Environmental and Safety Continuing Education

Location

Session #1

Speakers

• Justin Powell - SCDOT Chief Operating Officer
  Justin Powell is the Chief of Staff for the South Carolina Department of Transportation where he manages strategic initiatives of SCDOT on behalf of the Secretary of Transportation. Prior to serving as Chief of Staff, he was the Deputy Secretary for Finance and Administration and managed a $2.7 billion budget to support the construction and maintenance of the fourth-largest state-owned highway system in the United States. Before coming to the Department of Transportation in 2019, he worked for three South Carolina local governments: Horry County, Dorchester County, and the City of Greenville. He holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Arts from Wofford College.

Session #1

Speakers

• Myra Reece - Director of Environmental Affairs SC DHEC
  Myra Reece serves as Director of Environmental Affairs for the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). In a career spanning over 30 years with DHEC, she has served in leadership roles with the regional office system and as the Bureau Chief for the Bureau of Air Quality prior to becoming the Director of Environmental Affairs. She works collaboratively with state and federal agencies, local government, community leaders, business and industry to protect and promote the environment in the Palmetto State.

Session #2

Speakers

• SuzAnne Driscoll - Be Pro Be Proud
  Over the course of her professional life, SuzAnne has spent time teaching at a small Christian school, marketing and selling real estate, managing a real estate brokerage, and researching and writing news articles and blog posts. She became aware of the “Skills Gap,” as it is currently known, in 2020 and sought to make an impact of her own in some small way. She began a blog entitled “Choosing Trades,” which caught the attention of a Minnesota non-profit organization dedicated to promoting life in the skilled trades. While investigating the potential of working with this group, they pointed her to Be Pro Be Proud, which they knew had established a presence in South Carolina. SuzAnne joined the Be Pro movement as Project Manager in the spring of 2022, working primarily in the area of communications and marketing and serving as a representative at events in South Carolina and in other states where Be Pro is found.

Session #2

Speakers

• Jason Nelson - Blanchard - CAT
  Jason Nelson is the Technical Training Manager for Blanchard Machinery. He is responsible for all aspects of technician training at Blanchard. As part of his responsibilities, he works to develop technician career pathways, apprenticeship programs, and manages Blanchard’s two-year degree programs through Florence-Darlington Technical College (FDTC) (Heavy Equipment Program) and South Georgia Technical College (Electric Power Generation Program). Jason began his career at Blanchard as a main shop technician and grew throughout the organization into departments and roles. After 15 years, Jason left Blanchard to become an instructor at FDTC for 9 years. He returned to Blanchard in September of 2022 to lead technician development efforts.

Session #2

Speakers

• Mary Corley - Tri County Technical College
  Mary Corley is the Program Director of the SCDOT Technician Certification Program as well as the MSHA Safety Training Program at Tri-County Technical College in Pendleton. Mary holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from Clemson University. She has been involved in workforce training and development related to the mining and construction industries for over 20 years, including establishment of both the highway inspector training program (www.tctc.edu/prehwy) and the heavy equipment operator training program (www.tctc.edu/heo) at Tri-County Technical College. She also serves on the SCAA Education Committee and the SCDOT HMA Quality Improvement Committee. She lives in Pendleton with her husband, 2 children, and 2 dogs.

Session #2

Speakers

• Rick Todd - SC Trucking Association
  J. Richards “Rick” Todd is the president and CEO of the South Carolina Trucking Association, an “alliance of businesses that use trucks.” Their advocacy has positioned South Carolina’s motor carriers with excellent operating and tax conditions, by leading or participating in initiatives reforming and restructuring state government, and improving highway infrastructure. Restoring fairness to the state’s auto-liability system is a top priority so that the state’s commercial fleets can competitively serve the state’s economic demands. Rick is a Columbia native and began his career at SCTA in 1979 upon graduation from the University of South Carolina with a Degree in Journalism. He has been CEO since 1988. He has chaired, held leadership positions, and received numerous distinguished awards from state and national associations and organizations. Susan and Rick have a daughter he calls “Molly.”

Session #2

Speakers

• Libby Pritchard - Director, Occupational Health, Safety & Sustainability
  Libby is the Occupational Health, Safety and Sustainability Director for NSSGA where she works on safety, sustainability, community relations, and workforce development issues. Libby has ten years of experience in the mining industry and previously worked for Wildish Sand and Gravel in Eugene, Oregon managing environmental, health, safety, and land use programs. She is currently a member of NIOSH’s Mine Safety and Health Research Advisory Committee. Prior to working in the aggregates industry, she completed two master’s degrees at Oregon State University where she focused on the reclamation of aggregate pits and conflict management in the western US and worked at the National Science Foundation as a social scientist. Libby lives in northern Virginia with her husband Matthew and their two dogs – Annabelle and Finn.

