Leadership

Chip LaBonte, DBIA

Mike Heitmann

Mike has spent his entire career at Garney after graduating from the University of Kansas in 1990 with a degree in Architectural Engineering. The first 15 years of Mike’s career consisted of building projects in many parts of the country. Most of these projects focused on pipeline systems for the private sector. Mike developed an expertise in projects involving specialized piping materials, unique and challenging construction methods, and integrated project delivery. Mike was appointed Vice President in 2001 and returned to the company’s Kansas City headquarters in 2004. At that time, Mike shifted his focus to private and industrial business development, global company branding and marketing. In September 2011, Mike was appointed President and CEO. In this role, Mike is responsible for strategic planning, growth and employee development strategies, and setting a clear direction for Garney’s employee-owners.

Scott Parrish

Scott joined Garney in 1988 as a Laborer, learning the field skills necessary to be an effective builder of water and wastewater projects. These skills proved valuable in becoming a leading Project Manager and Estimator of pipeline projects throughout his 30-year career at the company. In his role as President, Scott has oversight for all company operations, including resource management, employee development, and operational strategy. Scott has been responsible for some of Garney’s most high-profile projects, including the Vista Ridge Water Supply Project – the largest P3 water project in the history of the United States.

Meggan Krase

After graduating from the University of Kansas with a degree in Accounting, Meggan went to work in public accounting for Grant Thornton where she obtained her CPA license. She spent five years there in auditing before joining Garney in 2006. Meggan was promoted to Controller in 2012. She was then named Director – Corporate Controller in 2014, Vice President in 2018, and Chief Financial Officer in 2020. In this role, Meggan is responsible for overseeing the company’s finance, accounting, and administration teams as well as human resources, employee development, and information technology departments. She is also a member of Garney’s Board of Directors. Meggan is an active leader and participant in Garney’s Leadership Development program, which teaches thoughtful and courageous leadership. She is also Co-Chair of Garney’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Council, which promotes diversity of our employee-owners. Meggan is based in Garney’s North Kansas City headquarters.

Timothy Behler

After Tim graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in Civil Engineering, he worked for a national general contractor for more than 15 years helping substantially grow company and divisional revenue. Tim joined Encore Construction (now Garney Construction) in 2002 as a Senior Project Manager working on a $26 million water reclamation facility in Naples, Florida. He was then promoted to Vice President of Operations, and became Senior Vice President in 2008, maintaining responsibility over all field operations. After Encore was acquired by Garney Construction in 2012, Tim was named Director and was promoted to Vice President in 2013 and COO in 2015. Based in Winter Garden, Florida, Tim oversees all facility projects from Florida to the Mid-Atlantic.

Matt Foster

Matt is responsible for the organization and management of Garney’s pipe operations in the Western United States. He estimates, negotiates and manages operations for multiple projects throughout this region. These projects include large diameter water and sewer pipelines in varying ground conditions. Matt is a tremendous team-builder and pays close attention to safety, quality and customer satisfaction. Matt started with Garney in 1993 after graduating from Kansas State University. He was appointed Senior Project Manager in 2000, Vice President in 2009, and COO in 2018. Matt is based in Garney’s Kansas City headquarters.

Wayne O’Brien

As COO of Garney’s Western Region, Wayne oversees all water facilities operations including marketing, procurement, estimating, project management and negotiations. Wayne began his career in construction while studying Electrical Engineering and Construction Management at New Mexico State University and the University of New Mexico. Wayne has more than 30 years of experience, and has managed and constructed numerous water and wastewater projects. Wayne brings a strong, knowledgeable background along with an unparalleled understanding of the field. Wayne was promoted to Vice President in 2007 and COO in 2011. He is based in Garney’s Littleton, Colorado, office.

