Earl “Chip” Mitchell has joined CH2M as president of its 5,000-person oil, gas & chemicals business group (OGC), based in Houston. He had been group vice president for the upstream, midstream and pipeline business at Jacobs Engineering Group, and also had headed its OGC market sector in Canada.

CH2M CEO Jacque Hinman said the firm’s OGC markets “are poised for substantial growth over the next several years.” But earlier this year, the firm reversed a planned sale of its OGC business in Alaska and far western Russia, with officials noting that offers did not meet the firm’s anticipated price in the wake of the oil price plunge, according to on line reports in Alaska.

University of Alaska economist Matt Berman speculated that the 2,400-person unit, acquired in 2007, could be for sale again once oil drilling activity improves.

Rim

AECOM has named Heather Rim as its Los Angeles-based senior vice president and corporate chief communications officer. She was vice president of global corporate communications at packaging manufacturer Avery Dennison, and also was vice president of communications at the Disney ABC Television Group. AECOM says it has revenue of $19 billion and nearly 100,000 employees, following 2014 acquisitions of URS Corp. and Hunt Construction Group.

Brian Bruce has been elevated to president of New York American Water, the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, serving 350,000 people in Long Island and upstate New York. He had been first vice president of operations.

MWH Global, Broomfield, Colo., has elevated six executives to senior vice president: Paul DeKeyser, director of global business development based in Fairfax, Va.; Paul Demit, Atlanta-based director of Americas program management; Ben Emerson, engineering design manager based in London; Norm Gadzinski, Cleveland-based director of its government and infrastructure project delivery center; Julie Labonte, program consultant manager for the San Diego Pure Water Program, based in that city; and Don Spiegel, Sacramento-based director of project delivery.

Named as new vice presidents are John Abrera, director of integrated water solutions based in Atlanta; Loren Labovitch, Washington, D.C.-based director of emerging market growth in the firm's Hawksley Consulting unit; Pete Perciavalle, director of intelligent platforms, based in Irvine, Calif.; Chris Pile, deputy joint venture manager, based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Kelli Shuter Cessna, Broomfield-based major campaign manager; Jennifer Van Vleet, Americas communications manager based in Broomfield; Thomas DeMayo, vice president  of energy construction operations, now based in the U.K.; Michael Haarmann, business development manager based in Broomfield, and Todd Larson, Tempe, Ariz.-based director of global engineering and quality operations.

Joel G. Carson is named executive director of the Geoprofessional Business Association, a group of geotechnical engineers, environmental professionals, construction-materials testing practitioners and other geoprofessionals. A former senior vice president at Kleinfelder Inc., he succeeds John P. Bachner, who has managed the group since 1973.

Engineering firm Hoyle, Tanner & Associates Inc., Manchester, N.H., has elevated to senior vice president, Todd M. Clark, transportation service group manager; and Matthew J. Low, regional manager for the New England bridge and structures group. Promoted to vice president are Michael V. Schramm and Carl R. Quiram.

 

Moffett

Hailey, Idaho-based POWER Engineers Inc. has named Bret Moffett as president, and, effective in May 2016, as CEO, replacing Jack Hand in those roles. Moffett was executive vice president and chief administrative officer. POWER ranks  at No. 45 on ENR’s list of Top 500 Design Firms.

Named new principals at engineering consultant Arup are Matt Carter, Joanne Iddon and Josh Yacknowitz, based in the firm's New York City headquarters; Seattle-based Peter Alspach; Will Baumgardner, based in San Francisco; and Seth Wolfe, based in New Jersey.

Mansour Aliabadi has joined contractor Kitchell as executive vice president based in Sacramento. The company says he is a "program and construction management expert" and a fellow of the Construction Management Association of America since 2006. Aliabadi is formerly president and CEO of Sacramento-based Vanir Construction Management Inc., serving in the role from 1992 until 2013. According to a report in the Sacramento Business Journal, he and his former firm were involved in a legal dispute beginning last year over age discrimination and stock ownership issues. The status of the litigation was not clear at ENR press time. The company hired Guy Mehula, a former Parsons Corp. executive, as president in April.