Michael Holder, P.E., Chief Engineer, NC Department of Transportation

Mike Holder was appointed to the position of Chief Engineer for North Carolina DOT in January 2014, continuing a 29 year career within the Department. As Chief Engineer, he oversees and directs program activities of the 14 Transportation Divisions, as well as Preconstruction, Asset Management, Transportation Safety & Mobility, the Transportation Engineering Associate Program and Field Support.  Prior to being named Chief Engineer, Mr. Holder served for 13 years as  Division Engineer in Division 12, which includes Gaston, Cleveland, Iredell, Alexander, Catawba and Lincoln counties. He previously served as a Division Construction Engineer for Division 9 in Winston-Salem and Resident Engineer for Division 7 in Greensboro.  He is a 1984 graduate of NC State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and is a licensed professional engineer in North Carolina.

John F. Sullivan, II, P.E., Division Administrator, FHWA North Carolina Division

John Sullivan became Division Administrator for the Federal Highway Administration in North Carolina in 2003, where he leads a multi-level disciplinary staff that provides technical assistance and guidance to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, Metropolitan Planning Organizations and local governments.  From 1997 to 2003, he was the Assistant Division Administrator in South Carolina, after serving in several positions within FHWA at the Division and Headquarters level.  Mr. Sullivan joined the FHWA in 1985, entering the Highway Engineer Training Program. Prior to joining the FHWA, Mr. Sullivan worked with an engineering firm in Norfolk, Virginia.  He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute, with Distinction, in 1983, with a BSCE.  In addition to his position in North Carolina, Mr. Sullivan also serves as a Co-Chair of the North Carolina Interagency Leadership Team.  This group of federal and State transportation and resource agency leaders in North Carolina are working together to develop and implement an interagency leadership plan for North Carolina to balance successfully mobility, natural and cultural resource protection, community values, and economic vitality at the confluence of our respective missions.

Dennis Jernigan, P.E., Division Construction Engineer, NC Department of Transportation, Division 5

Dennis Jernigan is a North Carolina Professional Engineer and a 23-year veteran of the North Carolina Department of Transportation. He is a 1990 graduate of North Carolina State University where he majored in civil engineering with a construction focus.  Throughout his NCDOT career, Dennis has concentrated on construction administration, serving in the roles of Assistant Resident Engineer, Resident Engineer, Roadway Construction Engineer and currently and since 2007 as the Division 5 Construction Engineer.  As Division Construction Engineer, he and his staff of five Resident Engineer offices oversee all construction, rehabilitation, resurfacing, and bridge replacement projects in Division 5, which includes Wake, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Vance, Warren and Person Counties.

Sherry Yarkosky, Recycling Business Development Specialist, NC Department of Environment & Natural Resources

Sherry Yarkosky is part of a team within NCDENR's Recycling Business Assistance Center (RBAC) that works one-on-one with recycling companies to assess needs and provide direct and indirect assistance through partnering with appropriate agencies.  Ms. Yarkosky joined RBAC in May 2003, after previously working for RTI International, HDR Engineering and Mecklenburg County Solid Waste Management.  In addition to providing business development assistance to all types of recycling companies in North Carolina, Sherry  coordinates the North Carolina recycling industry employment study updates and manages the N.C. Recycling Markets Directory. Sherry is a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the University of North Carolina.  

Christopher Peoples, P.E., State Materials Engineer, NC Department of Transportation

Mr. Peoples was appointed North Carolina's State Materials Engineer in December 2009, following assignments as a NCDOT Chemical Testing Engineer and Assistant Physical Testing Engineer.  A graduate of NC State University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering, Mr. Peoples is also active in the national transportation industry, where he is a committee member of TRB Committees AFP70 and AFN20; Vice Chair of the AASHTO Subcommittee on Materials (SOM) TS 4b task force; Vice Chairman of the National Transportation Product Evaluation Program; and the AASHTO SOM liaison to the Transportation Curriculum Coordination Council. 

S.T. Wooten Corporation is a 60-year old family-owned business headquartered in Wilson, NC, providing construction materials (asphalt and ready mix concrete) as well as construction services spanning the gamut from sitework and utilities to paving and highways.  The company prides itself on incorporating sustainable construction practices, and has won a number of awards for environmental stewardship.  An active member of NAPA, NRMCA and CDRA, S. T. Wooten is helping to develop standards for energy management in the construction industry through its involvement with U.S. EPA's ENERGY STAR partnership.  Mr. Croom has been employed with S. T. Wooten Corporation since 1985 where he has been responsible for the company's QC Program for their asphalt plants and paving operations, asphalt mix designs, materials acquisition and R & D.  Chris is active in the Carolina Asphalt Paving Association, and is a member of the joint NCDOT/CAPA Joint Technical Committee.

Cecil Jones, PE, FACI, President, Diversified Engineering Services; former Chair, AASHTO Recycling Task Force

Diversified Engineering Services provides quality management services to clients along with specification development, new technology development support, training and general consulting services.  Prior to establishing Diversified Engineering Services,  Mr. Jones worked with the North Carolina Department of Transportation over 30 years with assignments ranging from field construction engineering to the position of State Materials Engineer, where he was responsible for the overall management of the materials quality system for the Department’s 80,000 miles of state-maintained highway system.  He is an active member of The Transportation Research Board where he is a committee Chair and has served on numerous NCHRP research panels monitoring research efforts on a variety of materials related work in the transportation area.  He was actively involved in AASHTO activities including the Subcommittee on Materials Executive Committee where he was a Regional Vice Chair and led the Recycling Task Force.