Tuesday Keynote Address

Speakers

• Tom Hill - CEO - Vulcan Materials Company
  Tom Hill is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Vulcan Materials Company. Mr. Hill has provided operational and strategic leadership at the Company for nearly 30 years. He has served in numerous operations and general management roles with P&;L responsibility, including as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President of the South Region, and President of two of Vulcan’s divisions.

Session #3

Speakers

• Cliff Selkinghaus - SCAPA
  Recently Cliff Selkinghaus joined the SCAPA team after 28 years + of service with the SCDOT. Cliff serves as the Technical Director at SCAPA now and provides technical assistance to our SCAPA members, state, and local agencies, as well as professional engineers, architects, and developers. At SCDOT, Selkinghaus served as the Asphalt Materials Manager, where he oversaw the daily operation for asphalt binder and emulsion testing, asphalt extraction, asphalt mix design, and asphalt field inspection for the Office of Materials and Research. Cliff was the previous chair of the SCDOT Asphalt Quality Improvement Committee, as well as the 2022-2023 Chairman of SEAUPG. In addition, he served as a SCDOT member of various other research studies at NCAT (Test Track and CAPRI), Clemson University, and Tri County Technical College. Selkinghaus routinely assists with training in all asphalt certification programs for Tri County Technical College and serves on the Asphalt Technician Certification Task Force.

Session #3

Speakers

• Vikki Bartlett - - K & R Group
  Ms. Bartlett is one of the managing partners of K&R Group, Inc - Loadrite. K&R Group represents the Loadrite and Brigade equipment lines in the Southeast, including the states of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. With more than 25 years of experience, she is well acquainted with the advanced technology of on-board weighing systems. In addition, Ms. Bartlett has extensive experience in maximizing the information provided by on-board scale systems. She also serves on the NCAA and SCAA Safety Committees as well as SCAA Education Committee, and has an interest in area of safety management for mobile equipment.

Session #3

Speakers

• Seth Fargher - Heightened Creative
  Having spent more than a decade curating content in the power-sports world as a journalist and contributing editor, Seth Fargher is no stranger to dirt. After recognizing a tremendous need in the construction space, Seth turned his focus to helping construction companies update and enhance their image with compelling digital content and Construction Video Pros was born. Seth has fine tuned his craft over the last decade and worked with clients ranging from asphalt and aggregate producers to utility and site work companies, wood processors and many more. His "boots on the ground" approach to storytelling and creating content has given him a tremendous look inside the world of construction and the companies he serves.

Session #4

Speakers

• Bob Morgan - President and CEO of SC Chamber of Commerce

Session #5

Speakers

• Kevin Yanik - Editor-in-Chief
  Kevin Yanik is editor-in-chief of Pit & Quarry magazine, editorial advisor to Portable Plants magazine, and an editorial director at parent company North Coast Media. Almost all of Kevin’s professional career has been focused in B2B media, joining NCM in its founding year (2012) and initially working on Pit & Quarry, Portable Plants, and LP Gas. He was promoted to editor-in-chief of Pit & Quarry in 2017.

Session #6

Speakers

• Susanna Mikaelyan - VP, Talent, Learning and Change
  Susanna Mikaelyan leads the Talent Management efforts at Summit Materials, a leading vertically integrated materials-based company that supplies aggregates, cement, ready-mix concrete and asphalt in the United States and British Columbia, Canada. With over a decade of Talent Management experience, Susanna has devoted her career to empowering professionals on their journey to career advancement. Serving as a catalyst for instilling a culture of continuous learning and future readiness, her strategic initiatives influence organizational decision-makers, steering them toward integrating talent and succession planning as pivotal components of their business strategy. Susanna holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Resources, Masters in Business Administration, and a Graduate Certificate in Organizational Development from the University of Denver, CO.

Wednesday Keynote

Speakers

• Justin Ganschow - Caterpillar Safety Services
  With 20 years of experience in public health and private industry, Justin Ganschow is a sought-after international keynote speaker and writer on the impact of leadership and human biology on workplace safety and culture. His thought-provoking, science-based content and emotion-stirring real-world experiences engage dozens of audiences around the world each year. From growing up on a farm to working as an EHS professional in the heavy equipment manufacturing industry and serving as a consultant to a variety of industries, Justin focuses on the “why” behind the “what” – inspiring frontline employees, leaders, executives and safety professionals alike to think and perform at a higher level. Currently he serves as Business Development Manager with Caterpillar Safety Services in Peoria, Illinois. Justin is a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM) and Certified Safety Professional (CSP) with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and a Master of Science in Biology from Bradley University.