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11 JAN-MAR 2017 AL CONSTRUCTION NEWS BUILDING ALABAMA P R O J E C T S Building & Earth Names New President • J E FF COWE N, P.G., P.E., HAS B E E N PROMOTE D TO PR E S I D E NT OF B U I LD I NG & EARTH • A founding partner of Building & Earth, Cowen has held a multitude of positions within the company throughout his ten- ure, including chief geotechnical engi- neer, Birmingham branch manager and executive vice president. Prior to his appointment as president, Cowen was chief operating officer. Cowen will assume the position from Deepa Bhate, chairperson and chief executive officer of Building & Earth. He will be responsible for implementing the policies and procedures that align with the strategic vision, as well as provide oversight for corporate services, such as human resources and accounting. "Deepa has had the vision to guide us through both good times and bad, and has taken our company to great heights. My hope is that, by providing leadership to our branches and corporate services, it will free Deepa from the daily operations to allow [greater] focus on the stra- tegic initiatives that will lead us into the future," Cowen said. "I appreciate the confidence placed in me, and as John Lennon once said, I sincerely hope to pass the audition." Added Bhate, "I have always been very impressed with the fact that Cowen has the innate ability to produce a high quality of work quickly under tremendous pressure." Cowen graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor's degree in geology in 1982. He started his career as a technician for a geotechnical firm. During his first four years at the firm, he learned the business from the ground up. His duties expanded from general technician duties to working with the geotechni- cal drilling crews, carrying out deep foundation inspection and completing general site work troubleshooting. Cowen earned his engineering degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 1992 through a program that allowed him to work full time and attend classes at night. Cowen passed the professional engineer (P.E.) exam the same year. After 15 years at a Birmingham-based firm, Cowen joined Bhate and Robert Adams as a founding partner of Building & Earth. The company saw unprecedented growth over the first five years, including the hiring of over 100 employees. As the business began to mature, Cowen was promoted to executive vice president in 2004. He was promoted to chief operating offi- cer in 2007. Cowen has been heavily involved in the financial performance and initiatives to streamline cost throughout the history of the company. "Early on, Jeff said that if we feel a task is very important to our success, we need to make one person fully responsible for it," Bhate said. "Using this strategy has been greatly beneficial to the company's growth and performance." Bhate has held the position of CEO and president since 2004. It is now in the company's best interest to split these positions, so that more focus can be given to strategic development ini- tiatives and to provide leadership and guidance to meet the changing business climate. Bhate will continue to provide over- sight and guidance as the CEO to direct leadership and business development and ensure the company's core principles and values are upheld. "I have great confidence in Jeff's ability to take big-picture ideas, break them down and bring them to fruition," Bhate said. "He has the ability to take a vision and figure out how to accom- plish it; and being president will give him more time and freedom to put strategic initiatives into play." Cowen is already focused on ways to continue the company's growth into 2017 and beyond. "We completed 2016 with 25 per- cent growth and an annual revenue of just over 20 million," he said. "Based on our current backlog and projections our growth will continue. We expect to continue to grow by expanding our operations geographically and better developing existing service lines. The recent acquisition of CTL added geotechnical and environmental drilling to our services, and we are expanding our seismic evaluation abilities to include seismic refraction surveys. This tool allows us to better define the subsurface profile and create a clearer understanding of the associated development costs by identifying the depth of, and thickness of, rippable rock. Continued growth will provide opportunities for future leader- ship to expand their role and grow with the firm." "I have always been very impressed with the fact that Cowen has the innate ability to produce a high quality of work quickly under tremendous pressure." – Deepa Bhate, chairperson and CEO, Building & Earth