The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District Open House was held Jan. 17 at the Seelbach Hotel in downtown Louisville, Ky.
The Louisville District Open House is an annual event that gives contractors interested in working with the Corps the opportunity to learn more about program projects. Contractors can ask questions and network with key members of the Louisville District. In return, the Corps has the opportunity to gather feedback from contractors about its working performance.
This year’s Open House hosted around 400 contractors, almost doubling the amount of attendees at last year’s event held in the cafeteria of the Ramono Mazzoli Federal Building. Representatives from the congressional offices of Sen. Mitch McConnell, Rep. John Yarmuth, Rep. Ron Lewis and Rep. Baron Hill were also present at the event.
Contractors who attended the open house had a positive outlook on the events of the day. Walter Heinz, vice president and Army client service manager with CH2MHill, a full-service engineering, construction and operations firm, said he attended the open house to gain insight into future business opportunities and to understand current trends.
“This open house is the most open and in-depth of many districts,” said Heinz.
His colleague, CH2MHill Program Manager Douglas Malik, said he learned a lot and material presented was very informative. According to Malik, the large turnout of contractors is due to the depth of the material covered and the effort put into the event.
The daylong event began with a welcoming by Louisville District Commander and District Engineer Col. Raymond G. Midkiff. He spoke about the military construction transformation that the U.S. Army is undergoing, the new request for proposals alignment and stressed how important contractors’ feedback is to the Louisville District.
“We learn more from you than we put out at these conferences,” said Midkiff during his opening remarks.
Presentations about the District programs by branch chiefs were made during the morning session of the Open House. These programs include civil, military, reserve, environmental and centers of standardization. After each presentation, the branch chiefs had a question and answer period with the contractors.
David Dale, deputy district engineer and chief of Planning, Programs, and Project Management Division, emphasized to the contractors the importance of maintaining a
positive attitude during the transitional period of the U.S. Army. He said the District,
partnering with contractors, “is doing great things”.
According to Diane McCartin, project manager and presenter, taking every opportunity to network with the contractors contributed significantly to the success of the Reserve Program.
“We need to be partnered up with you to execute our program,” said McCartin during her presentation.
Lunch was held in conjunction with the Kentuckiana Post of the Society of American Military Engineers monthly meeting in the cafeteria of the Ramono Mazzoli Federal Building. During the afternoon session, contractors were able to visit Corps offices and meet with Corps representatives for one-on-one networking.