GHA's Tom Rychlik Experiences of Sports Courts
GHA's Tom Rychlik Experiences of Sports Courts
GHA hosted a Continuing Education seminar for Park District professionals covering the facts and details needed to complete a successful Sports Courts project.
GHA’s Tom Rychlik, P.E., LEED AP presented valuable guidance and insights he has gained over his 25 years of engineering Sports Courts.
Also providing important information were Don Matthews, P.E., CFM, and Walter Graft, P.E., and Park District veteran Greg Petry bringing decades of experience with successful court projects.
Facilities & Utilities Management Division Hosts C.E. Event
Facilities & Utilities Management Division Hosts Continuing Ed Event
GHA Facilities and Utilities Management Division hosted a Continuing Education Credit event for Public Works personnel from around the Chicagoland area. It was great to see so many dedicated professionals coming together to learn and share best practices.
The presentation covered a range of important topics related to hydrant maintenance, including some of the latest trends and challenges in the field. We were delighted to have American Flow Control and A.Y. McDonald Mfg. Co. on hand to share their expertise and insights.
We believe continuous learning and professional development are essential to providing the best possible service to our communities. That’s why we’re proud to support events like this and to work with partners who share our commitment to excellence. Thanks to everyone who attended and to all the presenters. We look forward to continuing the conversation and collaborating on more events in the future.
GHA Announces New Service Divisions
GHA Announces New Service Divisions
As GHA expands our expertise in a wider variety of services, the rapid growth of several service lines has sparked the need to create their own divisions. Now, in addition to GHA’s Municipal, Transportation, Data Collection, Site Design, Construction/Survey, and Finance/Admin Divisions, we introduce, and congratulate the new Directors of:
GEOSPATIAL SERVICES
When GHA began providing GIS services in 1997, it was not yet known how useful GIS would become – creating management tools for a variety of organizations, including governmental, educational, recreational, and more. GIS has advanced at a rapid rate and staying in step with advances has led GHA to this point. Through technical skill and client-centric project management, Greg Newton now leads a team of GIS Analysts who serve our clients at a high level, with responsive service and scalability in mind.
GREG NEWTON, GISP
Director of Geospatial Services
FACILITIES & UTILITIES MANAGEMENT
GHA was fortunate when Mike Grinnell retired from Lake County Public Works and joined GHA putting his extensive knowledge in the Public Works world, with an experienced eye and treasures of insight in projects that interface with public works priorities. This led to GHA introducing Water Operations services for numerous municipal clients that were in great need of assistance. This service, along with a variety of public works support services are now crucial to maintaining essential operations.
MIKE GRINNELL
Director of Facilities & Utilities Management
HUMAN RESOURCES
Human Resources is important to any organization, but for GHA, it is even more. As a firm experiencing high growth, recruiting and on-boarding are only the beginning. GHA looks to Anika and the Human Resources Division to help develop our unique culture that embraces and advances diversity, opportunities for personal and professional growth, as well as managing a large collection of employee benefits. GHA’s HR activities previously operated as part of the Finance & Administration Division.
ANIKA MOORE, MAIO
Director of Human Resources
We will miss you, Mike Shrake! 37 Years of Service
Mike Shrake Retires After 37 Years with GHA
We thank Mike Shrake for all his years of leadership, mentorship, and dedicated service to GHA. Mike was GHA’s first intern starting in 1985, became a full-time employee in 1986, Associate Partner in 1991, Principal in 2011, Director of the Construction/Survey Division in 2014, President in 2017, and CEO in 2021.
Mike’s emphasis was always on building strong and trusted relationships with our GHA team, our clients, permitting agencies, the contractors we work with, as well as many stakeholders in the communities we have worked in. Mike’s desire and goal for each project he worked on was to have a positive impact on our client and the community. Mike has developed and maintained strong, positive relationships with many in the industry throughout his career because of his high integrity and his sincere desire to make the communities he works in a better place for all.
Over Mike’s career, he was the Project Manager on several high-profile projects. Mike also served as Village Engineer to many communities that we still represent; that includes the Village of Kildeer, Riverwoods, Lake Barrington, Long Grove, and Wadsworth. Mike had mentored and transitioned the role of Village Engineer to others to give them the opportunities to develop their skills, responsibilities, and advancement in their careers.
Thanks for 37 years of Mike Shrake!
Welcome to GHA, Scott Gaunky, CPMM
Welcome to GHA, Scott Gaunky
GHA is delighted to announce the addition of Scott Gaunky, CPMM to GHA’s Leadership, bringing 40 years of educational facility maintenance and construction project experience. Scott recently retired from his long-time role as Director of Facilities for the Lincolnshire-Prairie View School District and is well known for excellence in management, guidance, and training of personnel, budgets and inventory management, and maintenance program planning and execution. He provided Construction Project Management of more than $53 Million in buildings and grounds projects.
