|
Emergency Management
|
|
Dr. Walter Maestri – Emergency Management Consultant
Dr. Maestri served for over a decade as Director of Emergency Management for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, playing a key role in preparation and evacuation planning for Louisiana’s largest suburban parish. His expertise and experience have been utilized by federal and state emergency planners as well as nationwide news networks over the past ten years. Most recently, Dr. Maestri served the citizens of his parish and state with distinction during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, the nation’s worst-ever natural disaster. He has authored over a dozen publications and presentations on emergency management, has ten different certifications from the Emergency Management Institute and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and holds a bachelors degree from Spring Hill College in Mobile, as well as a doctorate from the University of Southern Mississippi. |
|
|
Project Management and Operations
|
|
Paul F. Persons, Jr. – Vice President for Project Management and Business Development on a consulting basis, for the DRC family of companies.
Mr. Persons controls project estimating and bid proposals from DRC ES’s Mobile, Alabama headquarters. Mr. Persons has served as a Senior Project Manager for several multi-million dollar disaster management and debris removal contracts. He has also served as Safety Officer on a major mechanical infrastructure project in Latin America (Honduras) and worked overseas during the Kosovo Conflict as a project and account manager for DRC. Mr. Persons is currently Senior Construction Manager and Project Estimator for U.S. Coast Guard facilities ID/IQ Contract with DRC throughout the mid-Atlantic states of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. In 2004, Mr. Persons served as Senior Project Manager for several multi-million dollar recovery projects in the aftermath of Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Jeanne, and Ivan, including the massive restoration of 15 miles of beachfront destroyed in Escambia County, Florida during Hurricane Ivan. As Director of Operations during the 2005 hurricane season, he was in charge of over $100 million in contracts. Mr. Persons holds a B.S. in building science from the School of Architecture at Auburn University. |
|
|
|
|
Lee Wilson – Senior Project Manager
One of the most trusted and respected managers at DRC, Mr. Wilson has forty years of extensive and invaluable experience in the civil construction industry. Mr. Wilson has for the last twenty years, acted extensively in the capacity as a project manager and estimator, building airports, interstates, state, city, county projects including water and sewer, storm drain, and large excavation projects. While with DRC, Mr. Wilson managed the Martin County, Florida project in 2004 which accounted for 1.1 million cubic yards of debris recovered and processed. Lee managed the demolition of 417 homes for the University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama. Within hours of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina he was on site in Louisiana leading the project in East Baton Rouge. Mr. Wilson has since and is currently working on the Louisiana DOTD project and is responsible for the management of the project for debris removal that encompasses thirteen parishes. He has personally overseen the management of this project that accounts for the recovery of 2.2 million cubic yards of debris. Mr. Wilson has international project management experience that extends as far as Nogliki, Russia where he served as Civil Engineering Consultant to Exxon Mobil in the building of an airport, a project valued at $58 million. He was the Construction Manager managing and overseeing the installation of water and sewer infrastructure for an entire country in Central America. |
|
|
|
|
Lee Wilson, Jr. – Project Manager
While with DRC, Mr. Wilson has been instrumental is the success of many projects that include the City of Jacksonville and Jacksonville Beach, FL, Daytona, FL, and Charleston, SC. Within hours of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina he was onsite in Louisiana and began work on the East Baton Rouge Parish Project. Upon completion, Mr. Wilson has since and is currently working on the Louisiana DOTD project. He has been working extensively in Washington and St. Tammany Parishes while assigned to this project.Mr. Wilson also worked in commercial construction for eleven years where he was an estimator of large scale projects as well as supervisor of a large staff of skilled individuals. Mr. Wilson then went on to start his own residential homebuilding company which he directed for seven years before joining DRC in 2004. He attended the University of South Alabama and majored in Architecture. |
|
|
|
|
Carlos Lorenzy – Project Manager and Chief Mechanic.
