The Louisville District Interagency and International Services program is growing. With 11 active projects totaling approximately $69 million under the IIS umbrella in fiscal year 2016, the district is ensuring full visibility, transparency and leadership oversight on the program.
“USACE understands how important our IIS partners are and that we fill a critical need in this mission area,” said Joanne Milo, deputy chief, Louisville District Planning, Programs, and Project Management. “The Louisville District staff is uniquely equipped with both military and civil works expertise and experience and stands ready to deliver on our commitments by providing quality IIS projects to our customers.”
IIS is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers program that provides technical assistance to non-Department of Defense federal agencies, state and local governments, tribal nations, private U.S. firms, international organizations, and foreign governments.
Currently, the district is providing services to several outside agencies including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, Federal Highway Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.
“We are known as an engineering agency of choice across DOD, but the IIS program is the opportunity for us to serve the non-DOD community,” said Milo. “By delivering on our commitments, and providing quality projects for these agencies, we can further grow these professional relationships.”
Under the IIS program, non-Department of Defense agencies are able to access unique support capabilities from the Corps including regional and national experts from USACE laboratories and technical centers of expertise.
“In the Louisville District we have years of engineering, project management, and construction experience from successfully executing the engineering and design of military facilities, implementing environmental restoration projects, and developing civil works solutions,” said Milo.
“Our current IIS work includes a broad spectrum of projects that require a varied range of skills.”
These projects range from smaller projects like replacing windows and fume hoods for the USDA Forest Products Laboratory and conducting Levee System Evaluation studies for local communities to larger, more complex projects like adding a columbarium at the Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis for the VA’s National Cemetery Agency and improving medical facilities at Hines Hospital in Chicago and the Community Based Outpatient Clinic at Fort Knox for the VA. The district is also supporting the VA on future development of a new Veterans medical facility in Louisville, Kentucky.
“We fully recognize that through quality delivery we will establish and grow these trusted relationships,” said Milo. “These stakeholders and customers have a choice to use us or not. We must continue to demonstrate that USACE is the best choice for project execution.”