Thirty-Two Industry Leaders Participate in ARTBA Foundation Leadership Development Program

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) Foundation’s Industry Leader Development Program (ILDP) hosted 32 emerging leaders in the transportation design and construction industry in an intensive May 16-17 introduction to federal legislative and regulatory advocacy issues.

The annual event, held in conjunction with ARTBA’s Federal Issues Program and the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) Fly-In, also featured policy discussions with congressional staff and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) officials.

More than 800 graduates from over 200 industry firms and public agencies have completed the ILDP since 1996. HNTB, one of the world’s leading infrastructure firms, is the exclusive ILDP sponsor.

The ILDP provides participants with a solid understanding of industry economics, how transportation work in the U.S. is funded and financed, how actions by the federal government impact the industry, and how they and their company or agency can become politically engaged. As part of the program, graduates meet with their members of Congress to discuss transportation policy issues.

The program included a session on implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and a mentoring and career development session led by ARTBA Chairman Ward Nye, chairman and CEO, Martin Marietta, and ARTBA First Vice Chair Tim Duit, president, Duit Holdings.

The 2022 class included:

• David Abrahams, director & structural engineer, WSP, New York, N.Y.
• Heather Anderson, project manager, HNTB Corp., Los Angeles, Calif.
• Eric Baker, VP product management, Astec Industries, Chattanooga, Tenn.
• Shane Campbell, senior associate, highway department manager, senior project manager, Gannett Fleming, Inc., Columbus, Ohio
• Christopher D’Annunzio, vice president, J. D’Annunzio & Sons, Inc., South Plainfield, N.J.
• Tyler Dehn, Growth Markets Leader, Wildcat Construction Co., Wichita, Kan.
• Nicole DePuy, principal project manager, San Diego office manager, Parsons, San Diego, Calif.
• Curtiss Dorr, senior government & strategic business manager, Topcon Positioning Systems, Livermore, Calif.
• Martin Downs Jr., president, J. Fletcher Creamer & Sons Inc., Hackensack, N.J.
• Wade Felt, senior project manager, AECOM, Hunt Valley, Md.
• Cole Frost, chief estimator, Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction Co., LLC, Draper, Utah
• Eric Herzstein, principal project manager, regional bridge practice lead, Parsons, Seattle, Wash.
• Felipe Jaramillo, engineering director, Ajax Paving Industries of Florida, LLC, North Venice, Fla.
• James Kreider, project executive, Branch Civil, Inc., Manassas, Va.
• Tim Lang, business analyst/regional sales manager, Impact Recovery Systems, San Antonio, Texas
• Andy Larkin, vice president, investor relations, Summit Materials, Inc., Denver, Colo.
• Chad Littleton, project manager, Talley Construction Co. Inc., Rossville, Ga.
• Cooper Lohr, policy specialist, ARTBA
• Ayodele Love, director – major projects, Intertek – PSI, Jefferson, La.
• Pat McGriff, business development manager, The Lane Corp., Maitland, Fla.
• Eric Mellor, director, transportation, RK&K, Baltimore, Md.
• Elise Nelson, director of grassroots advocacy & community engagement, Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association, Madison, Wis.
• Abenezer Nuro, data & systems operations specialist, ARTBA
• Travis Raitt, VP/GM, West Florida Concrete, Preferred Materials, Odessa, Fla.
• Natalie Rigby, senior highway engineer, T.Y. Lin International, Rockaway, N.J.
• John Taylor, vice president/general manager, Preferred Materials, Inc., Jacksonville, Fla.
• Matthew Tillotson, project executive, Branch Civil, Inc., Chesapeake, Va.
• Athena Ullah, chief of staff, STV, New York, N.Y.
• Nikki Underwood, national director of PCT, Strategy & Growth, WSP USA, Greenville, S.C.
• Kristen Van Gilst, digital integration consultant, STV, Charlotte, N.C.
• David Weinkauf, president, Integrity Grading and Excavating, Inc. Schofield, Wis.
• Logan Whitehead, senior roadway design engineer, Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction Co., LLC, Draper, Utah

Established in 1985, the ARTBA Foundation is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt entity designed to promote research, education and public awareness about the impacts of transportation investment.