Mr. Lorenzy, a native of Puerto Rico, has performed Project Management services for DRC in many disasters over the past many years. He is responsible for operations, maintenance, and repairs of our equipment fleets. Mr. Lorenzy just completed a six (6) month construction and Super typhoon Pongsona Recovery on the Pacific Island of Guam and served as a Project Manager on the recovery of Hurricane Isabel in the State of Virginia and during the recent 2004 storms in Florida. Mr. Lorenzy worked extensively throughout Florida as a Project and Site Manger in the aftermath of Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Jeanne, and Ivan. He is fluent in Spanish and English. |
|
|
|
|
Michael H. Cooney – Project Manager
Prior to joining DRC, he owned and managed several businesses in construction and real estate. Michael began his employment with DRC in 2007, where he was a project manager responsible for the demolition of thousands of damaged Hurricane Katrina homes in New Orleans. As a project manager for the Plaquemines Parish Canals and Ditches contract, he oversaw the cleaning of sixty miles of marsh land and the removal of over five million cubic yards of debris. Currently, Michael is managing projects resulting from the 2008 Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. |
|
|
|
|
Linda Lucas – Project Manager
Ms. Lucas recently served as an Assistant Project Manager for several multi-million dollar storm recovery projects throughout the State of Florida, and also served as the Project Manager for a 14 million dollar hurricane recovery project for the City of Hollywood, Florida. In 2005, Linda returned to the City of Hollywood, as a project manager, leading the recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma. She is certified in Asbestos Supervision and N.I.M.S. |
|
|
Government and Client Relations
|
|
Gearle Bacote – Vice President of Government Affairs
She is a native Washingtonian and has over 10 years of business development experience. She oversees the business development of the Mid-Atlantic Region and is involved in international relations for DRC. She assists in implementation of DRC's legislative and policy strategy as well as prepare and present positions on legislative issues affecting our industry to Congress and state and local agencies. In addition, she maintains contacts with members of Congress and other people in key positions and ensures that key figures are aware of the issues affecting our industry. She is a committee member of the CBCI 21st Century Council, NFBPA, The 1869 Society, The National Democratic Club, Future Pac, DRCA, and is a board member of Community Support Tutoring & Mentoring and The Center for Effective Policy. |
|
|
|
|
Tom B. Combs – Vice President of Governmental Affairs, Regional Manager for Texas and Oklahoma, and Emergency Housing Coordinator
Mr. Combs joined the DRC team on a consulting basis in 2002 and brings over 25 years in "hands-on" housing experience. Previously, he spent over 10 years in public office as City Councilman and Mayor Pro-tem for The City of Beaumont, Texas. In that capacity he served as liaison to the Beaumont Housing Authority and as President of the Innovative Housing Corporation. He also held the position of Homeless Programs and AIDS Housing Coordinator for the City of Houston. In this position he directly supervised, coordinated and monitored over 30 million in temporary, transitional, and permanent housing construction and operations contracts. Additionally, Mr. Combs served as District Director and Chief of Staff for two members of Congress where he personally directed all housing related activities and serves as liaison between the congressmen, the cities, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He has extensive experience in minority, women, and disadvantaged contractor outreach programs. Mr. Combs has also owned his own firm, Tom Combs & Associates, which specialized in local, state, and federal contract negotiations. He lives and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. |
|
|
|
|
Shaun Hodge – Assistant Director of Government Affairs, Project Manager
Mr. Hodge previously served as a Sr. Congressional Aide to U.S. Congressman Nick Lampson. While serving with Congressman Nick Lampson, Shaun was appointed the Director of Military Affairs and served as Chairman of the Congressional Military Academy Nomination Board. Mr. Hodge was awarded a certificate of appreciation from the United States Department of State for Diplomatic Affairs while working on immigration issues in the Congressional office. Mr. Hodge has served as a policy advisor to several senior members of the Texas House of Representatives. Mr. Hodge has an extensive experience working with FEMA on pre-event planning and disaster response management. While working for U.S. Congressman Nick Lampson, Mr. Hodge worked closely with Texas elected officials in the coastal communities concerning beach erosion and storm water management. Prior to working for U.S. Congressman Nick Lampson, Mr. Hodge lived in the Panama Canal Zone. Mr. Hodge joined DRC in 2005, as a Project Manager in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita, working in the State of Texas. Mr. Hodge graduated in the top of his class from the University of Houston – Clear Lake (UHCL) in 2004, with a BS in Finance. Shaun has recently graduated from law school in 2008 with honors and is licensed to practice in Texas. |
|
|
|
|
Kristy Fuentes – Regional Manager, Louisiana
