Personnel notes

NWRA announces top drivers, operator of the year

The Arlington, Virginia-based National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) announced its 2018 Drivers of the Year and Operator of the Year March 9. The awards recognize drivers and an operator from member companies who make safety their top priority.

“Safety is a core value at NWRA and for our members. Our members and their employees are dedicated to keeping our communities clean and safe on a daily basis,” NWRA President and CEO Darrell Smith says. Therefore, it is important that we recognize the drivers and operators who make safety a priority. I congratulate them on their achievement.”

The Operator of the Year award is for employees working in postcollection for a material recovery facility (MRF), landfill or transfer station who safely operate heavy equipment, including bulldozers, front-end loaders and compactors.

The Driver of the Year awards recognize truck drivers who operate in a safe and responsible manner, have outstanding performance records and whose contributions have enhanced the overall safety and image of the solid waste industry.

Judges selected the winners based on letters of recommendation. They also considered the difficulty of drivers’ routes and the difficulty of the operators’ equipment. The winners were recognized April 24 at WasteExpo 2018.

The 2018 Operator of the Year was Scott Russell, E.L. Harvey & Sons, Westborough, Massachusetts. 2018 Driver of the Year awardees were:

• Large Commercial – Mike Lawrence, Waste Connections, Ontario;
• Large Industrial – Toribio Gonzalez, Republic Services Inc., Phoenix;
• Large Residential – Charles Thorpe, Republic Services;
• Regional Commercial – Mark Tumulty, Rumpke Waste & Recycling, Cincinnati;
• Regional Industrial – Calvin Smith, WCA Waste Corp., Houston;
• Regional Residential – Dean Koch, Recology, San Francisco;
• Medium – Joseph Lallier, All Waste Inc., Hartford, Connecticut;
• Small – Bryan Rasmussen, Interwest Paper Pro Recycling Group, South Salt Lake, Utah; and
• Public Sector – Roger Bronner, San Diego.

SCS Engineers appoints national expert on solid waste finance and rate studies

SCS Engineers, headquartered in Long Beach, California, has named Vita Quinn its national expert on solid waste finance and rate studies. Quinn, who works out of Jacksonville, Florida, came to SCS with 12 years of experience as a financial analyst and management consultant. She leads the company’s national economic integration team.

Quinn’s areas of expertise include fiscal impact analysis; rate, fee and assessment development; feasibility and scenario analysis; budgeting and revenue projection; privatization; and cost allocation. She and her team enhance economic and financial sustainability to SCS technical solutions and plans, according to a press release from the company.

Her appointment extends the firm’s expertise to more industries and supports the other environmental services SCS offers, the company says. In addition to her expertise in solid waste management, Quinn has developed financial sustainability solutions for utilities, municipal governments and independent authorities and districts.

“SCS is known for helping our clients develop integrated, sustainable plans for solid waste management, which is especially strategic now considering new initiatives and approaches to managing our waste streams, the commoditization of recycled materials, changing collection rate structures, international conditions and the influx of new technology on solutions,” says SCS Senior Vice President Bob Gardner. “Vita’s expertise and leadership help us expand our team, directly benefiting our clients and reinforcing the SCS culture of delivering value.”

Quinn has a bachelor’s degree in international economics, an MBA in finance and a certificate in real estate development. She is a member of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland; the American Public Works Association (APWA), Kansas, City, Missouri; and the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), Washington.

More information on Quinn is available at www.scsengineers.com/wp- content/uploads/2018/03/Quinn_Vita_resume.pdf.

SCS is an employee-owned environmental consulting and construction firm that designs and implements sustainable environmental solutions.

Caterpillar shuffles executive officers

Following the announcement that Caterpillar Inc. Group President Rob Charter has elected to retire, the Deerfield, Illinois-based company has announced changes in responsibilities for two group presidents and the appointment of a new group president. All executive changes were effective June 1, 2018.

Bob De Lange has been named group president of Customer & Dealer Support. He is currently the Construction Industries group president but will replace Charter.

“During his 25-year career with Caterpillar, Bob has delivered excellent results in leadership positions across Europe, the United States and Asia,” says Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby.

Tom Pellette, the current Energy and Transportation group president, has been named group president of Construction Industries. He replaces De Lange.

“Tom delivered strong results during a challenging time for the industry when previously leading our Construction Industries organization, and with Bob De Lange’s move, Tom is best positioned to resume the leadership role for Construction Industries,” Umpleby says.

Ramin Younessi has been appointed group president of Energy and Transportation by Caterpillar’s board. He is vice president of Caterpillar’s Industrial Power Systems Division (IPSD) and replaces Pellette.

“Ramin’s extensive leadership experience prior to joining Caterpillar, combined with his outstanding leadership of IPSD for the last five years, make him a valuable addition to the executive office,” Umpleby says.

Younessi joined Caterpillar in 2013 with more than 25 years of outside senior leadership experience. His previous executive responsibilities included product development, quality, purchasing and product planning with Navistar, as well as product development and planning for Daimler AG’s commercial vehicle division.

Younessi’s replacement will be named soon, according to the company.