Arkansas

The National Council of Structural Engineers recently elected Robert Paullus of Little Rock, Ark., as national vice president. NCSE serves to advance the practice of structural engineering and, as the national voice for practicing structural engineers, protect the public’s right to safe, sustainable and cost effective buildings, bridges and other structures.

Paullus is a senior structural engineer with Crafton Tull Sparks in Little Rock, Ark. Paullus’ experience includes work in the plate fabricating industry, design of water and wastewater treatment facilities, along with design of refineries and chemical processing plants, single and multi-story commercial buildings, schools, churches, military facilities and seismic rehabilitation of existing structures.

Paullus is the current president of the Structural Engineers Association of Arkansas, the NCSEA Arkansas delegate, a member of the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code Review Committee and a member of Tennessee Task Force One, a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Team.

Crafton Tull Sparks has 320 employees with offices in Birmingham, Ala., Conway, Ark., Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Okla., Rogers, Ark., Russellville, Ark., Tulsa, Okla., and Wichita, Kan. The firm has provided architectural, engineering, interior design and surveying services across the nation since 1963.

Louisiana

Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp. of Baton Rouge, La., recently announced the promotion of Sally Nesmith to director of production operations.

In this position, Nesmith will be responsible for managing the team that provides support services to underwriting operations, including management of premium audit operations, the multi-state underwriting unit, underwriting policy administration services and underwriting technology enhancements.

Nesmith joined LWCC in 2004 as business unit manager of the company’s small accounts underwriting team. She was previously director of policyholder services and marketing of workers’ compensation for the Louisiana Home Builders Association Self Insurers Fund. She has been a certified insurance counselor since 1992 and a licensed Louisiana Casualty Agent since 1988.

Nesmith, a member of the Professional Insurance Agents Association and the Independent Insurance Agents Association, is a member and past president of the Insurance Women of Baton Rouge. She has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Davenport University.

LWCC also announced the promotion of Geoff Jorgensen to business unit manager for the company’s small accounts production team.

In this position, Jorgensen will be responsible for managing a multi-functional team consisting of underwriting, customer service and administration.

Jorgensen was previously an underwriting specialist at LWCC, where he has worked since 2005. Prior to joining LWCC, he was a marketing underwriter for FCCI Insurance Group and a commercial property and casualty underwriter for Southern Insurance Underwriters, both in Atlanta.

Jorgensen is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a concentration in risk management and insurance. He is also a graduate of the Dale Carnegie program, “Effective Communication and Human Relations.”

LWCC is a private, nonprofit mutual insurance company. It is one of the largest writers of workers’ compensation insurance in Louisiana.

Post Architects of Baton Rouge, La., recently announced the addition of three new employees to the firm: Melissa Hill Threatt, Melony Fields and Jerome T. LeBlanc.

Threatt joined the firm’s Architecture + Planning Division with an undergraduate degree from Clemson University and a master’s degree in architecture from LSU.

She is currently serving as a national board member of architects/designers/planners for social responsibility.

Fields will be leading the firm’s Interiors + Planning Division with more than five years experience in interiors and an interior design degree from LSU. She is NCIDQ certified and a member of the American Society of Interior Designers.

LeBlanc will be directing the Construction Administration Division with a bachelor’s degree in architecutre from LSU and more than 30 years of construction experience.

DonahueFavret Contractors Inc. of Mandeville recently hired Patrick N. Descant as project manager, specializing in preconstruction services. Descant comes to DonahueFavret with more than 20 years experience in the construction industry. He has a bachelor’s degree in construction management from LSU and is a native of Bunkie, La.

DonahueFavret Contractors was founded in 1979. Today, it is one of the largest general contractors on the Northshore with a staff of more than 60 professionals.

The contractor specializes in retail, healthcare, hospitality and commercial construction and renovation and is licensed throughout the Gulf South.

GROUP Industries LLC, a Baton Rouge-based commercial and industrial construction company, has promoted John Laborde to project manager in its Drilled Shaft Division.

Laborde was hired by GROUP in 2006 and previously served as assistant project manager. In his expanded role as project manager, he will be responsible for estimating jobs, budgeting, timelines and overall management of drilled shaft projects.

GROUP Industries has offices in Louisiana and Texas. Group Industries now operates three subsidiary companies, Group Contractors LLC, an industrial construction company, Arrighi Simoneaux LLC, a commercial construction company, and Group Automation LLC, headquartered in Baton Rouge.

Tennessee

The Concrete Industry Management program a business intensive program that awards students with four-year bachelor’s degrees in concrete industry management has named David L. Vickers as the interim executive director of the CIM National Steering Committee (NSC).

Vickers holds a bachelor’s degree in management and industrial technology from Tennessee Technological University and a master’s degree in business adminsitration from the University of California, Long Beach.

Vickers, an advisor to the cement and concrete industry, replaces Earl Keese, the first executive director of the National Steering Committee and the former president of Rhodes State College. Keese has held the position since 2006.

As executive director, Vickers will work closely with the long-term planning and executive committees in quantifying the National Steering Committee’s long-term needs for executive leadership.

A member of the National Steering Committee since its inception, Vickers has more than 20 years of experience in the concrete industry. In addition to his current consulting business, he previously served as president of Lehigh Southwest Cement Co., president of H.G. Fenton Co. and vice president of operations for Ameron.

He also has served on the board of director of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association for more than 20 years as well held positions on the board for the Portland Cement Association from 1995-2002 and the San Diego AGC from 1989-1992.

“Since the inception of the CIM program, David has been instrumental in garnering industry support for the development of the program, which made him a natural choice for this position” said Gene Martinaeu, president of the NSC.

Keese is credited as playing a major role in the advancement of CIM during the last two years a time marked with a great deal of activity with the addition of three new schools to the program.

“Under his Keese’s leadership, the CIM National Steering Committee has evolved from a loosely-knit organization to the well organized and duly constituted guiding arm of the program for both the industry and the CIM universities,” said Martinaeu. “The committee and the program are fortunate to have had his leadership during its early and formative years. He has been an unwavering champion of CIM and a great friend of the concrete industry.”