FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Athens, GA
June 24, 2020
W&A Engineering Inc., a rapidly growing multidisciplinary engineering firm headquartered in Athens, Georgia, announced today that F. Jerry Hairston, Jr., PE has been named Chief Operating Officer. Brad Tucker, who has been acting as Interim Chief Operating Officer over the past six months and led the search for this position, will stay on as a consultant as Mr. Hairston becomes familiar with his new role.
Jerry joins the W&A Engineering team with more than 30 years’ experience in building and motivating high-performing teams that exceed performance goals. Jerry is experienced in leading key operations in both small businesses looking to grow as well as global, multi-billion-dollar companies.
“Jerry is the right leader for W&A Engineering,” said Jon Williams, President and CEO of W&A Engineering. “Jerry’s extensive operations background and financial acumen will strengthen our firm during these turbulent times and as we continue to develop strategic alliances and expand our footprint across the southeast. As a proven leader, his experience will be invaluable as W&A positions itself for success during the economic recovery period ahead.”
Jerry spent the last four years at WSP, a global engineering consulting firm as Director of Distribution Power Delivery for the Southeastern United States. In this role, he was responsible for leading teams across the US, overseeing distribution and design services. Additionally, Jerry previously worked at Jacobs, an international technical services firm, as Manager of Engineering for the Denver Operations for over a decade. In addition to his experience, Jerry also holds an MBA, with a concentration in Finance, from Georgia State University. Throughout his career, Jerry has demonstrated his ability to streamline operations and maximize project efficiency through the use of strong quality management processes and resource demand and capacity techniques.
“I am very excited to be joining the W&A Engineering team,” said Jerry Hairston. “I believe W&A has a great business model and talented management team that uniquely positions it to capitalize on the changing environment. As the industry evolves through restructuring, consolidation and technology migrations, I believe W&A is in a position to provide a cost-effective and timely suite of design and planning services to help developers and municipalities efficiently manage their projects and maximize their budgets.”
The staff at W&A are also very excited to welcome Jerry in his new role. The leadership and management teams have shown tremendous support as the firm worked through the recruiting process to fill this role. Please join us in welcoming Jerry to the W&A team!
ABOUT W&A ENGINEERING
W&A Engineering started as a one-person landscape architecture firm that has grown over the past two decades into a multidisciplinary firm. Since its inception, the foundation for W&A Engineering’s success has been a commitment to build better communities by providing innovative design, efficient engineering, and professional service, one client at a time. The firm employs a staff of over 50 people across five departments: Civil Engineering, Traffic Engineering, Landscape Architecture, Land Surveying, and Economic Development Consulting. W&A Engineering has managed projects in 45 states and works with over 35 communities in the State of Georgia as their on-call economic development partner. Headquartered in Athens, GA, W&A Engineering also has offices in Augusta, GA, Monroe, GA, and Nashville, TN.