Tim Simmerly is the CEO of PFES and the President of The Planet Group, our parent company and a leading global provider of specialized consulting services and outsourced human capital solutions to the Technology, Energy / Engineering, Healthcare and Professional Services sectors.
Tim has more than twenty years of experience in talent and human capital services, including13+ years in the engineering and construction consulting industries, primarily supporting large power and energy projects. Tim's leadership ability, business development acumen, and operational excellence are key to his role in expanding The Planet Group into new market segments worldwide. At PFES, in addition to overseeing global strategy and daily operations, he is championing the evolution of our EPC services to keep pace with the challenging and diverse engineering and construction fields.
Tim joined the Planet Group of Companies in 2009 and has held numerous leadership positions including Director of Business Development, Vice President, and Executive Vice President.
Alfred Mackey
Senior Vice President
Alfred has over 40 years of experience successfully implementing mega scale capital investments across the energy sector. He has successfully led both domestic and international projects including Petrochemical, Refining, Power Delivery (T&D), Power Generation (Nuclear & Gas), Gas Delivery (T&D), Export Pipelines & Systems, and LNG facilities (Ship-loading, Storage and Rundown Pipelines).
Alfred has achieved over $10B in completed projects scope, delivered on 26M man hours without LTI, achieved $28M in claims recovery, $13M in cost avoidance, and is currently setting and delivering on strategic planning, schedule and financial performance for over $1.5B in CAPEX across PFES’s utility and petrochemical managed portfolios.
Alfred has a reputation of being direct, relational, and of being a process-driven professional who achieves success by leading by example and diligence to Industry Standards (Custodian of PFES Center of Excellence for Program and Project Management).
Frank Caputo
Vice President of Recruitment & Delivery
Frank serves as the Vice President of Recruitment and Delivery, responsible for building project teams and developing recruiting strategy. He has more than 15 years of experience in the consulting industry, primarily supporting Utility, Oil & Gas, and Engineering organizations. He is focused on building lasting relationships with clients by developing a deep understanding of their business needs and delivering the right projects and services at the right time. Frank has been involved in the start-up of multiple divisions under the Planet Group since our inception in 2009.
Bob Fanelli
Senior Vice President of Sales
Bob has over 20 years of business development and sales leadership experience specializing in the utility, oil, gas, and chemicals industries. He is responsible for managing and carrying out the strategy of PFES's client expansion, delivery, and brand development. Throughout his career, he has been instrumental in his customers’ successful execution of capital projects by providing solutions in the areas of engineering, project management, project controls, construction management, and regulatory compliance. Bob attributes his success to the long-standing relationships he has built with his clients and industry sectors. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.
Roger Ripp
Senior Vice President of Operations
Roger is responsible for the development and execution of PFES’s operation’s strategy related to the delivery of services. He has over 28 years of power generation and transmission experience, specializing in the implementation of industry best practices related to the successful delivery of large capital projects and programs. He has held a variety of leadership roles in engineering, project management, construction management and project controls. Roger focuses on being highly collaborative with his team and clients, while emphasizing customer service to deliver the expected results. He holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MS degree in Civil Engineering/Construction Management.
Steven Campbell
Vice President, Construction Management
Steven has 30+ years experience in Engineering Procurement Construction Management (EPCM) services. . His diverse experience in project execution includes the Petrochemical, Oil & Gas, and Energy markets managing and leading high-performance teams on both domestic and international projects. Steve’s extensive expertise in the project life cycle includes direct management of the FEED process gated approach through the commissioning and startup phases of a significant and diverse number of successful projects. His hands on expertise with respect to leadership and thorough knowledge of all project related phases and disciplines gives him a unique perspective on requirements for creating predictable results at the highest level in his fields of Expertise.
Theodore Lenart
Vice President of Gas Services
Ted Lenart joins the company with over 40 years of experience in gas utility business and operations management. He spent 10 years of his career at Peoples Gas, as General Manager responsible for leading gas operations planning functions including field service, distribution, construction, and workforce planning. He also led the North District Operations team for Peoples Gas overseeing both operations and construction activities. Lenart also held the position of Assistant VP of Gas Supply Operations at Nicor Gas. In this role, he led gas supply planning and acquisition, gas storage and transmission operations, and gas control functions. Lenart has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as a Master of Business Administration degree, Finance, from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Illinois.
John Brown
Director of Sales, Utility Services
John serves as Director of Sales, Utility Services for PFES. He has over 15 years of experience in all types of industrial, engineering, and utility sector design and construction projects. John has a proven history of assembling high-functioning teams and implementing winning business development growth strategies.
