Associations in Texas Show Strong Leadership

ASA-Houston’s president Craig Kramer recognized nationally for his leadership. In addition, AGC-Houston gets new safety director.

The American Subcontractors Association (ASA) named president of the ASA-Houston Chapter Craig Kramer, Astro Fence Company, Houston, Texas, the recipient of ASA’s 2005-06 Chapter President of the Year Award, for demonstrating superior leadership skills and motivating his chapter to achieve its goals. “Under Craig’s leadership, this chapter scored the highest of any chapter on its annual self-evaluation report and had membership growth of 15 percent,” says 2006-07 ASA Vice President David Bradbury, vice president of Precision Concrete Construction Inc., Alpharetta, Georgia. “Craig articulated clear goals as he took office — increase the number of members, get the members involved, and put the chapter on the path to being the largest and strongest chapter of ASA.”

Doug Watson is the Associated General Contractors of Houston’s new safety director. Watson has been actively involved in construction safety for the past 10 years. Most recently, he worked for the Austin Chapter AGC. During his time there, he grew the AGC/OSHA partnership, conducted safety programs and job site inspections and was an active member of the National AGC safety committee. As safety director of AGC Houston, Doug will not only serve members through job site inspections and safety training, but he will continue his involvement at the National level as well as with OSHA and other local safety initiatives.

David Ogden has joined Teal Construction Company, Houston,  as a project estimator. Ogden is a graduate of Texas A&M University and has over 25 years of construction estimating experience. Ogden was previously employed with Coyote Constructors.

Gilbane Building Company named Dinesh Ghia, P.E., a vice president of the company. Ghia, a 29-year veteran of the company, serves as chief estimator in Gilbane’s Southwest regional office in Houston. Ghia has more than 39 years experience in the construction industry.

Michael Shirley, AIA, LEED AP has been promoted to senior vice president at FKP Architects, Inc.  Shirley has more than 30 years of experience in healthcare, research and laboratory design.  He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, the Texas Society of Architects, the United States Green Building Council.

Diane R. K. Osan, FAIA, ACHA, has been promoted to principal at FKP Architects, Inc.  Osan has more than 22 years of experience, 20 of which have been in the planning and delivery of healthcare projects with a recent focus on pediatric hospitals. 

EDI Architecture, Inc. announced that Stephen Procter has taken on an additional role as managing director of the Houston office. In additional to Procter’s current CFO responsibilities, his new role as managing director of the Houston office includes oversight of human resources, technology, facilities and business operations. EDI is a recognized leader in architectural design with active projects nationwide and abroad.

Marcelle Sattiewhite Jones has joined Carter & Burgess, Dallas, as strategic project contract and procurement specialist. Jones comes to Carter & Burgess with extensive experience advising public agencies in the development of legislation, policies, procedures and strategic business protocols. Jones previously served as general counsel and the director of legal services with North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA), and has 12 years of experience with legal/procurement services.

Dennis Brownley has been named vice president at MACTEC Engineering & Consulting. Brownley is based in MACTEC’s San Antonio office. Brownley joined MACTEC in 2000, following his retirement as Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) with over 20 years of service.  He served as a base bioenvironmental engineer at four installations worldwide.

The Dallas office of global design and services firm HOK (Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum) has promoted Gene Warren, Tom Roessler, Dena Walter and Alana Felts to associate. Steve Brookover and Brett Carter are now senior associates.  Cliff Isom and Javier Espinoza were promoted to vice presidents.

The American Concrete Institute (ACI) has elevated Lawrence G. “Larry” Griffis, P.E., to the rank of Fellow. Griffis is a senior principal of Walter P. Moore, Houston, and president of the firm’s structures division. He is responsible for directing three operating groups of the division: structural engineering, structural diagnostics, and parking.  During his 35 years of practical design and management experience, he also has been involved in numerous technical committees, exploring and documenting specialized structural issues of design, construction, and delivery.  The ACI is an international technical society focused on the advancement of concrete knowledge. Griffis is a member of the ACI Building Code Committee for Structural Concrete (ACI 318) and several sub-committees.

The Beck Group announced the following promotions for employees in their central and corporate divisions in Dallas. Joe Flores was promoted from senior project manager to director of human resources; Robert Hodges was promoted from senior project manager to project executive; Chris Lindhart was promoted from project executive to director of integrated services; and Chad Schieber was promoted from project manager to director of marketing and business development.

Rees Associates, a Dallas-based architecture, planning and interior design firm Robert Genter was promoted to vice president.  Genter was also recently appointed Group Leader for the Public Sector team.  Rees Associates also promoted Chris Johnston and Wanda Hailey to senior associate and Araseli “Celi” Sims to associate.