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The Raba Kistner companies have been great colleagues with PCT for almost their entire history, providing Engineering, Environmental and Quality Assurance services on numerous PCT projects. The firms have built very strong personal and professional relationships and have successfully partnered together to provide services on many complex and demanding projects.

As part of Raba Kistner Facilities, Project Control will help lead and expand the Program and Project Management services already being delivered by Raba Kistner. Leaders from both companies think this new affiliation gives PCT a substantial platform for growth, with additional expertise now available in-house, attractive to a wider reach of clients.

Since its beginning in 1968, Raba Kistner has cultivated a strong presence and reputation in Texas, which has allowed the company to expand its multi-disciplinary services. In the last 10 years, the company has doubled its number of employees and almost doubled its billings. “We are on track to grow that much again by 2018,” said William Raba, President of Raba Kistner, Inc. “We saw acquiring Project Control as a prudent way to expand Raba Kistner’s existing capabilities in the Program Management field due to their excellent reputation and well-known, experienced staff. “

According to Bob Crittenden, Chief Executive Officer of Project Control, PCT has been a recognized leader in Program Management Services and was a pioneer in the field almost from their beginning in the late 1970’s. PCT is one of the largest privately owned Program Managers in their field of service. PCT has worked on projects all over the United States, including many “Fortune 50” clients, completing more than $6 Billion in total projects. Recent projects include the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky; the Pinnacle Bank Arena and West Haymarket Entertainment District in Lincoln, Nebraska; and the Nustar Corporate Headquarters in San Antonio, to name just a few.  Other local clients include Valero Energy Corporation, Frost and Broadway Banks and Security Service Federal Credit Union. “Over 50% of our projects are either repeat business or direct referrals from previous clients, which we attribute to our level of service,” said Crittenden.

Raba Kistner’s innovative approaches and experienced professionals have also been widely recognized within the profession. They are the largest privately owned firm of their type in the Southwest part of the United States. For 18 years, the company has ranked as a “Top 500 Firm” by Engineering News-Record, and has been consistently ranked as one of the top firms for both Engineering and Environmental services in the Southwest.  In both 2011 and 2012, Raba Kistner received the prestigious “Best of State” Award for Civil Engineering in the State of Utah and has been  recognized as “Engineer of the Year” by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) for the last three years. In addition to San Antonio, Raba Kistner has offices in Austin (2), Brownsville, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, New Braunfels, McAllen, Utah, New York and Mexico.

Since 1994, Mr. Brown has performed and managed numerous geotechnical investigations for commercial, industrial, transportation (road and railway), utility pipeline, public works, educational, retail, and petrochemical, land development, and residential clients.  His primary focus has been to build long-term client relationships by meeting or exceeding project deadlines, emphasizing communication throughout all phases of geotechnical investigations, and working with clients as their needs change throughout the life of a project. 

Mr. Brown’s project experience includes site reconnaissance and design phase geotechnical investigations, geologic inventory reports for bridge and roadway replacements, building distress investigations, and geotechnical construction inspection services.  His design experience includes shallow footings, iterative mat foundation design, drilled footings (straight-sided and belled), deep foundations (driven and cast-in-place), tank ring-wall foundations, dispersive soils, highly expansive soils, design of railway sections, raised earthen levees, large cut slopes, sheet-piling, bulkheads, rigid and flexible buried piping, open-cut excavations, trenchless technologies, and pavement design.

Mr. Brown received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Houston in 1991 and his B.S. in Geology from Sul Ross State University in 1983. He has his Professional Engineering (PE) License from both Texas and Louisiana.

Winning this award comes shortly after Ian’s promotion to Area Project Manager in RKCI’s newest office in New Braunfels. Mr. Perez’s role will be to expand RABA KISTNER’s Geotechnical and Construction Materials practice areas in New Braunfels and the I-35 Corridor.

“Since being promoted to his new role, Ian has done an outstanding job of positioning RABA KISTNER in New Braunfels and the IH 35 Corridor area.  He has immersed himself in the community and is quickly becoming a recognized resource for construction related needs,” indicated Chris Schultz, President and COO of RABA KSITNER Consultants.  “Winning this well-deserved award is a great accomplishment for Ian.  What an incredible year for a great RABA KISTNER team member, said Schultz.”   

