Join the GBA Team to Help Fight Hunger with Harvesters!

In honor of Hunger Action Month, GBA is conducting a food and fund drive for Harvesters, The Community Food Network.  Food and monetary donations will help feed those in need throughout Greater Kansas City. 

We welcome staff, friends, and family to join us in our efforts. Please help us reach our goal of $500!

Hate shopping? Join GBA's Virtual Food Drive. Monetary donations can be made online at GBAfooddrive.harvesters.org. With every $1 donated, Harvesters can provide 5 meals. Donations can be made now through Friday, September 23rd. Transactions can be completed in a matter of minutes and e-receipts are available instantly.  

Like doing things the old fashioned way? Collection barrels will be placed in the reception areas on the 2nd and 3rd floors of our Lenexa headquarters.  Your donations will be accepted Monday, September 19th through Friday, September 23rd.

Most needed items:

Food
• Canned vegetables
• Canned fruit
• Boxed meals - (Hamburger Helper, Pasta Roni)
• Canned Meat/Tuna
• Peanut Butter
• Canned Soup
• Cereal – hot and cold

Household Products
• Soap
• Deodorant
• Shampoo
• Toilet Paper

Thanks in advance for your support!  

Bravo! Celebration Marks Successful Completion of Broadway Bridge over I-670 in Downtown KC

Completed on schedule and under budget, this new GBA-designed bridge provides an important link to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts!

 

A brilliant late-summer day was the backdrop for a ribbon cutting ceremony marking the successful completion of the Broadway Bridge over I-670 in downtown Kansas City! GBA and the GBA BBQ team catered the event, creating a festive atmosphere on the bridge deck next to Bartle Hall, where representatives from MoDOT, the project team, stakeholders, media (see Fox 4 coverage here), and the public celebrated a job well done!

 

Completed just in time for the opening of the Kauffman Center (the bridge will open later this week, the Kauffman Center on September 16), the critical schedule kept everyone on their toes.

 

GBA delivered final plans on February 14, 2011, just three months after receiving notice-to-proceed! Clarkson Construction started work in early May and delivered the completed project just five months later!

 

The new structure includes wider, safer sidewalks for pedestrians and some nifty, decorative railings designed by el dorado architects!  

 

Right now the bridge is scheduled to open by this weekend. Take a drive or walk the route; there's a lot going on and it's all exciting for Kansas City!   

A Toast to Becoming the Best Communicator You Can Be!



GBA Architect Suzanne Berkey recently received a
'Competent Communicator' designation from Toast-
masters. Suzanne is Vice President of Education for
Lenexa Toastmasters.

Suzanne Berkey just received her CC – Competent Communicator – designation from Toastmasters (congratulations Suzanne!) – and it reminded me that this resource is available right here in our office! GBA headquarters is home to Lenexa Toastmasters meetings so as you might expect, we have our share of competent communicators. To earn the designation, participants make ten formal presentations, master the art of extemporaneous speaking with “table topics,” and provide one another with support and constructive criticism. Suzanne currently serves as Vice President of Education for Lenexa Toastmasters.

But the club is not exclusive to GBA! Anyone interested in becoming a better communicator or improving leadership skills can attend Lenexa Toastmaster meetings. It’s an "open club," which means that guests and new members are always welcome. It doesn’t matter what time of the year you join. Your membership is prorated based on the month you turn in your membership application.

Meetings are held from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month in the lower level training room at GBA, 9801 Renner Boulevard in Lenexa. The cost is just $46 every six months. You can learn more about Lenexa Toastmasters here, or tour the Toastmasters International website!

If you’d like to become a more confident and effective communicator, visit one of the meetings and see if the program is right for you!



New Broadway Bridge to Provide Access to Kauffman Center for Performing Arts

Congratulations to Tawn Nugent, a New GBA Associate!

GBA's Tawn Nugent has been promoted to Associate and we couldn't be more pleased. As a member of the firm's Transportation Group, Tawn has taken a leadership role on some of the firm's most high-profile projects.

Tawn is modest about her accomplishments and cites teamwork and the dedication and hard work of members of the team in getting these jobs done and done right! Absolutely true, but she's still a leader extraordinaire!

