Industry/business: Illinois Tollway names new executive director

Veteran public servant José Alvarez named executive director of the Illinois Tollway

April 18, 2019—The Illinois Tollway Board of Directors recently voted unanimously to hire veteran public servant, José Alvarez, as the agency’s new executive director. Alvarez brings with him a wealth of administrative and government experience, including leadership positions at the highest levels of the public sector. In his role as executive director, Alvarez will lead the Illinois Tollway, which has a $1.5 billion annual budget and oversees Illinois’ 294-mile Tollway system. Alvarez comes to the Tollway after having served in a multitude of public sector leadership roles, including chief of staff for the State Superintendent of Education for Washington D.C. Schools, deputy chief of staff for the CEO of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), and most recently, chief operating officer and chief of staff for the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA). During his tenure at CHA, Alvarez presented balanced budgets for four consecutive years, secured over $1 billion in funding for mixed income developments and developed a five-year capital plan for building and maintenance of facilities. He also championed small and minority business participation in contracts through the Sec3 Job Order Contract Program aimed at driving small business participation and eliminated waivers for minority and women business enterprise contract requirements.

Industry groups celebrate Colorado Concrete Day

April 2019—Three leading concrete industry groups recently participated in an event as part of the state of Colorado's recently proclaimed Concrete Industry Day on April 23. Gov. Jared Polis had recently issued the proclamation recognizing the importance of concrete to the state. The proclamation reads in part: “The State of Colorado recognizes the ready mixed concrete industry as important to furthering development in our state and appreciates the hard work, dedication, and the efficiency of its employees…” The three industry groups include the American Concrete Pavement Association-Colorado/Wyoming Chapter, the Colorado Ready Mixed Concrete Association and the American Concrete Pipe Association. The associations hosted a picnic lunch for Colorado legislators and their staff members during the event, which was dubbed Concrete Day at the Capitol. The aim of the event is to recognize the hard work of the Colorado Legislature and their staff members, as well as to raise awareness of the importance of the concrete industry to the state of Colorado’s economic growth and sustainable development practices.

WSB welcomes accomplished engineering leaders to firm

April 17, 2019—Fast-growing Minneapolis design and consulting firm WSB has hired local engineering experts Shelly Hanson and Klayton (Klay) Eckles to join its municipal services team. Eckles and Hanson bring a wealth of knowledge to WSB after long-term careers as city engineers at the City of Woodbury and the City of Bloomington, respectively. Hanson retired from the city of Bloomington in 2018 as the city engineer. Her most notable projects include the restoration of the Old Cedar Avenue bridge, the Lindau Lane corridor in the South Loop district, and securing funding for phase one of the I-494 and I-35W interchange improvement. Hanson was the first woman to be named the City Engineer’s Association of Minnesota (CEAM) Engineer of the Year in 2014. Eckles has worked in the public sector for over 30 years in four different communities throughout the Twin Cities. He was the engineering and public works director for both the city of Woodbury and the city of Stillwater. Eckles is well-known for his environmental consciousness and received the Charles Walter Nichols Award from the American Public Works Association for outstanding and meritorious achievement in the environmental field.

Doosan announces top-performing equipment dealerships of 2018

April 2019—Doosan Infracore North America LLC announces its top-performing equipment dealerships of 2018. These Doosan dealer enterprises have demonstrated a high quality of customer service to provide exceptional sales, parts and services to their customers, scoring well on their annual dealer performance reviews. Representatives from the top Doosan dealers earned a spot on the Doosan Dealer Advisory Council, a group of individuals that serve as a resource for Doosan Infracore North America and provide feedback to the Doosan leadership team. The top 2018 Doosan dealers include the following enterprises: