People on the Move: Arup, BetterFleet, HNTB and Stantec

April 18, 2023
Personnel updates from around the transit industry

Jon Cicconi has joined Arup as principal to lead its new U.S. architecture practice based in New York City. Already having established a strong presence in Canada, Arup’s architecture practice will expand the firm’s service offerings in the U.S., focusing on the rail, transit and infrastructure markets, enhancing solutions for clients in sustainable design, diversifying the firm’s market portfolio and geographic offerings and strengthening partnerships with other design collaborators.

Cicconi joins Arup from Skidmore Owings & Merrill, where he was a New York design studio leader. He has decades of experience working on award-winning projects, including Moynihan Train Hall in Manhattan and Denver Union Station.

BetterFleet has appointed Mike Bismeyer as director of sales and client solutions for North America, and Holly Montalban has joined as director of marketing.

With 15 years of experience in the transit industry, Bismeyer was most recently director of Canada sales at Proterra, where he was responsible for the company’s expansion into the Canadian market, bringing electric buses, charging systems and energy management software to transit agencies from coast to coast. As an award-winning sales director at Proterra, Bismeyer drove the acquisition of key customer accounts with record-breaking projects that set new standards for transit fleet electrification across the continent. Bismeyer is also a member of the board of directors for the Canadian Urban Transit Association.

Montalban also joins BetterFleet from Proterra, where she was director of marketing, leading a team responsible for marketing electric buses and charging solutions to transit agencies, airports, universities and commercial fleet operators throughout North America. Prior to Proterra, she led U.S. marketing and communications for Mercedes-Benz Energy and previously was with Engie Storage marketing energy storage solutions for commercial applications.

HNTB Corporation has named Maurice Henderson II its vice president, corporate development. Henderson brings two decades of technical expertise and leadership experience at the highest levels, in the public and private sectors. He has extensive experience in transportation, technology management, legislative affairs, intergovernmental relations, budgeting, labor relations, grants management, data analytics and process improvement.

Prior to joining HNTB, Henderson was a senior member of the immediate executive support team to the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary of Transportation in managing the day-to-day operations for a department that was the largest administration cabinet agency recipient of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), receiving more than $660 billion over five years. As a senior advisor to the secretary, the role provided strategic and tactical guidance related to policy initiatives, stakeholder engagement and management initiatives within the department to senior leadership in the Office of the Secretary and across the Operating Administrations, including the implementation of IIJA and Inflation Reduction Act activities.

Also during his time at USDOT, Henderson worked on behalf of the secretary, contributing to the creation of and participating in various working groups and White House task forces, including the White House’s Private Sector Working Group, Workforce Development Working Group, the Equitable Federal Procurement Interagency Policy Council, as well as internal USDOT working groups on innovation, private sector engagement and others.

Henderson also has held leadership positions at TriMet, a private-sector electric transportation firm, as well as with the city of Portland, Ore., the District of Columbia government, the Commonwealth of Virginia government and multiple political campaigns.

Stantec has selected Dave Sauve to lead its transportation business line for North America. Sauve will be responsible for overseeing the business’s financial performance, talent attraction and development, resource management, client relationships and project delivery. Stantec’s transportation business employs more than 2,500 people and is the largest business line within Infrastructure, which represents 29 percent of the firm’s business.

Sauve was most recently Stantec’s infrastructure innovation leader and infrastructure major projects leader for Canada, where he focused on digital solutions and supported innovation development programs.

Sauve joined the company in 2004 and has previously led Stantec’s business in both the greater Toronto area and Ottawa.

Brian Norris has been Stantec’s transportation business leader for over three years and will be taking over the firm’s growing Program and Construction Management (PM/CM) business. Norris has already been central to some of Stantec’s most iconic PM/CM projects such as the Honolulu Rail Transit project and the Los Angeles Metro Purple Line Extension. With newly invested infrastructure funding in the United States and Canada and favorable prospects globally, Stantec is poised to grow its PM/CM business significantly across its infrastructure, water engineering, energy and resources and buildings businesses, as well as numerous geographies. 

About the Author

Brandon Lewis | Associate Editor

Brandon Lewis is a recent graduate of Kent State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Lewis is a former freelance editorial assistant at Vehicle Service Pros.com in Endeavor Business Media’s Vehicle Repair Group. Lewis brings his knowledge of web managing, copyediting and SEO practices to Mass Transit Magazine as an associate editor.