Two-day Project Development Conference opens Tuesday

The two-day Project Development Conference at the Boise Centre in downtown Boise, opens with registration Monday afternoon and concludes after a full day of breakout sessions late Wednesday

Tuesday’s program begins with a formal welcome at 9 a.m. and opening remarks by Idaho Transportation Board member Jan Vassar and ITD Director Brian Ness. It also includes a flag ceremony by the City of Boise Police Pipes and Drums and the Boise Police Honor Guard. Featured speakers include:

  • Greg Nadeau and Harlan Miller from the Federal Highway Administration in Washington, D.C.,
  • Kathleen Penney, vice president for CH2M HILL, based in the Washington, D.C. office, and
  • Lise Stewart of the Galliard Group, who specializes in organizational psychology, and training for family businesses

The first day will conclude with the Excellence in Transportation awards banquet, honoring outstanding achievements in transportation planning, design, environmental stewardship, maintenance and operations, public participation and construction.

ITD, which assists with planning of the biennial conference, also will present awards for career achievement, engineer of the year and professional of the year. The banquet begins at 6 p.m.

Nadeau has been with the FHWA since 2009, focusing on development and administration of Every Day Counts (EDC) and EDC2 on behalf of Administrator Victor Mendez. Every Day Counts is designed to identify and deploy innovation aimed at reducing the time it takes to deliver highway projects, enhance safety and protect the environment.

He served on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Freight Policy Council, created by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to oversee and coordinate development and implementation of the current transportation bill, MAP-21.

Penney will talk about “Realizing Your Inner Innovator.”

The afternoon schedule includes Stewart, “Generation to Generation: Understanding and Leveraging Generational Differences” and Miller, “Moving Ahead with MAP-21.”

Wednesday will include concurrent, 50-minute breakout sessions organized into four tracks:

  • Environmental/Right of Way
  • Construction/Materials
  • Planning/Traffic, and
  • Design/Materials

Throughout the conference, attendees will have an opportunity to explore innovative products and approaches from 40 vendors represented in the exhibit hall.

Published 3-29-13