Ms. Fuentes has extensive experience in project management, disaster and demolition contracts, and regulatory documentation. Prior to joining DRC, Ms. Fuentes served in office management and accounting roles for civil engineers Jeffrey, Thomas, Avegno, Inc. (1992-94), executed real estate contracts and documentation for attorneys Casey, Babin, & Casey (1995-1998), and in management and project management for LASH Homes, Inc. (1998-2004). Beginning in 2004, Ms. Fuentes owned her own business and managed nine employees. Since joining DRC in 2005, Ms. Fuentes has managed our regional office and provided regional management and documentation support for all of DRC’s Louisiana projects including several multi-million dollar contracts for disaster response in Plaquemines Parish following Hurricane Katrina, for the Orleans Levee Board, St. Bernard Parish, and the United States Corps of Engineers. Ms. Fuentes has served as project manager for four contracts with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, including the “Katrina Car” contract. She is currently the Program Manager for Katrina demolition projects in the City of New Orleans encompassing the disposition of 1500 flooded homes, Jefferson Parish, and Plaquemines Parish, including asbestos removal. She is an LDEQ-certified Asbestos Contractor Supervisor and is N.I.M.S. certified. Following Hurricane Gustav, Ms. Fuentes managed 9 disaster-response contracts across southern Louisiana. She has also coordinated multi-million dollar shipments of materiel to Haiti in support of a US State Department work camp. |
|
|
|
|
Christina M. Murphy – Regional Manager, South Florida
Ms. Murphy joined DRC in 2006 and has extensive experience is sales and marketing. Previously, she served as an account executive for television and radio stations across Louisiana including the CBS affiliate in Baton Rouge and the UPN affiliate in New Orleans. She also worked in business development for LIFT Productions in New Orleans. B.A. in Drama and Communications, University of New Orleans. She is N.I.M.S. certified. |
|
|
|
|
Jennifer Peacock – Regional Manager, Mississippi, Alabama and Northwest Florida
She joined DRC in 2004 and assists with the Business Development and client relations throughout the South. Jennifer represents DRC at conferences, post-project reviews, and other various functions in addition to promoting, researching, and developing various business opportunities for the company. After Hurricane Katrina, she worked in Louisiana as part of the initial entry team setting up logistics and coordinating human and material resources. Prior to Hurricane Wilma making landfall, she was deployed to Florida to assist with the development and securing of contracts. Before joining DRC, Ms. Peacock worked for seven years in the brokerage industry, directing Fixed Income/Capital Markets for four years, executing trades in various markets including US Agencies, Corporate, Mortgage-Backed Securities, and Short-Term Money Market Securities. She is a licensed stockbroker with the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and registered with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). Ms. Peacock also worked for three years in the U.S. Equity Markets with a national brokerage firm and was a member of an international advisory group. She graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a B.S. in Finance. She is certified in Asbestos Supervision and N.I.M.S. |
|
|
|
|
Tony Swain – Regional Manager, North and South Carolina. |
|
|
Contracts and Proposals
|
|
April R. Callaway – Senior Manager for Contracts
During the 2004 hurricane season, she assisted in managing the Pensacola and Perdido Key Beach sand remediation and restoration projects. Ms. Callaway has also managed the introduction, maintenance, extensions and renewals of all stand-by contracts for the States of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia, as well as maintaining customer/client relations. She has been in charge of developing, promoting, and marketing DRC through various functions and conferences throughout the United States. Ms. Callaway has been extensively involved in the research, development and response to proposals for the DRC family of companies. Previously, she was in charge of all commercial construction projects for Reynolds Contracting, a residential and commercial construction and remodeling firm. She also served as a consultant on import/export commodities in Naples, Italy. Ms. Callaway received her B.S. in Business Management from the University of Maryland University College of Europe in 2004. She is N.I.M.S. certified. |
|
|
|
|
Chuck Prieur – Senior Vice President
Mr. Prieur began his career with DRC in 2005 by working as a Project Manager extensively in East Baton Rouge, St. Tammany, St. Charles, and Plaquemines Parishes on the Hurricane Katrina Louisiana DOTD debris removal, as well as numerous programs removing derelict cars and vessels all over South Louisiana.
After being named Chief Estimator in 2006, he helped lead a team which was awarded the construction and operation of a 350 man base camp in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, and subsequently modularly constructed, shipped and erected the camp in 63 days. In 2008/9 he served as Vice President and traveled throughout Texas and Louisiana as one of the leaders of the massive cleanup DRC undertook following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. As VP of Construction and Engineering, he led the creation of the department and the successful completion of nearly 30 million dollars of vertical construction.