Joe Harvey, Asphalt Products Manager, J.T. Russell & Sons

J.T. Russell & Sons is a family owned construction company headquartered in Albemarle, NC.  JTR offers a variety of asphalt products and services, ranging from grading, paving, and hot mix asphalt to recycling and more.  From its establishment in 1939, the company has grown to multiple locations, including asphalt plants in New Londron, Conover, Charlotte, and Lexington, NC. Joe Harvey began working for J.T. Russell & Sons in 1999, where his primary role is QC Manager for four HMA plants, mobile recycling operations, rock quarry, and three liquid asphalt terminals.  Joe's other responsibilities include terminal logistics, product development, asphalt mix design and asphalt pricing.  Joe is a 1998 graduate of UNC-Charlott with a B.S. in Geology, and holds numerous certifications through NCDOT, as well as serving as a member of the NCDOT/CAPA (Carolina Asphalt Paving Association) Asphalt Technical Committee.

Craig Wallace is the Eastern Region Technical Manager for Headwaters Resources, one of the largest distributers of fly ash in the US.  He holds a BA from Saint Leo University in Florida and a MBA from Regis University in Colorado. His current duties at Headwaters include managing quality assurance, regulatory compliance reporting, lab technician training, technical sales support and special projects for 26 states east of the Mississippi River. Craig is a voting member of the American Concrete Institute Committee 232 “Fly ash in concrete” and an associate member of Committee 201 “Durability of Concrete.”  Craig’s experiences with concrete started in the Los Angeles basin in 1982. Since that time, he has managed the design and production of 6 million cubic yards of concrete and 16 million tons of aggregates for bridges, dams, hospitals, high-rises, military bases, sea ports, paving projects, etc., throughout the Western United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  In addition to its traditional market in PCC concrete, Headwaters has focused on increasing the utilization of ash in building products such as mortars, stuccos and masonry products as well as developing products that utilize CCP's in road bases, structural fills, industrial fillers and agricultural applications. 

John Yzenas, Director of Technical Sales, Edw. C. Levy Co.

John J. Yzenas, Jr. is the Director of Technical Sales for the Edw. C. Levy Co. and also serves as the Technical Expert for the National Slag Association.  Mr. Yzenas has been enagaged in the construction and contruction materials industry for over 30 years, working in operations, quality and new product development.  He serves on and participates in many state and national committees dealing with aggregate issues, including TRB and ASTM, where he has chaired numerous committees.  John is an ASTM International Fellow and a member of the Indiana Aggregates Association Aggregate Hall of Fame.

Elizabeth Olenbush, Program Adminstrator, Industrial Resources Council

Elizabeth Olenbush is President of EO Associates, a WBE that provides sustainabilty training, environmental communications, strategic business planning and marketing services to public and private sector clients.  Ms. Olenbush founded EO Associates in 1994, following five years of service as the Director of Marketing for the Steel Recycling Institute.  Her work with the transportation sector began during her tenure as a contractor for the Wisconsin Recycling Market Development Board in 1995.  From 1999 to 2009, Ms. Olenbush served as Executive Director for Foundry Industry Recycling Starts Today, where she was one of the founding directors of the Industrial Resources Council.  She continues to provide project management services for the IRC and AFS-FIRST, in addition to Green Facilities Training through community colleges and workforce development programs in New England and the mid-Atlantic states. 

Brian Gibson founded Tri-State Sand in Johnson City, Tennessee in 1995, early in his career in the construction industry.  One aspect of the company's focus as a supplier of construction materials is to function as a reuse broker, developing appropriate applications and design mixes for materials from industrial and commercial sources.  In addition to aggregate sales, Tri-State Sand is a regional supplier of asphalt materials, including ani-strip systems, binders, and warm mix additives.  Tri-State also provides plant maintenance and transportation services for its customers, primarily in the Tri-State area of Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia.  Mr. Gibson holds a BA in Mathematics from the University of Virginia's College at Wise.

Gary Gittere, Sales & Marketing Manager, McGill Premium Compost Products

McGill Environmental Systems is an organics recycling company founded in 1991, with multiple composting operations in North Carolina, Viriginia and Ireland. McGill specializes in composting biodegradable maerials from industrial, municipal and agribusiness sources.  The company recycles about 400,000 tons of material annually to manufacture 370,000 cubic yards of compost for professional landscaping, sports turf, erosion control and agricultural markets. Gary Gittere heads sales and marketing for McGill Premium Compost Products, where he is leading McGill's compost market development team as the company prepares to open additional industrial-scale compost manufacturing facilities.  Gary has focused on the development of technical training programs for professionals in the Turfgrass, landscaping, agriculture and environmental industries, including engineers and specification writers managing programs for stormwater and erosion control in the southeast. He is a board member of the North Carolina Composting Council. In 2011, the U.S. Composting Council named McGill "Composter of the Year" in recognition of its 20 years of achievement in compost production, marketing and education.