Parkhill Honors 2023 Excellence Awards Recipients

Parkhill’s annual Excellence Awards recognize exceptional individuals who represent Parkhill’s values at work as well as in their communities. This year, ten individuals were selected through a firmwide nomination process and celebrated at the 2023 University of Parkhill Event in Dallas, Texas. Congratulations to all of this year’s recipients of the Excellence Awards!

Building Community Award – Recognizes a spirit of service dedicated to improving communities

Eric West, PE, has served Parkhill for 25 years and has become deeply rooted in the Midland community where he offices. He is our Director of Site Development, Parkhill’s largest practice in the engineering division, and a firm principal. Eric has directed engineering services for over 4,000 acres of commercial and residential land and master planned more than 11,000 acres in the Permian Basin area. His professional expertise is made even more impactful by his passion for community.

“Eric is very skilled at being able to take a very complex set of challenges that we are presented with, turn it into a vision that everyone can understand and get on board with, and ultimately help the community take those visions from the idea stage to the execution stage,” said Executive Vice-President of Engineering John Hamilton, PE. “He’s one of the best that we have here at Parkhill.”  

Business Development Award – Recognizes those who build brand awareness, connecting services to clients

Claire Tulloch, CCM, NCIDQ, LEED AP ID+C, is our Director of Business Development. Her presence maximizes the strengths of anyone she’s around, and she genuinely takes an interest in getting to know new people. She empowers clients to make informed decisions, connecting physical spaces to users' personal needs. Her demonstrated management, communication, and advocacy skills allow Claire to integrate project goals with the execution of individual tasks and coordinate with multiple stakeholders for seamless project completion and creating enduring relationships.

“It’s the contagious passion she brings with her in everything that she does,” said Vice-President of Marketing Kyle LaFerney. “She has an outlook on life that very few do, and because of that, she’s very natural in being positive… Also, her humble leadership – Claire has no problem working behind the scenes, working with clients, making sure Parkhill gets the win.”

Client Relations Award – Recognizes those who develop enduring relationships to keep people at the center of all we do

Millie Vance provides grant/loan writing, planning, and administrative services to municipalities and rural water districts, serving our Water Resources Practice. She has over 29 years of experience in writing state and federal grant and loan applications and has served approximately 80 cities in Oklahoma with many asking for repeat business. Client relations are key to trusted advisor relationships with our clients. Through her technical and personal experience, she helps Parkhill in building these relationships in the communities we serve.

“She always makes people smile, and you can see that she genuinely cares,” said Director of Water Resources Zane Edwards, PE. “It means everything in her that our clients are getting everything that they need and that she’s doing the best job that she can for them. Millie is just one of those people that you feel comfortable as soon as you meet her.”

Toby Baker, PE, is a senior associate and leads a team for the Aviation Practice in Oklahoma. He has worked on over 165 projects at 41 different airports throughout the state. Through his unique perspective as an active pilot and having flown into many of the airports throughout Oklahoma, he is able to add a unique perspective to a project.

“There are very few people in my eyes that have the commitment to doing things well and doing things right as Toby Baker,” said Director of Aviation Mark Haberer, PE. “You can tell where his heart is. You can tell that he truly loves people, but he truly loves serving people well.”

Design Award – Recognizes those who create inventive, relevant solutions for clients

Troy Luedeker, PE, is a member of Parkhill's Treatment Practice. His focus at Parkhill has been on water and wastewater treatment plants, land application and reuse of treated wastewater effluent, on-site sewage facilities, TCEQ permitting, and water and sanitary sewer systems. Innovative thinking comes naturally to Troy in whatever he is pursuing, including coming up with a more accurate solution to modeling solid deposition in wastewater treatment ponds.

“Troy came up with a remote control boat that can take thousands of data points with sonar so that we could create this really accurate mode,” said Director of Treatment Brian Stephens, PE. “In the wastewater treatment world, that relates to dollars, so that brings value because we have an accurate picture of what clients will spend in future capital expenditures.”  

