Nov 7, 2019   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Black & Veatch’s Management Consulting to Address Top Utility Concerns Through New Hires

As electric, oil and gas, and water industries and their customers grapple with changing economics, technology, and policy, Black & Veatch’s Management Consulting business is adding five executives to broaden its services to the evolving resource sector.

The expanded offerings being launched and managed by the new Black & Veatch experts include new consulting capabilities involving future utility investments, transformational utility business modeling and issues relating to organizational design, sustainability, distributed energy, infrastructure modernization, and asset management. Management consulting will also be expanding its talent acquisition efforts to attract experienced consulting professionals in support of the anticipated project growth generated by the increased portfolio offerings.

“The U.S. electric industry, more than 130 years old, is navigating its most dynamic moment as the nation’s energy ecosystem changes with the surge of green energy. We know that confronts the industry with the daunting challenge – and opportunity – to modernize,” said John Chevrette, president of Black & Veatch Management Consulting. “By bolstering our already deeply respected management consulting team with these experts and expanded services, utilities can rely on us even more for their road map to solutions and sustainability.”

The new executives include:

  • James Hendrickson, Senior Managing Director: With more than 30 years of experience consulting, Hendrickson most recently was a Deloitte industry executive who consulted on corporate and competitive market strategies and broad transformational performance improvement planning within the utility industry. He also has held executive consulting leadership roles at Booz & Company and Accenture. Hendrickson is considered a driving force in the industry, brings to the consulting team senior-level expertise in wholesale and retail markets, business strategy, next generation business capability models and digital strategy analytics across both the competitive and regulated electric and gas markets.
  • Abhijeet Naik, Managing Director for Business Technology and Architecture: As a seasoned executive in strategic consulting, Naik will bring an expanded level of leadership and industry experience to the Business Technology and Architecture practice area within Management Consulting. He has held senior-level executive roles at EY, PwC, and Deloitte and has been recognized for developing and managing high-performance teams. His experience includes managing and delivering complex, technical initiatives around cloud, RPA, digital enablement, and Blockchain. Naik also is a highly regarded expert in utility transmission asset management and NERC-CIP compliance systems.
  • Doug Preece, Managing Director for Growth and Performance: A proven innovator within the power and utility marketplace, Preece has more than 33 years of consulting experience. He spent 12 years within the utility industry before transitioning to a career of more than 20 years in management consulting. Over the past eight years, Preece has been a senior advisor at EY, where he provided advisory support to utilities, with a primary focus on digital grid transformation, distributed energy, demand response, and distribution modernization. He is an industry thought leader on the grid of the future.
  • Mark E. Von Weihe, Senior Managing Director: Von Weihe was an executive leader with Structure prior to that company’s acquisition by Accenture, providing senior-level leadership and sales strategy support to drive its software and technology business, with a focus on the energy and utility segment. He served as a board member at Structure and helped execute the acquisition of their consulting practice to Accenture and their software business to Vyntex/ABB. He is a high-achieving business development leader and recognized throughout the utility industry for his strategic work around technology, commercial trading, renewable energy, and electric distribution operations consulting. As an executive-level leader within Management Consulting, he will be a key player in expanding our technology offering portfolio into new industry segments.
  • Robert T. Wilhite III, Senior Managing Director: As a global energy industry executive, Wilhite brings a unique combination of technical knowledge and business strategy experience to the Management Consulting leadership team. Over the past 5 years, he has been a managing director within Navigant’s energy practice, leading the global utility client segment. He also served on the energy practice leadership team. Wilhite has longstanding relationships within the energy industry globally and is a highly regarded industry thought leader. He also has held multiple, high-profile board and committee positions. Wilhite began his career more than 34 years ago and has held leadership roles at KEMA, Accenture, and EPRI.

About Black & Veatch Management Consulting, LLC

Black & Veatch Management Consulting, LLC provides integrated strategy, transaction advisory, business operations, regulatory and technology solutions for the global power, water, and oil and gas industries. Our highly experienced team of professional consultants bring together combined expertise in advanced analytics and practical business sense with extensive technology and engineering capabilities. We deliver solutions that work best for your program needs, organization, assets, and customers.

About Black & Veatch

Black & Veatch is an employee-owned engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with a more than a 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people in over 100 countries through consulting, engineering, construction, operations, and program management. Our revenues in 2018 were US$3.5 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com and on social media.