Sterling Construction Company, Inc. (NasdaqGS:STRL) (the “Company” or
“Sterling”) today announced the retirement from the Board of John D.
Abernathy, and the election of two new independent Board members, Marian
M. Davenport and Paul J. Varello on January 21, 2014.
Ms. Davenport currently serves as Executive Director of the Houston
office of Genesys Works, a nationally-recognized non-profit organization
that trains and employs economically disadvantaged high school students
to work as professionals in major corporations during their senior year.
Before joining Genesys Works in 2013, she held senior executive
positions with Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star. Prior to that, she
held various leadership positions with energy company Dynegy Inc. from
1997 through 2002. Earlier in her career, Ms. Davenport served as
general counsel of Destec Energy, Inc. and as in-house counsel for PSE
Inc., Cameron Iron Works, Inc. and Southern Union Company. She received
a bachelor’s degree (cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from The Colorado
College in Colorado Springs, and a Juris Doctor from the University of
Denver College of Law. In addition to her executive positions, Ms.
Davenport has also served on boards and committees for numerous
non-profit organizations in the Houston area, including Neighborhood
Centers Inc., Fourth Ward Redevelopment Authority, and American
Leadership Forum. Recognized as an advocate for women in leadership
positions, she was named one of the 50 Most Influential Women by Houston
Woman Magazine in 2009.
Mr. Varello is Founder and Chairman of Commonwealth Engineering &
Construction, LLC (CEC), an engineering and construction management firm
specializing in the design and construction of major capital projects
for the oil and gas, refining, alternative fuels, power and related
energy industries. Prior to founding CEC in 2003, he was senior partner
of Varello & Associates, which provided consulting services to project
lenders, plant operators and engineering companies. From 1990 through
2001 Mr. Varello served as Chairman and CEO of American Ref-Fuel
Company, a 50/50 joint venture between publicly-traded Air Products &
Chemicals (NYSE: APCI) and Browning Ferris International (NYSE: BFI).
Before that, he held managerial positions of increasing responsibility
with Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) from 1972 to 1990, leaving as
President of Fluor’s Process Sector in Irvine, CA. Mr. Varello was a
project engineer with the heavy construction group of Dravo Corporation
in Seattle from 1966 through 1972, and between 1965 and 1966 he was a
quality control engineer with the State of California Department of
Water Resources. He received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering
from Villanova University, completed a leadership development program at
Emory University and an advanced management program at the Harvard
Business School. Mr. Varello is a registered professional engineer in
California, Texas and Louisiana, has been a monitor trustee for the U.S.
Federal Trade Commission, and member of several professional
organizations including the Integrated Waste Services Association, the
American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Institute of Chemical
Engineers and the National Association of Corporate Directors.
In a joint statement, Sterling’s Chairman, Patrick T. Manning and its
President & CEO, Peter E. MacKenna, said “We are sorry to report the
retirement of John Abernathy, who has been a director of the Company
since 1994, and we are pleased to welcome Marian and Paul to our Board,
two highly-accomplished individuals with diverse professional
backgrounds, senior management and leadership experience, and strong
ties to the Houston community. We look forward to their input, feedback
and independent voices on our Board. We would like to thank John
Abernathy for his dedicated twenty years of service to our Company.”
Sterling is a leading heavy civil construction company that specializes
in the building and reconstruction of transportation and water
infrastructure projects in Texas, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California,
Hawaii and other states where there are construction opportunities. Its
transportation infrastructure projects include highways, roads, bridges
and light rail and its water infrastructure projects include water,
wastewater and storm drainage systems.
This press release includes certain statements that fall within the
definition of “forward-looking statements” under the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such statements are subject to risks
and uncertainties, including overall economic and market conditions,
federal, state and local government funding, competitors’ and customers’
actions, and weather conditions, which could cause actual results to
differ materially from those anticipated, including those risks
identified in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Accordingly, such statements should be considered in light
of these risks. Any prediction by the Company is only a statement of
management’s belief at the time the prediction is made. There can be no
assurance that any prediction once made will continue thereafter to
reflect management’s belief, and the Company does not undertake to
update publicly its predictions or to make voluntary additional
disclosures of nonpublic information, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
Copyright Business Wire 2014