Jason Seubert

Jason oversees Garney’s Eastern Region which constructs water and sewer pipelines and treatment facilities from Florida to the Mid-Atlantic. Jason has been with Garney since his graduation from Central Missouri State University in 1994 and has provided leadership on some of the company’s largest and most prominent projects. Jason estimates, negotiates and manages operations for multiple projects throughout the Eastern Region. He is a tremendous team-builder, paying close attention to safety, quality and customer satisfaction. Jason was promoted to Senior Project Manager in 2000, Vice President in 2007, and COO in 2011. Jason is based in Garney’s Kansas City headquarters.

Matt Reaves

Since joining the industry in 2005, Matt has managed nearly $1 billion worth of water and wastewater utility infrastructure projects—including six collaborative delivery projects—throughout the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Florida. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a degree in Civil Engineering and joined Encore Construction (now Garney Construction) right out of college. Matt has extensive industry experience leading teams through project execution, value engineering, cost estimating, means and methods evaluations, sequencing, and scheduling. Matt was promoted to Executive Vice President in 2022 and is based in Garney’s Charlotte, North Carolina, office.

David Bird

As Vice President of Project Finance & Development, David Bird spearheads our public-private partnership (P3) and private development initiatives, facilitates strategic partnerships with industry and equity partners, and develops solutions for Garney’s clients in need of financing for their project. Before joining Garney, David spent 27 years at a large international bank that specializes in project finance and was a lender and financial advisor for Garney’s largest P3 project to date—the Vista Ridge Water Supply Project. David is an expert in the funding and development of P3 projects and has extensive experience in infrastructure projects across a wide spectrum of subsectors. David studied Business-Finance at the University of Southern California before beginning his career in the finance world and is now based just outside of New York City.

David Burkhart

David has spent his entire career with Garney after graduating from the University of Kansas with a degree in Civil Engineering. Prior to David’s current role, he served as Director of Central Pipe Operations where he managed projects in various regions across the country, specializing in large diameter waterline installations and collaborative delivery methods. In his current position, David is responsible for supporting the overall leadership structure of Garney, including a focus on company operations and resource management, operational strategy, and long-term planning and growth. He was promoted to Vice President in 2021 and is based out of Garney’s Kansas City headquarters.

Jordan Carrier, Assoc. DBIA

Jordan oversees Garney’s Mid-Atlantic pipeline operations, which includes the states of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Washington D.C. He is responsible for project acquisition, contract management, staffing, safety, scheduling, and client satisfaction. He graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a degree in Construction Management and has spent his entire career at Garney. Jordan has managed more than $315 million worth of water and sewer pipeline projects throughout his career in the Mid-South and Mid-Atlantic. Jordan thrives in this industry and stays involved as an active member of WEF, AWWA, and NUCA, as well as being a certified Associate Design-Build Professional. Jordan was promoted to Vice President in 2022 and is based in Garney’s Fairfax, Virginia, office.

Steve Ford

Steve originally began his career with Garney in 1979 after graduating from the University of Missouri-Rolla with a degree in Civil Engineering. He has managed major infrastructure projects throughout the United States, and has worked primarily in the Nashville area since 1992. In 2003, Steve opened the Garney regional office in Nashville, bringing tremendous leadership, team building and business management experience to ensure customer satisfaction. Steve was promoted to Vice President in January 2009.

Greg Harris

Greg graduated from Central Missouri State University with a degree in Construction Management. Greg’s prior experience includes seven years with Garney starting in 1986. He returned in 2004 after spending several years running the Atlanta operations of a major heavy civil contractor. Greg was promoted to Vice President in January of 2011. He is now involved full-time with risk management and strategic initiatives for the entire company. Greg is based in the Alpharetta, Georgia, office.

Dan Smolik

Dan joined Garney in 2000 following his graduation from Missouri Western State University with a degree in Construction Engineering Technology. Dan has spent the majority of his career managing pipeline operations in Florida. He is currently responsible for Garney’s risk management and safety teams. Dan is based out of Garney’s Winter Garden office.

