New Projects

Two new projects have been awarded:  Virginia Railway Express Station in Spotsylvania County which will consist of utility work for Brockenbrough and work on the Midtown Tunnel Downtown Tunnel MLK Extension Project in the Hampton Roads area.

We're Hiring a Marketing Coordinator

Brockenbrough currently has an opening for a Marketing Coordinator. We are a consulting engineering firm located in Richmond, Virginia providing surveying, civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering services to a variety of commercial, industrial, municipal, and federal governmental clients. Qualified candidates should have a minimum of five years experience as a marketing coordinator; strong technical writing, editing, interpersonal, and organizational skills; and must be competent in the use of MS Office, Adobe Photoshop, and Dreamweaver software. Experience within the A/E/C industry is required.

Candidates should have a Bachelors degree in Marketing or related field. Successful candidate will be expected to design and prepare marketing materials including proposals, brochures, and websites. Candidates will also be responsible for developing and implementing the company's marketing strategy. Brockenbrough offers an excellent opportunity to work in a professional environment with competitive salaries, flexible working hours, generous personal leave policy, 401(k) plan with company matching and profit sharing, health / dental / life / disability insurance, and tuition reimbursement.

New Projects

Chesterfield County

Hull Street Road Improvements 

Avis Budget Car Rental

Site Design, Richmond Maintenance Facility, Richmond International Airport
(Prime: Architecture, Inc.)

Cumberland County

Term Contract for A/E Services

NAVFAC ESC

Repair POL Systems - DFSP, Diego Garcia

(Prime: ITSI - Japan)

Ashe Consultants 

Replace Fuel Oil Tank #4 Naval Research Laboratory, Washington DC 

(Prime: Polu Kai Services)

VDOT 

DB-P3 Statewide Term Contract

(Prime: RK&K Engineers)

Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT)

Security & Communications Upgrades
(Prime: Elite Constrating)

Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge Tunnel (MMMBT)

Security Upgrades
(Prime: Elite Contracting)

In The Community...

Community Service Event: Habitat for Humanity

At the end of November, Brockenbrough employees will spend two days volunteering for Habitat for Humanity.  Brockenbrough is passionate about serving our community and giving back, so we're very excited to be able to join Habitat for such a great project!


New Website Coming

Brockenbrough's website is currently undergoing a facelift. Watch for the new site design in the next couple of months. www.Brockenbrough.com


The Winds of Project Change:
Adapting to the Ever-Changing Project Flow
   
To stay strong in these tough economic times we have adapted our business approaches in a number of areas.  In response to significant reductions in municipal and state projects we find ourselves doing a lot of smaller projects as opposed to large capital improvement projects.  Repair, maintenance and minor upgrades seem to be the name of the game for many of our valued clients such as Virginia DGS and DCR, and some of our newest clients such as VSU and UMW. 

Five years ago you could count the number of design/build projects we were involved with on one hand.  Now almost 50% of our revenue comes from contractor clients doing design/build projects, such as our current federal government work at Westover ARB and Diego Garcia.  We are also working with more current innovative technologies such as energy efficiency improvements, asphalt reclamation and ITS systems.

Employee News

Will Herrmann, PE, Mechanical Engineer at Brockenbrough, has earned the Certified Energy Manager (CEM) certification.

Individuals granted the use of this designation by the Association of Energy Engineers have distinguish themselves as earning the highest level of competency in energy management.  The Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) enables CEM's to receive special recognition for their expertise in a variety of specialized areas of the energy, power and green facilities industry. 

At Brockenbrough, Will is responsible for design and layout of various mechanical projects with responsibilities including client relations, calculations, equipment selection, specifications, and cost estimating.  Mr. Herrmann’s certification as an Energy Manager highlights his capability to perform energy audits to maximize energy efficiency on projects involving mechanical and electrical systems.

Trelane M. B. Oun, PE not only just had a baby, but also received her PE license.  Trelane is a Civil Engineer with Brockenbrough.  She specializes in site design and hydraulics/hydrology. 

Mike Howell, PE received his PE license.  Mike is a Structural Engineer at Brockenbrough.  He is responsible for structural design on governmental and industrial projects.  His areas of specialty include foundation design and steel and reinforced concrete design of buildings and industrial structures.










Bryan Strayer and his wife had a baby girl on Thanksgiving morning named Mable Jane.

Nate Mathis and his wife had a baby girl named Ava Hannah, born on August 11th.

Jon Pickral and his wife had a baby girl named Eleanor Esther, born on June 24th.