Several projects come to mind immediately, including big improvements to eight miles Missouri Route 150 in Jackson County that encompass the recently completed interchange of Rt. 150 with US-71 Highway; replacement of the Broadway Bridge over I-670 in downtown Kansas City, Mo., an important link to the very exciting, soon-to-open Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts; and improvements to the US-50/Route 179/Missouri Boulevard (Business Route 50) Interchange in Jefferson City, Mo.

Tawn is a proud Iowa native and earned her undergraduate degree in civil engineering from Iowa State. She has a Master’s degree in engineering management from KU. Tawn is fully involved in the engineering community with very active memberships in ACEC, APWA, NSPE, and KSPE. She's also an alum of the 2010 Leadership Overland Park program.

So what are Tawn's guilty spare-time pleasures?  For one, she serves on the Advisory Board of Heartland SPCA, a "comprehensive animal welfare solution for the Kansas City community" formed by the recent merger of Animal Haven and No More Homeless Pets KC. If not exactly a guilty pleasure, it's an extremely important commitment for this dog lover and parent of black labs Zoey and Libby. Other favorite things include travel, golf, football...and a good glass of wine!

Congratulations to Tawn on this well deserved promotion!

GBA Tees Up to Support Keep Omaha Beautiful, Inc.

Team members (from left) 
Gary Beck - GBA, Terry Morrison - Ehrhart Griffin & Associates,
Pat Kastl - City of Omaha, and Kurt Hassler, GBA

Dear Gary,

Many, many thanks to you and your company for supporting Keep Omaha Beautiful, Inc. with your sponsorship for our 18th Annual Charity Golf Classic on July 11th, 2011.  The day was a little hot, but everyone had a great time, and enjoyed a fabulous round of golf.  We had 196 players (the most ever) and were able to raise an estimated $32,000.00 for our Keep Omaha Beautiful, Inc. programs. Please share the attached picture with your team members. Again, thanks so much, and we hope that you will be able to come out and play with us again, July 16th, 2012 at the Players Club at Deer Creek.

Sincere Best Wishes,
Keep Omaha Beautiful Staff & Board

GBA's Anne Schroer Honored by KSPE as ‘Young Engineer of the Year’



GBA's Anne Schroer receives the "Young Engineer of the Year"

award from KSPE President Glenn Knak, P.E., Lochner, BWR Division.

Congratulations to Anne Schroer, who has been named “Young Engineer of the Year” by the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers (KSPE). The award is given annually to honor a young engineer for engineering achievements, involvement in KSPE, civic and humanitarian activities, and excellence in continuing education.


A civil engineer and member of GBA's Transportation Group, Anne is a graduate of the University of Kansas. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering in 2003 and a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management in 2010.  As part of the requirements for her Master’s degree, Anne developed the concept of “Sustainable Transportation Optimization,” which uses linear programming to maximize positive sustainable impacts in transportation projects. 

One of Anne's passions is working within the engineering community to help create a more sustainable transportation future. She currently serves as Assistant Chair of GBA’s FocusGreen, a multi-disciplinary team of LEED APs dedicated to achieving sustainability in GBA’s designs and business practices.

Anne also represents the American Public Works Association (APWA) as a member of the 4A Collaborative, a group of planning and design professionals from APWA, APA, ASLA, and AIA committed to promoting sustainability throughout the Kansas City region. In addition, she is a member of the KC Metro Scorecard Subcommittee, which is charged with developing a sustainability scorecard for the Kansas City area. 

Anne's involvement includes membership in the Linking Environmental & Transportation Planning Advisory Group that, through MARC, helped create an action plan and best practices guide for the Kansas City region. The Advisory Group continues to work to develop a clear understanding of what needs to be done to better integrate transportation and environmental planning in the Kansas City region. 

And if all of that isn't enough, Anne completed the Boston Marathon this year in 3 hours, 41 minutes, and 8 seconds (3:41:08), qualifying her for a third consecutive year. That's an amazing average of 8:26 (minutes: seconds) per mile.  Now that's sustainable transportation!