sept-2017

102 103 smaller scale projects, our role is providing high- end technologies to resolve site specific issues and for very large projects, we can accomplish the work in short order because we can mobilize and deploy anywhere.” In addition, the company has strong relation- ships with the regulating community that, accord- ing to Thalken, helps to get the “necessary buy in” for its innovative approaches to solving problems. “We’re the only environmental firm in the nation that can say we have both a former EPA Regional Administrator and a former Army Corps of En- gineers District Commander on staff.” Company President, Bob Varney, is the former New England Regional Administrator of the Environmental Pro- tection Agency who also served as Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Environ- mental Services under three different governors. Thalken, himself, a 25- year veteran of the U.S. Army, was the Commander of the New England District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before coming to Normandeau. “So, we understand how the regulating community works and what they need in order to accept some of these innovative approaches,” he adds. Finally, in addition to its differentiated services and its pedigreed executives, Normandeau Asso- ciates actively participates in publishing scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, which gives its innovative solutions professional approbation. “Many of our scientists prepare articles for peer-re- viewmagazines,”Thalken relates. “And for many of our clients, that’s helpful because if we can present in a peer-reviewed journal, then, by definition, the basis and the subject of that article can be consid- ered best technology available. That can help our PREFERRED VENDOR n Environmental Assessment Services www.easbio.com ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT SERVICES Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Natives of Kodiak MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE A pivotal credential for helping public agencies and corporations solve the growing need for supplier diversity Alaska Native Corporation (ANC) Owned 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business Environmental Assessment Services, LLC (EAS), located in Richland, Washington, provides high-qual- ity environmental science, field technology, and other technical services to help our clients meet often-complex environmental regulations, policies, and other challenges while maintaining operational objectives. EAS provides a highly skilled and expe- rienced technical team dedicated to exceeding our clients’ expectations. n Spill Response & Natural Resource Damage Assessments n Hazardous Waste Site Remedial Investigations, Risk Assessments, & Environmental Surveillance n Ecological Characterization & Restoration n Ecological & Cultural Resource Compliance n Environmental Site Assessment & Wetland Delineation OUR AREAS OF EXPERTISE INCLUDE: WWW.EASBIO.COM NORMANDEAU ASSOCIATES clients present alternative approaches to what the regulating community might have considered as best technology available.” Currently, Thalken says that the company is working on several innovative sustainability proj- ects. “One is coastal resiliency,” he relates. “Rather than hard engineering structures, there are other ways to solve coastal resiliency issues associated with sea level rise - things like living breakwa- ters, for example, and salt marshes, as opposed to barriers on the shoreline. Our work with fish survivability has involved fish-friendly turbines and fish passage structures like fish ladders and fish-friendly culverts. And we’ve been contracted by various departments of transportation to look at the impact on their infrastructures from cli- mate change. So, most of our sustainability work is involved in softer solutions and how best to ac- commodate a greener approach from the natural resources side.” Going forward, Thalken says that Normandeau Associates is always looking at the potential for expansion, both through organic growth, by aug- menting the services it provides and expanding into parts of the country where it currently has no presence, as well as by acquisition; but only if it doesn’t place the company’s financial future at risk. “We’re an employee-owned firm, so we’re not driven in the same way that a publicly-trad- ed firm might be to maximize its stock value,” he asserts. “So, I would contend that our growth goals are focused more on the long term to make sure that our growth is deliberate and not dis- tracted by the shiny thing of the moment that, in a few years, may not prove to be a wise way to go. We’ve had some discussions recently with other firms that were interested in being acquired by us because of our emphasis on sound, science-based work. But we’re not interested in being acquired; we like controlling our own destiny.”