Knowledge Award – Recognizes subject matter experts who differentiate our services

Brian Griggs, AIA, is a principal and project manager in Parkhill’s Higher Education Practice. Brian has a contagious passion for his work, which includes collegiate and multi-facility master planning, charrette coordination, pre-design programming of higher educational facilities, and the design of instructional, laboratory, student life, and residential facilities for community colleges, CTE institutions, and universities. He demonstrates his knowledge in a variety of ways, including a book he wrote about Texas Tech University’s architectural history, “Opus in Brick and Stone.”

“If you go and ask Brian a question, which might only deserve a five-minute response, you may end up sitting with Brian for an hour, maybe three hours, learning about how your question relates to everything in the world,” said Director of Higher Education Greg Billman, AIA. “You’ll sit there mesmerized with what Brian knows, but when you leave that conversation, you’ll feel much smarter yourself.”

People Development Award – Demonstrates exemplary leadership skills by effectively leading our employees, bringing the best out of individuals, and managing our resources

Ryan Bailey, PE, CBCP, is a principal and the Director of Parkhill's MEP/Structural Practice. He has expertise in mechanical and plumbing system designs on a variety of project types, including local, state, and federal government buildings, schools, churches, office buildings, and warehouse facilities. In addition to design expertise, Ryan specializes in the assessment of existing plumbing and mechanical systems for replacement or repurposing in renovation projects. Ryan has also worked on multiple types of facilities in phased renovation construction to keep owners operating throughout construction.

“I think Ryan has a special understanding of what it means to build community internally to the firm,” said Executive Vice-President of Architecture Dan Hart, FAIA, PE. “He has a knack for understanding the people around him and inspiring them to their best. I think that ability to bring out what every person brings to bear is really crucial to being able to develop people fully.”

Project Management Award – Recognizes those who deliver excellence through engaging collaboration

Kreg Robertson, AIA, is a principal and leads a studio in Parkhill’s Community Practice. For nearly 25 years, Kreg has pursued creating relevant built environments through faith-based design across West Texas. He is attentive to getting to know who people are and is genuine in understanding their position in a collaborative situation. These qualities about Kreg make him memorable on the technical side but, more importantly, on the people side of project delivery.

“So think about Kreg embodying our mission of building community,” said Director of Community Scott Nelson, AIA. “I think he starts at both bookends, the bookend of beginning with how we build community, his focus on not just the community of those he serves but those that he’s immediately around all the way to the end of our mission statement of doing this together. I think for Kreg, you see this embodied in the way he treats people and the way he treats clients.” 

Rising Star Award – Recognizes emerging professionals who make extraordinary contributions within their field 

Luke Fleenor is a mechanical engineer in Parkhill’s MEP Practice. He joined Parkhill 4 years ago, but because of his eagerness to learn and grow, he has excelled in developing knowledge and expertise. Luke has taken on a variety of work in the MEP and does not shy away from any opportunity or responsibility he is assigned.

“It’s hard to be negative when you’re in the room with Luke, because he’s just so eager to do a good job and to work with others,” said Director of MEP/S Ryan Bailey, PE, CBCP. “I think that fact is infectious and spurs the whole team to achieve greater results and produce more excellent higher-quality work because they see Luke and how he engages with projects.”

Nathan Morrow has served in many roles since he joined Parkhill which has given him valuable insight from serving as a survey technician and now as a resident project representative. He has successfully completed many projects with Parkhill, including new waterline installations, roadway surface construction, and repair and tank rehabilitation projects. He has a passion for learning everything he can about projects, and with that knowledge, he has been valuable in a number of different ways with clients and peers.

“He’s been meeting internally with key staff to talk about how he can build his role as a construction manager to not only help out clients but help our internal staff,” said Director of Construction Services Mike Ramirez, PE. “That’s something that we’ve been trying to do as a practice for a few years, and I see Nathan’s potential skyrocketing once he gets a lot of this experience under his belt.”