Nabil Makarem
Program Manager
Nabil has 30+ years’ experience implementing a broad spectrum of Energy Construction and Project Management programs. A dedicated, results oriented leader with a proven ability to develop effective strategies that result in safe and financially successful outcomes, domestically and internationally. Highly proficient in facilitating and expediting the key deliverables of complex projects through engagement with all affected stakeholders. Possesses an excellent background in team recruitment and training, fostering a strong environment of teamwork, and embodies a cultural affinity to achieve world class Health, Safety, Environmental (HSE) and Quality performance. Embraces Human Performance principles and utilization of Lessons Learned to maintain a focus on continuous improvement and deliver on customer commitments.
Wes Simons
Lead Project Controls Specialist
Wes Simons has over fifteen years’ experience in project scheduling, estimating, cost reporting, and four years’ in P6 database administration. He brings deep experience in scheduling for large CapEx programs on linear utility projects, and companywide database administration. Wes has excellent front and back-end knowledge of the tool and data.
With this knowledge, Wes can implement structured policies and procedures to ensure the integrity and security of the entire database. He is a proven leader with an exceptional track record of mentoring and training schedulers and cost analyst at some of the largest utilities and energy companies in the US.
Kaylyn Mickelsen
Vice President, Project Controls & BI Services
Kaylyn has over 15 years of experience in the utility sector and is a highly skilled and motivated business leader. Kaylyn’s focus and expertise are in Project Controls, Capital Project Management, and Business Intelligence. Within PFES, Kaylyn is responsible for the execution and expansion of Business Intelligence services. Prior to joining PFES, she held roles with advancing responsibility in government, commercial nuclear and high-voltage substation, transmission, and distribution industries. Being a subject matter expert in software applications such as Primavera P6 and Power BI, Kaylyn is successful in taking the time to understand client requirements and transforming their data with Business Intelligence to guide them in making informed business decisions. She holds a Bachelor’s in Business Management as well as a Master’s in Business Administration. She has also obtained her Planning and Scheduling certification (PSP) from AACE International.
Stephen Taipala
Director
Stephen has over 28 years of energy industry experience including natural gas pipeline, electric (overhead and underground), and manufacturing, with a specialty in linear corridor construction, substations, compressor stations, directional drilling, permitting, stakeholder engagement, and detailed planning. Stephen has worked in engineering, project management, operations, compliance, controls, and leadership. He enjoys helping others improve by listening, asking questions, learning, advising, and implementing solutions accordingly. His diverse professional experiences enable a holistic view of how a company operates, putting particular focus on work and active management. Stephen understands the importance of using tools effectively and realizes that a “one-size fits all” approach rarely does. He is a professional engineer and has participated in industry and academic groups studying project and program management. Stephen holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Purdue University and enjoys volunteering with community support groups, National Ski Patrol, Scouts BSA, and club softball.
John Brown
Senior Director of Business Development
John Brown joined PFES in 2018, bringing with him 14 years of experience in Aerospace staffing and recruiting.
As Senior Director of Business Development, John focuses on relationship-based sales to build true, longterm partnerships with customers, as well as implementing strategic plans to provide optimal sales support and customer service to a diverse client base. His process is highly collaborative, working across departments within The Planet Group to develop cohesive growth and enhancement strategies for PFES.
John graduated with a Bachelor of Sales and Marketing from Eastern Michigan University and has held numerous leadership positions including Senior Account Executive, Executive Consultant and Director of Business Development.
Amyra Treiber
Director of Business Development
Amyra Treiber has over 8 years of sales experience, including 2 years in the utility and energy sector. Prior to joining the PFES team, she supported industrial clients in providing supply chain solutions within the manufacturing sector.
Amyra is responsible for engaging with clients to successfully execute capital projects by providing solutions within the areas of Program and Project Management, Project Controls, Business Intelligence, Construction Management, and Owners Engineering. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin Madison, and is known for being passionate, reliable, and highly collaborative.
Relationship building is extremely important to her, and she strives to build long term partnerships with the clients she supports. Her focus is to consistently deliver high performing, integrated teams with an emphasis on communication to implement strategic plans and ultimately drive exceptional results.
Shane Donald
Director of Safety
Shane Donald has 20+ years of safety experience, and is a true safety professional with the ability to build relationships with all levels within an organization. He has seen and experienced the challenges faced by safety personnel while working in the field and managing staff safety professionals. He has developed, implemented, and evaluated safety programs throughout his career in different industries, and is a member of the Board of Safety Professionals with a CHST and COSS certifications.
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