Bill Williams

Bill has been working on pipeline projects since graduating from the University of Southern Colorado with a degree in Civil Engineering Technology. He spent the first 20 years of his career building both small and large infrastructure projects along the Front Range of Colorado, before joining Garney in 2010 as a Project Manager. Bill has helped maintain one of Garney’s strongest client relationships by contributing to more than half of the projects completed for Colorado Springs Utilities, including the $112 million Southern Delivery System Program. In addition, Bill has been a part of Garney’s management team, supporting more than $215 million of pipeline projects. Upon Garney’s award of the Vista Ridge Water Supply Project in San Antonio, Texas, Bill became the project’s Operations Manager and enjoys the challenges as a part of the management team for the largest P3 water project in the history of the United States. He resides in Colorado.

Bill E. Williams

Brian Brandstetter

Brian is responsible for the overall management of Warren Environmental and its successes, including ensuring that team members have needed resources and act with integrity, upholding the strict quality and safety standards that our business was built on. Since his start in the construction industry in 1998, Brian has acquired extensive experience building relationships across the U.S. with federal, state, and local government entities, as well as demonstrated expertise with territory management, strategic planning, and estimating. Brian’s previous experience includes working for a leading provider of temporary liquid handling solutions, designing and assembling complex bypass pump, tank, and filtration systems.

Kipp Connell

Kipp started with Garney in 2015 after working in information technology (IT) for the Lawrence, Kansas, Police Department for 11 years. Kipp was hired as Garney’s first IT Manager. Since joining the team, he has developed a responsive and agile IT team that maintains the systems that keep our business running efficiently. He has also made significant improvements in Garney’s backend security. Kipp’s integrity, positive attitude, and approach to problem-solving have facilitated improvements in all the behind-the-scenes systems that support and protect Garney’s employee-owners. Kipp attended Washburn University and holds degrees in information technology and business administration. He is based in the Kansas City headquarters office.

Joel Heimbuck

Joel joined Garney in 2005 as a Project Engineer with six years of previous experience in the power and distribution market for a national general contractor. He was promoted to Regional Operations Manager in 2013, responsible for facilitating and administrating traditional bid and collaborative delivery water/wastewater infrastructure projects in the Western United States. Joel is a certified and active member of DBIA and graduated with a degree in Construction Management from Colorado State University. He was promoted to Director in 2018 and is based in Littleton, Colorado. Joel is also the Chair of Garney’s Technology Council.

Chuck Sinclair, P.E.

Chuck Sinclair joined Garney as Director of National Business Development in 2023 with over 30 years of experience in the engineering and construction industry, primarily focusing on water and collaborative delivery. He has led program and project delivery teams for numerous large public and civil works projects across the country. Chuck offers a unique perspective to our business development team from his vast experience in consulting engineering leading many business development, marketing, communication, and strategic initiatives. He is an active member of the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), the American Water Works Association (AWWA), and the Water Environment Federation (WEF). Chuck is also a registered Professional Engineer in Florida and based in Sarasota, Florida.

Jay McQuillen Jr., P.E.

Jay joined Garney in March 2015 to lead two new business initiatives. He leads Garney Federal, which pursues work in the federal market nationwide. Jay also oversees Garney’s heavy civil operations in the Western United States and Pacific. Jay joined the Garney team after a 29-year career with Granite Construction. His background includes extensive experience in government contracting and heavy civil construction throughout the Pacific Northwest, California, and Hawaii. Jay is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, and Oregon State University with a master’s degree in Civil Engineering. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Oregon. Jay is based in Scotts Valley, California, and is the company’s Compliance Officer.

Scott Reuter, P.E.

Scott’s entire career has been focused on constructing water and wastewater treatment facilities. Scott joined Encore Construction (now Garney Construction) in 2003, following several years at a national general contractor. He was promoted to Regional Operations Manager of Florida Plant Operations in 2013 and oversees all of Garney’s traditional bid and alternative procurement projects in this state. Scott obtained his Professional Engineering license and is a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University with a degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering. He was promoted to Director in 2017 and is based out of the Winter Garden, Florida, office.

