Water, Energy, & Environment Task Force

Join the East Bay Leadership Council for a presentation on Stantec's work to help communities develop strong brownfield revitalization programs through their EPA Brownfield Grant experience, and a presentation from Contra Costa County staff on the Northern Waterfront Economic Development Initiative. These interconnected presentations will help us better understand the creative land re-use strategies at the heart of equitable economic growth in the region.

OUR SPEAKERS

Ben Stewart serves as Stantec’s National Brownfields Leader. Through this role, Ben weaves his passion for land recycling into his technical expertise in design, implementation, and management of environmental investigation and remediation projects. With over 26 years of experience in asset transformation, he has a dedicated interest in implementing USEPA Brownfield Grants and other large environmental remediation projects to give properties a new purpose creating spaces that respond to the land and community needs. Ben has supervised numerous environmental clean-up activities, site and remedial investigations, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) facility investigations, risk assessments, and remediation projects for sites contaminated with a wide range of constituents. And for the last seven years, Ben has led Stantec’s asset transformation team in the Gulf Coast and is growing this initiative nationally. The program seeks to help clients uncover the value in their assets while reducing risk and liabilities. With the combined experience of Ben and his team, Stantec is the largest service provider of the USEPA Brownfield Grant program. By implementing a holistic approach to redeveloping urban spaces, Ben sees endless opportunities to help clients transform vacant or underutilized property into community assets.



George E. Carter is the Economic Development Project Manager for the Contra Costa County Department of Conservation & Development, Economic Development Unit. George has worked in several capacities for Contra Costa County within the past 24 years. He spent 22 years with Workforce Development providing information and resources to businesses and managed the CCWORKS subsidized employment program. He was the recipient of the California Association of Local Economic Development (CALED) “Above and Beyond” award in appreciation of his service and valuable contribution to CALED and Economic Development in California. George has been with the Dept. of Conservation & Development for the past 2 years where he serves as the 1^st point of contact for businesses seeking information and resources in the unincorporated areas of the County. George coordinates and convenes quarterly countywide economic development meetings which include the 19 incorporated cities, as well as the annual economic development forum, which brings together economic development leadership from the federal, state, regional, and local levels of the county, including legislative staff from elected leadership. He is also the lead staff for brownfield related matters. George enjoys traveling, golf, RV’ing, and cycling. He just returned from a trip to Tahiti & Moorea in French Polynesia.