Ian joined RKCI as an engineering intern in 2001, and continued his internship during college breaks.  He is a graduate from Texas A&M with a Bachelors in Civil Engineering and a Masters in Geotechnical Engineering. Ian joined RABA KISTNER as a full time employee in January 2005, and successfully passed the professional engineering examination in 2008.

Mr. Brown currently serves as a Project Manager for the firm in RABA KISTNER’s Dallas office.  In this capacity, he is responsible for Materials Engineering, Construction Management and Construction Quality Assurance. Current projects include serving as Resident Engineer for City of Terrell and Kaufman pass through projects. Immediate past projects include North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) projects serving as Materials Engineer for Owner Verification and Independent Assurance; and the I-15 Utah CORE project responsible for Field Inspection and Testing.

Mr. Brown holds a Masters of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a BS in the same from Brigham Young University, finishing up with both in 2006. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in both Texas and Utah.

This promotion recognizes her movement to take on more responsibility for the firm and its subsidiaries, including marketing materials and ad design, vendor coordination, HTML and social media production and coordination. She has played a role in business development and maintains good communication with teaming partnerships of the firm.

“D’Anna has created great relationships in our company, both within the marketing department, with company officers within the firm, with vendors, and with the marketing staffs of architecture firms and other engineering firms,” said Nancy Parker, Director of Marketing for the firm. “It has been exciting to see her talents extend to other areas of client and vendor responsibility. Her relatives – who all live in George West , by the way– can rest assured that she is capitalizing on her business degree in many ways!”

D’Anna graduated from Texas A&M in 2007 with a Bachelor’s of BA in marketing, and from the University of the Incarnate Word in 2009 with a Master’s  in Business Administration.

Ms. Leonard earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Carleton University in Ottowa, Canada. She is registered as a Professional Engineer by the State of Texas and is a member and past officer of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

Ms. Leonard has assumed progressive responsibility in management, administration, and coordination of geotechnical services throughout South Texas, the Texas/México border, and Northern México.  She provides project management in several areas of geotechnical engineering. Her project assignments address subsurface reconnaissance studies, soil investigations, and foundation and pavement design recommendations.

Ms. Leonard has had the opportunity to excel at a diversity of significant projects. Working as a team and on her own, she has experience in project management/administration of numerous educational and institutional health facilities, bank buildings, retail shopping centers, water and wastewater treatment plants for city and state Economically Distressed Area Programs, and transportation efforts to include airports, communication towers, and streets.

The Facilities Service group includes Building Envelope services with testing, design and roofing consulting services. In his role as Facilities Services Director, Mr. Hawryluk’s work includes program management of design and construction phases, scheduling, estimating, financial tracking, construction administration and reporting for on-going facility programs. This experience extends over the markets of K-12, higher education and municipal government. He has also provided leadership in the development and integration of program and project management processes and procedures.

Most recently, Mr. Hawryluk has experience in the operational responsibility of $400 million in on-going construction management projects, and has also been instrumental in planning, managing and closing out several $100 million plus projects.

Mr. Parker joined the firm in 2008, bringing over ten years of previous experience in civil engineering and construction materials testing services. In 2009, he was promoted to Manager of the Materials Engineering Group of RABA KISTNER Consultants, Inc. in San Antonio. 

Mr. Parker performs engineering investigations and studies dealing with construction related issues including analyzing and providing solutions to engineering problems and preparing forensic, engineering and testing/inspection reports. While responsible for total project management, he assists his team members by analyzing field data and laboratory test results, performing engineering calculations, and providing opinions and recommendations for the completion of engineering reports. Mr. Parker is also responsible for the training and mentoring of staff engineers and construction materials technicians.

“The Harrison House and surrounding property, in conjunction with the Selma Stage Stop, represents a rich history for the City of Selma. It is the goal of the City to tie these two very important properties together, both historically and physically, with a connecting hike/bike trail, public park, and meeting facilities at the restored house,” said Steven Jones, COO for RABA KISTNER Environmental and the Harrison Property Project Manager.  “The entire development team consisting of Raba Kistner Environmental, Seventh Generation Design, Bender Wells Clark Design, and Civil Engineering Consultants is dedicated to partnering with the City to bring a successful project that not only recognizes and preserves the historical significance of the two properties, but provides readily available, functional facilities to the entire community,” stated Mr. Jones.

