office with the Water Environment Group. In this position Sue’s role includes engineering studies, design, and management of projects involving sanitary & stormwater collection systems, sewer separation, sewer/manhole renovation and rehabilitation, field investigation, Inflow/Infiltration analysis, sewer backup solutions, stormwater management, and marketing.

Marino previously worked with the City of Omaha as the Sewer Separation Program Manager before joining GBA. She is a member of Engineers Club, American Public Works Association (APWA) and National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE).  She earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil/Environmental Engineering from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Handley Achieves Two Important Credentials

Katie Handley successfully passed her professional engineering exam and can now add the letters “PE” after her name. She is a member of the Water Environment Group and has worked with stream stability and Best Management Practices as related to stream surveys, data collection, site monitoring and design. Other experience includes preparing designs based on ecological engineering principles to alleviate flooding issues.

Along with the PE, Katie has also achieved the designation as Envision™ Sustainability Professional Credential (ENV SP).  Attaining the PE was the natural progression in furthering her engineering career, but she is the first individual at GBA to have accomplished the ENV SP designation.  The ENV SP credential is offered by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) and trains the practitioner to use the Envision™ rating system as a way to apply principles of sustainability to infrastructure projects.

When asked why receiving this designation was so important Handley stated, “I was introduced to Envision^TM through work while we pursued projects with the cities of Omaha and Kansas City, Missouri.  I was extremely excited to see a system that strives to pair sustainability with a broad range of infrastructure projects (airports, dams, roads, bridges, and more).  I think it is highly important that as we work to improve our aging infrastructure system, we make every effort to conserve our natural resources.  Envision™ encourages this way of thinking in order to foster a dramatic change to improve not only the technical performance of a project but also evaluate and improve the social, environmental, and economic aspects.  I’ve always been interested in sustainability from rain gardens to phytoremediation; and I feel like Envision™ takes a new approach to working sustainable practices into projects that would be considered traditional.  I believe that we need to work to develop remarkable solutions in order to enhance our infrastructure and environment for the generations to come.”

Congratulations, Katie!

Rob Kline Recognized as Young Leader at NPWW

Rob Kline (left) receiving his award.

Rob Kline was recognized by the American Public Works Association (APWA) at the annual National Public Works Week (NPWW) Luncheon on May 20 as the 2015 KC Metro Chapter Young Leader. The award recognizes Kline’s exceptional service to the organization and the profession. 

 
He has been involved with APWA since 2009 and has been a part of several committees including the Arrangements Committee where he assisted with event registration and setup. Then he moved to a position as Chapter Meeting Chair which he has held since 2012. He is also a graduate of the 2014 Emerging Leaders Academy (Class VII).  As a young member of the organization, Rob is dedicated to creating a beneficial environment within the chapter for engineers in the early stages of their careers. He is the Chair of the chapter’s Emerging Leaders Committee and is in the process of bringing the chapter a Young Professionals Group.  

Kline, who joined GBA in 2006, is an engineer with the Highways and Streets Group where he provides planning and design for state and local agencies.               

Congratulations, Rob!

2015 Relay for Life

At the heart of GBA is a core value to “Promote compassion and teamwork among employees and clients.” Since 2013, we’ve been a corporate sponsor of Relay for Life-Lenexa in support of the American Cancer Society. Each year our team campaigns to raise funds and awareness in the fight against cancer. To date, our team has raised nearly $15,000 with more than 40 employees participating. Fighting cancer is important to us because we know our employees and clients have been impacted by this disease.

Each year more than four million people in 20 countries participate in a Relay for Life event, which offers an inspiring opportunity to honor cancer survivors, support caregivers, promote how individuals can reduce their cancer risk, and raise money to help end cancer.

30^th Anniversary of Relay

Relay for Life began 30 years ago, hence the theme “Party Like its 1985” this year. In keeping with the theme and our love of the hometown boys in blue playing in the 1985 World Series, we wore Royals gear and gave away ballpark snacks to fellow walkers.    

Series of Events

Following the opening ceremony and a few laps around the lake at Sar-Ko-Par Trail Park in Lenexa, volunteers participated in a hula hooping contest and water balloon relay. Several laps later we honored cancer survivors in attendance. As the skies darkened, luminaria bags dedicated to loved ones were placed along the trail.    

Special Thanks

We want to thanks everyone who donated to our team and participated! Hope to see you at the park next year.