EPA Region 4 and IECA Southeast Chapter – MS4 Conference
The EPA Region 4 and the Southeast Chapter of the IECA Region One are hosting the second annual Municipal Wet Weather Stormwater Conference.
The event will be held at the Holiday Inn Atlanta-Perimeter in Atlanta, Georgia, June 15–16, 2015.
Date: June 15–16, 2015
Meeting & Parking Location:
Holiday Inn Atlanta-Perimeter
4386 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road
Atlanta, Georgia 30341
PDH Value: 14 PDHs (7 per day)
Presentation Topics
- Integrated or Watershed-Based Permitting
- Sustainable Development, LID, and Green Infrastructure
- TMDLs and Watershed Implementation Plans
- Stormwater Funding Legal, Ordinances, and Regulations
- Stormwater Management Program and Training
- Public Education and Outreach
- Evaluation of Stormwater Practices and Devices
- Inspection Methods and Technologies
- Stream Evaluation, Restoration, and Monitoring
- Watershed Modeling
- Water Quality Landscaping
- Erosion and Sediment Control Practices on
Construction Sites
For more information, visit www.ieca.org/ms4.
Bring World-Class Training to Your Door
IECA announces IECA on Location, a revamped educational service offered to those who desire to have course(s) conducted at their business site.
In other words, we bring IECA education to you! Our IECA faculty will customize their course content to meet the needs and goals of your organization as well as state and local requirements, to ensure compliance to regulations in your area. IECA is here to help every step of the way. IECA on Location is an affordable solution to saving the expenses normally associated with conference attendance.
What Are the Benefits?
- We bring training to you at your office or location.
- We manage the instructor and all of the travel arrangements.
- Our instructors modify the
content to address your regional issues. - You select the time and date of the training.
- You save money and travel expense.
Course Information
- Erosion and Sediment Control
- Stormwater Management
- Surface Water Restoration
- MS4 Management
- Other/Certification
About IECA Faculty
Members of the IECA faculty are highly-trained educators, who are experts in specific fields of Erosion, Sediment Control, and Stormwater Management. They have years of classroom experience and have served IECA for many years as our premiere educators.
Cost
The fee for most IECA on Location courses is $2,000 for full-day courses and $1,500 for half-day courses. There are also travel expenses for the instructor, which would include airfare, ground transportation, parking, and meals. As a client or sponsoring organization, you would be responsible for the fee and travel expenses.
Member Spotlight: 10 Minutes With Don Thieman
Each issue, IECA honors one outstanding member that shows dedication to not only the organization, but to the erosion and sediment control industry. It’s our honor to feature Don Thieman.
Thieman has been in the industry for over 20 years. This hard worker and annual conference volunteer helps guide our organization in an onward direction.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your professional experience?
A: I have an undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in Business Management and Organizational Behavior and a MBA from UMSL in Marketing. I am the Vice President of Sales and Operations for ASP Enterprises and Sales Manager for Quick Supply Co.
Q: How did you get started in your field of practice?
A: My father in law was playing golf with Jerry Bohannon from American Excelsior and Jerry mentioned he was being promoted and was looking for someone to fill his sales position in St. Louis. I was interviewed by Jerry and started the following January.
Q: Why are you in your industry?
A: I enjoy working with the people within the industry, I enjoy improving the environment, and I have worked hard to be knowledgeable and a resource for our many customers in the Midwest.
Q: What drives you to succeed professionally?
A: Providing for my family is first and foremost. Secondly, being someone who is looked to for advice as an expert is personally satisfying. Finally, being part of a successful team is very rewarding. We have built a very successful team at ASP Enterprises and Quick Supply Co.
Q: Do you have a mentor?
A: Harold Bade was probably my biggest mentor in the industry. He had a well-balanced outlook on work and family and participation in industry functions. He worked hard and played hard, but at the end of the day, he went home to spend time with his family. Harold was always someone I looked up to and he taught me a great deal about life.
Q: What’s your work style like? A: I have a pretty laid back work style. While I have a high-energy, efficiency-oriented approach to getting things done, I don’t let a lot of things get to me and am pretty laid back from a management point of view. I feel that people want to be treated with respect and be allowed to make mistakes so they can learn for themselves. I may work long hours at times but then work very hard to balance that with family time. My expectations are high for most everyone, but then I try to work with people when I or they feel they have fallen short.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your life outside work?
A: I was born and raised in the suburbs of St. Louis-Ellisville, MO. I have a wife of 26 years—Sheila. My son Jeremy is 18 and my daughter Emily is 16. I enjoy fishing, hunting, golfing, and family time and I am an avid St. Louis Cardinals Baseball fan. Go Cards!
Q: What is something people don’t know about you?
A: I am actually a little bit of a computer nerd. If I can’t figure something out on the computer, it drives me crazy and I will spend a great deal of energy trying to figure it out (and usually do).
Q: What’s your IECA member experience?
A: I have been a member for 19 years. It has been a long time and the guys that really got me involved in it were first Jerry Bohannon, and Pete Hanrahan. Pete was very involved in the Great Rivers Chapter and helped me realize the value of networking and improving the industry. He became my model for how to get involved. I am a member for several reasons.
- Networking with customers, vendors, and competitors.
- Educating myself so I can share that information with the design community on what is going on locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.
- Many guys that I looked up to when I first got into the industry believed in it, and I knew that if they thought it was the right thing to do, it was right for me too.
Q: How are you involved with your chapter?
A: Currently, I support it by our companies participating in all functions, helping in the planning, in some instances and exhibiting/sponsoring events. I also help out the IECA staff at Environmental Connection each year.
Q: What are your goals to further your IECA experience?
A: Continue supporting the national organization by participating in the conference planning committee and continuing to be the exhibit floor manager for the Environmental Connection event but also working internally within the chapter and the larger organization to help us better supply value to our membership. It is the biggest challenge associations are facing today.
Q: What are the most impactful issues regarding erosion and sediment control today?
A: Regulation and enforcement. While regulations still need to evolve into true water-quality metrics (as they are in some areas), enforcement is still a real problem. In the Midwest, the enforcement does not have sufficient teeth to really get people to realize the need for compliance. I have heard of inspectors quitting because they got tired of being in charge of compliance but having no authority to really do anything to force compliance. In the end it is all about our water resources and we don’t seem to truly understand the real cost of polluting this very limited resource.
Q: What’s your best advice you can give someone new to the industry?
A: Get involved in the industry, support the local chapters, network with regional industry participants, and go to the Environmental Connection.
Q: How would you want to be remembered in the industry?
A: My commitment to the industry, my continuing efforts at remaining honest, trustworthy, and ethical in a challenging construction industry, and my steadfast belief that hard work pays off.
IECA’s Western Chapter is offering a 2015-2016 academic scholarship in the amount of $1,000 to a deserving student for their fall 2015 semester.
Type of students: Junior, senior, or graduate school level students with a demonstrated interest in pursuing a career in the erosion and sediment control profession and who are enrolled in a related degree program at an accredited four-year college or university.
Since erosion and sediment control is a cross-disciplinary field, a wide variety of degree programs will be considered (engineering, hydrology, soils, geology, forestry, environmental studies, range management, watershed, ecology, natural resources planning, etc.). Students must be enrolled in institutions within the four-state area of the Western Chapter (CA, AZ, NV, or HI).
Requirements: Applicants must submit a 500-word essay, three letters of recommendation, and post-secondary academic transcripts (unofficial transcripts are okay) along with the application.
Deadline: Applications are due on July 1, 2015. The winners will be notified by August 15.
How to apply: Visit www.wcieca.org or contact Cyndi Brinkhurst at [email protected] for more information.