This process couldn’t happen too soon, if you ask Jean Heide, President, Selma Historical Foundation. It was through Jean’s efforts that the house was listed with the National Register of Historic Places. According to her documents, “The John S. Harrison house is significant for its association with the earliest development of Selma. The house is one of only two remaining original structures of Selma – the other being the Selma Stage Stop and post office that still sits on IH-35 directly across from Retama Race Track.”  The stage stop was built and started by John S. Harrison and his partner, William McCullough. The stage stop can already be visited but Harrison House is just now completing an archeological survey and a public input process. Work on the park surrounding the house will start soon after the public meetings with restoration of the house to follow.

Harrison’s older brother, Erasmus Darwin Harrison, got to Texas before John, but died with Fannin at Goliad, Texas in March 1836. Land posthumously awarded to his brother for his service is what brought John to Texas. John and a partner opened up a stage line in 1846 that brought passengers coming in from New Orleans and Galveston, so that passengers could have a “pleasant and convenient “ passage to Austin and San Antonio. Because of his stage lines, Harrison was a major figure in Texas history. His stage lines were responsible for bringing immigrants to the heart of Texas in the early years of statehood.

“Mayor Harold Friesenhahn, whose family was the 4^th owner of the property, sold it to the City of Selma in 2001 with the condition that it would be restored and used as a community center of some kind,” said Heide. “I believe this is a wonderful opportunity for the families of Selma to have direct input – at the ground floor level – into the development of the John S. Harrison National Register/State Archeological Landmark property. The house and its surrounding property played equally important roles in both the state’s and Selma’s early history and these public meetings afford Selma’s families an avenue for melding this very distinct and unique history into the planning of a state-of-the-art community park for all the families of Selma,” finished Heide.

Anyone not attending the open houses can see the same materials presented at the Open Houses at www. Selma.tx.us and give comment as long as they are received by Friday, March 1, 2013. Comments should be sent Attn: Steven Jones c/o Raba Kistner Environmental, Inc., 12821 W. Golden Lane, San Antonio, Texas 78249. You may also submit comments by fax (210) 699-6426, or by e-mail to sjones@rkci.com. Written comments will be received through Friday, March 1, 2013.

Chris Schultz, PE, who has been with RABA KISTNER Consultants since 1990, has been promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer of Consultants. Schultz has been Senior Vice President since 2004 and will continue to act as Practice Leader for Geotechnical engineering.

Chris L. Schultz, PE, PMP, President and COO, Raba Kistner Consultants, Inc.

“Paul and I have a lot of our time, heart and energy invested in this company,” said Schultz, “We know that we are taking over leadership of an exceptionally dedicated group of employees. This staff has long served a diverse group of clients who are interested in delivering a quality product to their own customers – whether employees, tenants or members of the public. We look forward to working with the Raba Kistner Consultants team to strengthen our relationships with those clients.

“The Design and Construction Industry is changing, particularly with regard to project delivery methods, that will require our Company to adapt the way we provide our services. However, one thing that cannot change is providing value for our clients through those services in a responsive manner. We will continue this longstanding Raba Kistner tradition,” finished Schultz.

Paul Lampe, who has been with RABA KISTNER Consultants since 1981, will assume responsibilities as Executive Vice President. Lampe has been serving as Senior Vice President since 2004 and will continue to act as Practice Leader for Construction Materials engineering, testing and construction inspections.

Paul R. Lampe, Executive Vice President, Raba Kistner Consultants, Inc.

“Chris and I have worked together at Raba Kistner for 22 years, providing services to both regional and San Antonio area clients,” said Lampe. We look forward to an expanded role in supporting operations and clients in all of our offices.

“One area that I really look forward to is working with our clients to use more recycled construction materials”, continued Lampe. “Raba Kistner Consultants, invested in this field over 10 years ago and I’m happy to say that with support from the LEED program, it is really becoming a preferred choice for new construction.” (For more information on this topic, see Paul’s recent article, dated December, 2012, Deconstruction LEEDS Owners to a More Successful Project).

“Chris Schultz and Paul Lampe, both Shareholders, have shown real commitment to RABA KISTNER Consultants for many years, responding to client needs, long term growth planning, staff development and industry leadership,” said William Raba, President of the holding company, RABA KISTNER, Inc. “This action is to support expanding the company’s reach and growing our staff and service capabilities over the coming years. “

Robert Costigan, Ph.D., PE, former President and COO of RABA KISTNER Consultants, has announced his retirement and has become a Senior Consultant to the company.