Being named Sr. VP in 2009, he is currently living in Port-Au-Prince heading up DRC Haiti, S.A. in its relief efforts following the devastating earthquake which struck on January 12, 2010. Mr. Prieur started his own business in 1985, with the acquisition of a full service gas station. His business expanded to own and manage four stations in and around New Orleans Louisiana. Mr. Prieur served on numerous advisory panels to Amoco, Texaco, Motiva and Shell Oil Companies. He also owned and managed a full service financial services company for six years. He majored in accounting at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. He is certified in Asbestos Supervision and N.I.M.S
|
|
|
|
|
Michael McLeod – Construction Manager
Michael joined DRC in March of 2008. He has extensive experience in the construction business in the field and as an owner. While employed with Construction Affiliates, he had with responsibilities in all areas of damage estimation including commercial and residential properties. For six years Michael was president and owner of Michael McLeod General Contractor, Inc. From November of 1997 through January of 2003, the business operated in southwest Alabama and the Florida panhandle specializing in the restoration and remodeling of residential and commercial properties. Michael has twenty years experience in the insurance industry where, as a claims representative, he wrote estimates for property claims and negotiated loss settlements with attorneys and claimants. Michael graduated from Auburn University with a B.S. in social sciences. |
|
|
|
|
Dorothy Watson-Cordell – Senior Proposal Writer
Ms. Watson oversees proposal production, potential client follow-up, and the company’s contractor licensing program. Before joining DRC, Ms. Watson managed document services for Bradford Health Services and worked at an accounting firm. In 1999 she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Troy State University, and in 2002 she earned an additional Bachelor of Science degree in English. During the pursuit of her second degree, she was inducted into two honor societies. Ms. Watson also has graduate study at the University of South Alabama. |
|
|
|
|
Erika Hunt – Assistant Manager of Proposals
Ms. Hunt achieves all of her administrative responsibilities by utilizing her superior organizational and research talents. From March of 2004 to January of 2006, Erica was employed with Compass Bank as a customer service coordinator. Her responsibilities there included general vault teller duties as well as more complex teller transactions; as well as the responsibility of ensuring that all teller drawers balanced properly at the end of the business day. In addition, all incoming and outgoing shipments of currency were prepared, processed, and balanced by Ms. Hunt. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Accounting
|
|
L. Brent McClure, CPA – Controller
Mr. McClure joined the DRC group of companies in January of 2010 and is responsible for a team of accountants as well as successfully managing all accounting functions of DRC and its affiliated companies. Over the past 12 years Mr. McClure has worked with emerging growth, middle market and multinational companies , both SEC registrants and privately held businesses, across a multitude of industries, including financial institutions, manufacturing, technology, pharmaceuticals, defense and government contracting, commercial contracting, as well as state and federal government agencies. Mr. McClure has incorporated all phases of financial statement and internal controls over financial reporting audits, agreed upon procedures, technical research and provided recommendations for improving operations. Additionally, he has assisted clients with mergers and acquisitions, with business process analysis, and the delivery of various additional audit and non-audit services. Prior to joining DRC, Mr. McClure spent time as Chief Financial Officer of a regional equipment rental company; he was also in public accounting for eight years, most recently with Ernst & Young. He graduated from Northwestern State University with a B.S. in Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant. |
|
|
|
|
Jamie Lovitte – Accounting Assistant
Before joining DRC, Ms. Lovitte held various accounting positions for companies such as Morrison’s Incorporated, the Mobile County Public School system, and Lovitte Surveying, Incorporated. Upon joining DRC in 2000, Ms. Lovitte became a Project Accountant/Bookkeeper. In this capacity, her responsibilities include retaining all of the project contracts and subcontracts for debris removal and/ or construction. As an accounting assistant, Ms. Lovitte is responsible for all accounts receivable, as well as receiving and processing all new employee files. She updates and maintains personnel files for all subcontractors as well. Ms. Lovitte is a graduate of the University of South Alabama where she obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance. |
|
|
|
|
Ashlea Thompson – Accounting Assistant
Ms. Thompson has been with DRC since 2005. She assists Mr. Davis and Ms. Lovitte in project accounting, field reports, and expense reports. She also assists other departments as assigned or necessary. She previously worked for Farmers' Insurance in administration and sales. |
|
|
Data Manager
|
|
Janetta Allison – Director of Data Processing
Ms. Allison has handled data, record keeping, recording and reporting in the disaster debris industry since 1998, assisting contractors following dozens of disaster responses. Since joining DRC in 2005, she has processed data for the collection and processing of millions of cubic yards of debris totaling over $450,000,000 in billing. Following Hurricane Ike, Ms. Allison processed $270,000,000 in billing for the City of Houston alone. |
|
|
Administrative
|
|
Clifford C. Sharpe – Legal Counsel
Mr. Sharpe represents DRC, Inc. and its affiliates in legal matters and issues. Mr. Sharpe also assists in the preparation of legal documentation and provides assistance in contract issues and review. He received his Juris Doctor from The Cumberland School of Law in 1984 and his undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. |
|
|
|
|
Elizabeth Whiddon – Paralegal
Ms. Whiddon has over ten years experience offering support to attorneys in a variety of areas of law, including assisting attorneys specializing in civil litigation, corporate litigation, criminal defense, family law, estate planning, employment law, real estate transactions, foreclosures, bankruptcy, immigration matters and appellate practice. Previous experience includes working for six or more attorneys simultaneously in a full service law firm. Management of large document files, including drafting complaints and pleadings, assisting in all aspects of the discovery process, document organization and trial preparation. Prepared and submitted court filings in federal, state, appellate, probate and municipal courts. Experience researching federal, state and municipal laws, codes, ordinances and rules. |
|
|
|
|
Christine S. Marr joined DRC at its inception in 1989. Mrs. Marr assists in all aspects of the functions of DRC, its field offices, and affiliates throughout the world. |
|
|
|
