A Bright Future Ahead: Aspen Appoints New Leaders
As Aspen approaches its upcoming 30th anniversary, we are pleased to announce that our leadership team is growing through hiring, promotion, and reorganization. Aspen’s newest leaders are tasked with managing the accelerated growth Aspen has been experiencing.
Aspen’s continued growth in the utilities sector has necessitated hiring an experienced leader in this area, and we are pleased to announce the recent addition of Greg Salyer to the team. Greg is a licensed Professional Electrical Engineer with 37 years of distinguished power and water utility experience. In his career the at Modesto Irrigation District (MID), he served in senior management roles including General Manager; Senior Assistant General Manager Electric Operations; and Assistant General Manager, Electric Resources. His duties included representing MID as Commissioner of the Transmission Agency of Northern California (TANC), Commissioner of the Balancing Authority of Northern California (BANC), Commissioner of the M-S-R Public Power Agency, Commissioner of the M-S-R Energy Authority, and the Electric Reliability Officer for MID.
As the Director of Power and Water Utility Services at Aspen, Greg will coordinate and manage the wide variety of support services Aspen provides to public utilities along the entire project life cycle—from initial planning and construction, to operations and maintenance. He will also provide support in developing sustainable energy policies and navigating the challenge of addressing our clients’ transition to a renewable energy environment.
Aspen has appointed three new Vice Presidents who have joined our Executive Committee. Their impressive record of accomplishments combined with their long record of service to Aspen makes them ideally suited to take on the new responsibility of managing and guiding Aspen’s success and growth. They exemplify Aspen’s commitment to providing superior service to our clients and maintaining high technical and quality standards.
Sandra Alarcón-Lopez has 35 years of experience managing environmental projects and programs. She has been a senior project manager at Aspen since 1999. She has significance experience managing environmental planning projects and the preparation of CEQA and NEPA documents. Sandra has served as program manager for many of Aspen’s on-call environmental services contracts with public agencies. Her project experience reflects many of Aspen’s traditional strengths, including experience with solar energy, transmission lines, oil and gas, water supply, and public facilities. Sandra is an expert at planning and conducting public meetings, including many meetings for large, complex, and controversial projects. The quality of her work has been recognized through the receipt of multiple professional awards.
Chris Huntley has served as Aspen’s Director of Biological Resources for the last several years. He started with Aspen as a construction monitor in 1998 and his skills and work ethic enabled him to quickly become an essential team member, then a valued team leader, and now a part of Aspen’s senior management team. The quality of service Chris provides has been praised by many clients and the quality of his work has earned him respect from clients, regulators, and project applicants. Chris always prioritizes integrity and objectivity in his work. He has a reputation as a problem solver and his hands-on approach has proven invaluable in addressing the complex issues encountered during project permitting and construction. He is equally adept in the field, in the office, and at public meetings.
Negar Vahidi started her career as an intern at Aspen in 1993 and quickly gained experience by working on Aspen’s early hallmark projects in the energy sector. She soon became a project manager and senior technical lead on projects across many sectors, including water supply, power generation, telecommunications, electric transmission, oil and gas, hydroelectric, public facilities, flood control, and energy policy. Negar’s clients have included a large array of federal, state, and local agencies, which has enabled her to garner some of the broadest project experience within Aspen’s management team. She has served as program manager for some of Aspen’s largest on-call environmental contracts and has a reputation for satisfying client’s needs while delivering services on time and within budget. In addition to her role as Vice President, Negar serves as Aspen’s Director of Planning and Public Policy.
Finally, we are excited to announce the expansion of our leadership team needed to manage Aspen’s accelerated growth and commitment to delivering highly responsive services.
Neda Rastegar Delmont, who has served as Aspen’s Legal Counsel and Director of Human Resources for the last few years, has been promoted to be Aspen’s Chief Operating Officer (COO). Neda completed her law degree at UC Berkeley and has over fourteen years of experience in corporate legal matters. During her time at Aspen, she has liaised with government entities regarding regulatory challenges, planning requirements, and contractual issues. As Chief Operating Officer, in addition to the legal advice, she will assist the CEO in managing daily operations, and will provide Aspen’s staff strategic advice in all areas of operations. She will also be the focal point for corporate risk management.
