Being part of the Project is a homecoming for Carolyn Bird, P.E., in a couple of different ways. Carolyn is the President of Casco Bay Engineering (CBE) based out of Portland, Maine, but she was raised in Rochester. She has a history and connection with New York. So when she heard about the Project last year, she knew she had found the right opportunity. Not only did it offer the potential of working in her home state, this was also a chance for Carolyn to work with LLTJV subcontracted engineering firm Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA), where she was an employee for nearly a decade.
Carolyn worked for MKA in Seattle during most of the 1990s. Their world-class company trained her as an engineer and helped launch her career. At MKA, she was involved with some incredible projects, including Benaroya Hall (home of the Seattle Symphony) and the Frank Gehry designed Experience Music Project (now the Museum of Pop Culture) at the base of the Seattle Space Needle. In 2000, Carolyn made the difficult decision to leave the company and move to Maine to be closer to her and her husband’s family on the East Coast.
CBE was founded in 2003 and subsequently became DBE/WBE certified in various states throughout the country. CBE’s focus then is the same as it is now: exceptional quality. Carolyn let us know that their commitment to professionalism and taking great care of their clients earns repeat business for the firm. Through this model, Carolyn and her business partner Eric Dube, P.E., Vice President, have steadily grown the company into an eight person team, and are now in their 15th year of operation.
The Project presented an opportunity for CBE to begin working in New York and for Carolyn to join the LLTJV design-build team with her former colleagues at MKA. Fortunately for LLTJV, CBE had recently been certified as a Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) by New York State, which will help LLTJV in meeting the Project’s MWBE participation goal.
Carolyn designated Tony Dumais, P.E., to be CBE’s project manager for their role on the Project. CBE is in charge of the structural engineering and design of the convention center’s new Truck Marshaling Facility. This four-level garage will need to hold over 200 tractor-trailer trucks and will include 27 new loading docks. Carolyn is proud of the experienced and highly competent team she has put together for the Project, each of them with unique and complementary talents. CBE nimbly adjusted their work schedule as needed to accommodate Project deadlines, and Carolyn has been impressed with how smoothly the work has been accomplished.
Of course, none of that is a surprise to Carolyn. She has known Derek Beaman, P.E., S.E., Leader of MKA’s Convention Center Specialist Group, since the mid-1990s. Chris Lubke, P.E., S.E., is the project manager at MKA and Joshua Mouras, P.E., S.E., is the On-Site Lead Engineer. All have been paramount to the Project’s success. Carolyn believes that the positive attitudes and synergy from the collaboration between CBE, MKA, and LLTJV has been contagious throughout the entire Project.
Working on the Project has provided a tremendous opportunity for Carolyn to meet and network with new firms. She hopes that CBE will be able to work with LLTJV on future projects, and that her newly-minted New York Certified WBE firm will continue its expansion into this market.