Green Policing

Virginia State Police Garage Design Obtains LEED Silver Certification

The new Virginia State Police Garage in Richmond, VA was awarded LEED Silver certification.  Brockenbrough worked for Ballou Justice Upton Architects.  Work included site and utility design of the new 15,000 square foot maintenance garage with 20 work area bays and office area at the Virginia State Police Headquarters.

The site design included the layout of the maintenance garage, parking, clearing, grading, exterior drainage systems, water and sewer, and a stormwater management facility. The site was designed in accordance with BCOM requirements for Working Drawings.  Utility design included connection to existing utilities and extending domestic water, fire protection and sanitary sewer line within the site.

Brockenbrough's own Ashley Williams, who has been with Brockenbrough for almost 30 years, led the engineering design team.  Congratulations to the team!

Brockenbrough is Hiring!

We're currently looking for the following three positions:

Structural Engineer

Excellent opportunity to work on a large variety of projects and to grow with the firm into a management position.  Structural Engineer needed for institutional and industrial related projects.  Ideal candidate will have minimum 10 to 15 years experience.  PE registration in Virginia and relevant design experience with concrete, masonry and steel structures is a must.  Immediate responsibilities include field investigations, detailed engineering design, plan and specification development, estimating and construction administration.

AutoCAD and BIM/Revit experience considered a plus.  Must be eligible for security clearance.  Occasional travel with some overseas may be required.  Excellent benefits, flexible working hours and overtime pay.  EEO.

Electrical Engineer

Electrical Engineer needed for leading electrical engineering design on industrial and commercial projects.  Candidates must have BSEE and EIT or PE with min. 4-6 yrs experience in commercial and industrial power and lighting design.  Responsibilities include field investigations, detailed engineering design, plan and specification development, estimating, construction administration, client interaction and reporting.

Excellent computer capabilities, written and verbal communication skills required.  Must be eligible for security clearance.  AutoCAD and BIM/Revit skills and LEED accreditation considered a plus. Occasional travel with some overseas may be required.  Excellent benefits, flexible working hours and overtime pay.  EEO.

Marketing Coordinator

Brockenbrough currently has an opening for a Marketing Coordinator. We are a consulting engineering firm located in Richmond, Virginia providing surveying, civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering services to a variety of commercial, industrial, municipal, and federal governmental clients. Qualified candidates should have a minimum of five years experience as a marketing coordinator; strong technical writing, editing, interpersonal, and organizational skills; and must be competent in the use of MS Office, Adobe Photoshop, and Dreamweaver software. Experience within the A/E/C industry is required.

Candidates should have a Bachelors degree in Marketing or related field. Successful candidate will be expected to design and prepare marketing materials including proposals, brochures, and websites. Candidates will also be responsible for developing and implementing the company's marketing strategy. Brockenbrough offers an excellent opportunity to work in a professional environment with competitive salaries, flexible working hours, generous personal leave policy, 401(k) plan with company matching and profit sharing, health / dental / life / disability insurance, and tuition reimbursement.

Contact Cindy Jurek: cjurek@brockenbrough.com 

Effectiveness of Social Media in Business

The way people socially interact these days has changed.  Today it’s not uncommon to meet someone new, and go home and become Facebook friends.  Then, later, you and your new friend make plans through Facebook to meet up; text each other about what time you’re meeting; and then Twitter about the night while you're out, or post pictures to Facebook using “mobile upload” (a feature now standard on most smartphones).  

There are an estimated 1 billion Facebook and Twitter accounts, each account connected to multiple others.  With a steep user adoption rate of social media platforms (and growing every month) it means it will only be a matter of time before we’re all connected and collaborating.

If this makes your head spin, here are some facts about social media:

LinkedIn

·         Monthly U.S. users:  43.2 million

·         Monthly global users:  103.2 million

·         120 million registered users in more than 200 countries

·         Stats about age, demographic, and traffic: http://www.quantcast.com/linkedin.com

Twitter

·         Estimated 68.6 million monthly number of tweets/check-ins

·         http://www.quantcast.com/twitter.com

Facebook

·         Monthly U.S. users:  142.9 million

·         http://www.quantcast.com/facebook.com

If you think about how this will impact business in the future, think about this: When the older generations of employees retire, new graduates will take their place, and the way business is done will change.  We don't know how, but it surely will. You may be old school, preferring the face-to-face, press-the-flesh-type networking (and - don’t get me wrong - I still think nothing beats that), but you have to be open to the “new school” way of social networking, too.  Things will change.

There’s a saying that “if you’re not online, you don’t exist”.  What’s the first thing we do when we’re searching for information?  We Google it (Google has become a common verb, by the way).  If it’s not on Google, we question its very existence. Today, in business, you need to be on LinkedIn.  In your personal life, you have to have a Facebook page.  And Twitter is quickly becoming the new way to get information out quickly to your “followers”, since Twitter provides an instant connection to your customers.

