Southeast People: Construction business updates for July 2017

Randy Kray, senior vice president in HOK’s Atlanta office, was named firm-wide director of science and technology. Kray, who joined HOK’s S+T group in 2012 as director of programming and planning, has 28 years of experience leading the planning and design of high-performance research facilities.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based construction management firm Moss has named David Fellows executive vice president. Fellows, with more than 30 years of construction experience, will oversee the preconstruction phase on a national level, including preplanning, design management, contract negotiations, conceptual and detail estimating, scheduling, value engineering and constructibility. He previously served as vice president at John Moriarty & Associates.

Additionally, Moss promoted Travis Serpas to the position of vice president and project executive. Serpas, who has more than 16 years of construction management experience, first joined Moss in 2005 as a project engineer.

Frank O’Dea joined HNTB Corp.’s Lake Mary, Fla., office as group director–engineering and vice president. His responsibilities include oversight of all activities of the local engineering group, including quality, marketing and group productivity. A 30-year veteran of the Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT), O’Dea most recently served as District 5 director of transportation development. He also served as lead District 5 executive for the I-4 Ultimate project.

In Tallahassee, HNTB announced several new hires. Another FDOT veteran, Ken Morefield, has joined the firm as regional business development manager. He has four decades of transportation experience.

Also, David Crombie has joined HNTB as a project engineer. He has more than six years of experience in environmental design, permitting and management.

Vitatherese LoFria, an 18-year construction industry veteran, has joined JE Dunn Construction, Atlanta, as a senior learning and development specialist. Her role involves coordinating individual and group professional training for JE Dunn offices throughout its East region.

Maria Houle has joined Plaza Construction as operations manager in its Southeast regional office in Miami. Houle, with 28 years of construction experience, will provide leadership in planning, executing and delivering projects in the Southeast.

Jeff Kelley has joined Danis Construction in Jacksonville, Fla., as a project manager. Kelley has 15 years of experience on a variety of commercial, mechanical and industrial projects.

CRB’s construction services group has hired Wade Shelden as a senior project director for the Southeast region. Shelden has more than 25 years of experience in the engineering and construction industry and has worked on projects in biotech, pharmaceutical, life sciences and industrial manufacturing.

Stevens Construction has hired Chris Walczak as a project manager in its Fort Myers, Fla., office. Walczak has more than 12 years of commercial construction and architectural experience.

In Tampa, the firm hired 30-year construction veteran Dave Wade as a senior project manager.

Burns & McDonnell has promoted Nathan Newman to lead its global facilities team in the Southeast. In this role, Newman will focus on guiding teams to project completion safely, under budget and on schedule.

Architectural firm Klar and Klar has named Tim Knowles, a longtime architect with the firm, as a partner. Since 2004, Knowles has managed both residential and commercial projects for the firm.

EMJ Construction, Chattanooga, has promoted James Williams to director of construction. Williams, who joined EMJ in 2007, has 18 years of construction experience.

The contractor also promoted Jack Bowen to the position of senior vice president. A 21-year construction veteran, Bowen first joined EMJ in 2005 as an assistant superintendent. He most recently served as vice president of construction.

Professional services firm Dewberry has hired Rick Cintron and Scott Bickar as senior project engineers in its transportation design group. In his new role, Cintron is responsible for drainage designs for various transportation projects. He has more than 10 years of related design experience. Bickar’s new role includes designing maintenance-of-traffic plans, signing and pavement markings, and traffic signals. Bickar has more than 15 years of experience in traffic engineering studies and design. Both work in the firm’s Orlando office.

In Atlanta, Pond has hired Jeff Pettit as a senior project manager for its general construction division. As a Construction Management Association of America-certified project manager, Pettit brings to Pond more than three decades of experience managing project teams.

Frampton Construction Co., Charleston, S.C., has added Craig Calhoun as senior finance manager. He will also assist with business development and preconstruction to bring a financial perspective to initial project development phases.

GATES Construction, Sarasota, Fla., recently hired Mark Card as principal. Card, with more than three decades of construction experience, previously owned and operated Storie Construction Group.