Tom Roberts

Tom graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1990 with a degree in Accounting and obtained his CPA license soon after. He spent 12 years in public accounting with firms in Des Moines and Kansas City before spending 10 years as CFO of a Kansas City contractor. Tom joined Garney in 2012 and helps manage the company’s accounting and financial reporting, tax compliance and reporting, banking, insurance and bonding relationships, and administration of Garney’s ESOP. Tom is based in Garney’s Kansas City headquarters.

Jeff Seal

Jeff Seal oversees Garney’s Mid-South pipe operations covering Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, Southern Indiana, and Southern Ohio. He is also responsible for Garney’s marine work, specializing in intakes, outfalls, and subaqueous pipeline crossings. Jeff is a graduate of Vanderbilt University with a degree in Civil Engineering and has spent his entire career building major infrastructure projects throughout the Southeast United States. Jeff has successfully led some of Garney’s most challenging and unique projects. He was promoted to Director of Mid-South Pipe Operations in 2017 and is based in Garney’s Nashville office.

Mike Strong

Mike is an AV rated lawyer with more than 25 years of experience in general commercial and business issues with an emphasis in construction. He specializes in risk management, claims management, and contract negotiation and execution on a national and international scale. Mike joined Garney as an employee-owner in 2017 after working with Garney as outside counsel for several years. He was previously an equity partner at Lathrop Gage and Lewis, Rice and Fingerish located in Kansas City. He graduated with a law degree from Washburn University, and a degree in political science and history from the University of Kansas. He holds professional licensure in Kansas, Missouri, and Texas, and is a member of the American Bar Association. Mike enjoys sports (especially baseball and basketball), chasing his kids around, and is fluent in German. He is based in Kansas City.

Patrick Vidonish

Patrick began his career in the construction industry in 2006 after graduating from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has worked on new and existing water and wastewater facilities throughout the central and eastern U.S. Patrick has a strong background developing cohesive and collaborative teams to perform unique and challenging projects, most notably for BAE Systems in Tennessee the last several years. He is certified as a Design-Build Professional by the Design-Build Institute of America. Patrick was promoted to Director in 2023 and resides in Texas.

Eric Wagner

Eric’s entire career has been focused solely on water/wastewater construction since building a wastewater treatment plant in 1997 as a co-op. Eric graduated from the University of Akron-Ohio with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and started working for a national treatment plant contractor. In 2004, Eric joined Encore Construction (now Garney Construction) as a Project Manager. In 2010, Eric began expanding his career leading preconstruction and estimating teams for Garney. Throughout his decades of experience, Eric has combined his knowledge of self-performing construction work, along with a multitude of preconstruction and collaborative delivery projects, to successfully deliver some of Garney’s largest and most complex treatment plants. Eric was promoted to Director in May 2018, and his role now focuses primarily on leading Garney construction teams through all phases of project delivery.

Yvonne Waterman

Yvonne joined Garney’s Human Resources (HR) department in November 2019. She had previously been in the consulting business for 25 years. Yvonne has been a partner of Garney for more than 20 years on the consulting business side and has been responsible for Garney’s health and welfare programs. She manages the employee development, recruiting, event planning, payroll, health, and welfare programs at Garney and is based in the Kansas City headquarters.

Nick Judd

Keith Burke

Dustin Hansen

Taylor Kennedy

Shane O’Brien

Ron Salas

Bart Slaymaker

Fred Thornhill

Fred joined Garney in July 2015 to lead business development efforts for Garney Federal. In this role, he is responsible for growing Garney’s presence in the federal market. Fred brings more than 30 years of federal business development and management experience to this role. He operates out of Garney’s office in Gig Harbor, Washington.

Mike Gardner

Mike is responsible for overseeing the construction of all facility projects in the greater Houston, Texas, area. Mike began his career in construction while studying Construction Science at Kansas State University. He has more than 31 years of experience and has both managed and constructed numerous water and wastewater treatment projects. Mike joined Garney in 2004 and helped establish the Grimm Construction office in south Kansas City. He has served as branch manager since that time and has been a Vice President / Director since January 2011. Now based in Houston, Mike contributes his keen management skills on projects throughout South Texas.