When a brand or company engages with its customers with the transparency granted by social media, consumers experience a feeling of trust and connection.  They get immediate answers, and feel they are being heard.  This one-to-one connection is what makes social networking effective, with the added benefit of valuable feedback and flexibility.

Social media is often dismissed as a fleeting trend, but it’s the future of how networking will be done, both personally and professionally.  It’s hard to keep up with the constant innovation, and be an expert in social media when it changes virtually every day.  And it will continue to.  But the best thing to do is keep your mind open, your eyes to the future, and your smartphone handy.

-By Cynthia Bouvier

Maximizing the Return on Your BD Costs

Great article about how money is spent on BD activities.  I think it benefits everyone to take a good, long look at your win/lose rate and how the process can improve.

E-Quip Blog: Maximizing the Return on Your BD Costs

Brockenbrough Wins Design for $12.5 Million Project at Diego Garcia

Brockenbrough just won the design portion of a $12.5 million project, partnering with ITSI.  Brockenbrough will perform the design services on an SRM design-build project to Repair POL Systems at Defense Fuel Support Point (DFSP) Diego Garcia. 

Diego Garcia is an island in the Chagos chain of islands, located about 7 degrees south of the equator in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It is approximately 1,800 nautical miles (3,300 km) east of the African coast and 1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km) south of the southern tip of India.  The island is part of BIOT (the British Indian Ocean Territory).  

Our brave, and hopefully not too sleep-deprived, engineers took this crazy flight to get there:

Richmond to San Francisco to Tokyo to Singapore.  Once in Singapore, they waited for an Air Mobility Command (AMC) flight to take them to Diego Garcia (which sometimes takes days to catch a flight!).  Since the island is used exclusively as a U.S. military base, only military planes fly in and out of the island.

Phew! And you thought your flight to see grandma in Boca this summer was long.

They're back, safe and sound.  Stay tuned for updated pictures from the trip.

Come Jam with us at WaterJAM

Join our world-famous, giveaway-toting, scrabble-champion-worthy water and utility engineers at the WaterJAM conference this Monday through Wednesday, Sept. 26-28. 

We'll be giving away golf balls, pocket knives, and fancy pens to all. 

Stop by to say hello to Jeff Haas, Nate Mathis, Andrew Stewart, and Vann Davis!

http://www.vwea.org/index.php?option=com_events&type=event&task=details&id=161&Itemid=1

Brockenbrough Wins Business Expansion Incentive Fund

Brockenbrough was recently awarded the Business Expansion Incentive Fund (BEIF) from Chesterfield County, Virginia.

The BEIF was established for the purpose of securing job-creating economic development opportunities through the preservation and expansion of existing business in Chesterfield County.  BEIF is a key component of the County’s goal to be a FIRST CHOICE business community and Chesterfield Economic Development’s mission to support the retention, growth, and expansion of the county’s existing industries. Chesterfield County Economic Development through the Economic Development Authority administer the BEIF award to Brockenbrough.

New Contracts Awarded

Brockenbrough has won the following contracts:

·         VDOT Term Contract for AE Services (working with ArchitectsHimmel, LLC)

·         Term Contract for Environmental and Geotechnical Engineering Services (working with Williamsburg Environmental Group)

·         Replacement of 24-inch Oil Piping Engineering Services, Yorktown Power Station for Dominion Resources

We look forward to starting work on these great projects!

New Promotion

Congratulations to Trelane M. B. Oun for getting her P.E.!

Trelane is a professional engineer with Brockenbrough, working with stormwater management using modeling software such as PondPack and AutoCAD Land Desktop.  She is able to design stormwater basins for water quality requirements, water quantity requirements, and both.  She also has experience with water quality and water quantity design based on the locality of the site. 

Brockenbrough Added a Certified Energy Manager

Will Herrmann, one of Brockenbrough's Mechanical Engineers, has recently earned the Certified Energy Manager (CEM) certification.

Individuals granted the use of this designation by the Association of Energy Engineers have distinguish themselves as earning the highest level of competency in energy management.

The Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) enables CEM's to receive special recognition for their expertise in a variety of specialized areas of the energy, power and green facilities industry. 

At Brockenbrough, Will is responsible for design and layout of various mechanical projects with responsibilities including client relations, calculations, equipment selection, specifications, and cost estimating.  Mr. Herrmann’s certification as an Energy Manager highlights his capability to perform energy audits to maximize energy efficiency on projects involving mechanical and electrical systems.

Congratulations Will!