Four F&V Companies employees, including three associates, have been promoted.
Troy Stahl, a senior project manager in Indiana, has been named Principal. Associates Don DeVries, PE, and Bob Wilcox, PE, have been promoted to Senior Associates. Cath Garnham, a regional manager for F&V’s Operations and Resource Management, has been named an Associate. The announcement was made recently at the annual breakfast which celebrates the company’s anniversary.
“The Principal/Associate program was started in 2006 to promote leadership and ownership transition,” said Larry Fleis, PE, president and co-founder of F&V.
Stahl, who joined the firm in September 2011, has been the Group Manager for F&V’s Indiana operations. His specialty is in transportation.
“Troy has developed a very strong business for F&V in Indiana,” Fleis said.
“I’m extremely honored and humbled,” Stahl said. “I’ve been fortunate to work with incredibly talented people. And we’ve been successful in Indiana because we’ve really listened to our clients and focused on their needs.”
Stahl becomes the sixth Principal in the firm and the first chosen since 2006. Others are Fleis, Paul Galdes, Brian Rice, Rich Grant and Craig Shumaker.
“It’s such an exciting time at F&V,” Stahl added. “We have so many great opportunities in front of us.”
DeVries, a West Michigan Municipal Group Manager, and Wilcox, a Senior Project Manager for the Process Group, are the first employees to be named Senior Associates since the firm was founded in 1993 by Fleis and Steve Vanden Brink.
“Don and Bob are key people in our organization and we’re encouraging them to play a bigger leadership and ownership role in the company,” Fleis said.
DeVries, who joined the firm in May of 1994, was the company’s fourth engineer to be hired. The civil engineer specializes in roadways and water systems projects.
“Don has been managing more than a dozen clients and doing a great job of managing a lot of work and people,” Fleis said.
Wilcox, who joined F&V in February of 1999, specializes in planning, design, construction, start-up and operations assistance for water and wastewater treatment systems projects.
“Bob has shown some great leadership as a senior project manager,” Fleis said. “He’s managed a ton of projects in his process engineering specialty.
Garnham, who received the Michigan Water Environment Association’s executive director award in 2015, oversees operations at the Tawas Utilities Authority.
Fleis said Garnham manages 10 FVOP employees and three facilities in northeast Michigan and she’s been a great administrative and technical supporter to Blair Selover, the group’s manager. She also helps in a number of areas for the Operations Group.
Garnham, who has been involved in water and wastewater operations now for 25 years, was hired in July of 2012. She is one of 13 associates with the firm and the first woman receive that honor.
The F&V Companies provides full-service engineering and architectural services with specialists in the municipal, private and industrial sectors. F&V has 180 employees in nine offices throughout Michigan and Indiana. It has been locally and nationally recognized as one of the “101 Best & Brightest Companies to Work For.”
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