Scott Gaunky joins GHA as Principal in our Site Design Division and will share his expertise across the GHA organization. Clients will benefit from his decades of service and the insights gained in facility management.
Award Winning! Gillson Park Beach House
Award Winning! Gillson Park Beach House
We’re delighted that AIA Chicago awarded Wilmette Park District’s Gillson Park Beach House a Design Excellence Award at AIA Chicago’s DESIGNIGHT 2022, the premier architectural celebration celebrating the global design achievements of members, was hosted at Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park on Monday, September 12, 2022.
GHA is proud to have worked with the talented team from Woodhouse Tinucci Architects on the project, providing a wide range of civil engineering and support services including survey, conceptual site planning, preliminary and final design, permitting, and construction engineering across the 60-acre shoreline site.
Learn more about GHA’s contribution to this highly successful project.
Greg Newton, GISP Presents at NaTMEC
Greg Newton, GISP Presents at NaTMEC 2022
GHA is excited to return to the National Travel Monitoring Exposition and Conference (NaTMEC). Greg Newton, GISP conducted a presentation outlining the integration of GIS into our Traffic Data Collection services, and the efficiencies created by that integration including meeting project requirements, improving field support, stakeholder transparency, and the distribution of deliverables. Greg brings a unique perspective in his roles as Assistant Director of Data Collection Services and GIS Manager for our firm.
The National Travel Monitoring Exposition and Conference (NaTMEC) provides travel monitoring professionals and transportation data users from around the world opportunities to share knowledge and good practices, exchange ideas, revisit fundamental concepts, learn new processes, procedures and techniques, and see the latest advancements in policy, technology, and equipment.
Burr Oak Area Storm Sewer Improvements
GHA's Mike Warner at Burr Oak Area DCEO project groundbreaking ceremony.
GHA Principal, Mike Warner, P.E., CFM, participated with Lake County and City of Lake Forest officials to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Burr Oak Area Storm Sewer Improvement Project. This project includes the construction of storm sewer upgrades and underground storage facilities for residential and business areas within the north downtown area of Lake Forest.
The Burr Oak Area Storm Sewer Improvement Project is funded in part by federal American Recovery Plan Act coronavirus relief funding distributed through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
Mike Warner, Principal of Water Resources, is a key figure in GHA’s project team on this important project. He joined GHA in 2020 following his longtime role as Executive Director of Lake County Stormwater Management Commission where he led the agency in planning, engineering, design and construction of stormwater programs and projects.
GHA Elevates GIS Services
GHA is excited to announce a major overhaul and upgrade to our GIS web servers and data hosting environment. After months of research and discussions, GHA migrated from an on-premises GIS server to a managed cloud-based environment.
As a client, you are not expected to experience any downtime during business hours. This upgrade will allow us to provide better service with faster applications and less downtime.
Migrating to a cloud environment will allow us to provide better service on several fronts:
Faster performance – Web applications will load and run noticeably faster for clients and mobile users. Our current system sits behind layers of firewalls and IT security that cause maps to load slower than we’d like. The new system will run faster for all users, increasing efficiency and decreasing frustration.
Increased Availability & Reliability – GIS in the Cloud can put out information in the public domain, for continuous updates and open access. Down time will be significantly reduced if not eliminated.
Easier Accessibility for Users – Services are available automatically, regardless of the user’s location, and consumers are not required to interact with each service provider. Consumers do not necessarily need technical knowledge of computing services to be able to access and share information.
Unlimited Users – Clients can add unlimited users to access secured services or edit data in the field/office.
Increased Security – The structure of new system reduce the risk of hackers while maintaining GHA’s standard of data security. GIS data will be backed up every 4 hours, meaning your data is always secure.
Scalability – As your GIS database and resources increase in size, our new system will be able to accommodate for years and years to come.
Reduced Maintenance Costs – The new system will require less maintenance and administration time for GHA staff, meaning less cost for clients.
Up-to-Date Technology – The cloud system will allow GHA to more easily upgrade to the latest software meaning clients to the latest GIS solutions and resources.
For more information about GHA’s valuable GIS services, contact Greg Newton, GISP
Todd Gordon Named CEO
Todd Gordon Named CEO
Todd P. Gordon, P.E., was named Chief Executive Officer of GHA. Gordon has been with GHA for over 22 years and has served as Director of Construction and Survey, and Director of Transportation Services. He has brought consistently excellent leadership and vision, and is poised to guide GHA now and into the future with emphasis on an inclusive culture, community involvement, and a wide variety of opportunities for GHA staff growth.
Todd P. Gordon is a Registered Professional Engineer practicing for over 30 years as a Civil Engineer with emphasis on municipal engineering, roadway design and construction engineering. Prior to joining GHA, Mr. Gordon served as Assistant Director of Engineering for the Village of Gurnee.