October 2019
VERTEX strives to make a positive difference in the world through our work and growth culture. Our technical consulting and contracting solutions help to create state of the art structures, clean up oil and hazardous material, support catastrophic response efforts, resolve project disputes, and solve a wide array of technical challenges. Continued growth also provides our employee-owners with exciting opportunities for career advancement. Take a look at how VERTEX is building the future of our communities.
Featured Employee-Owner
Diana Minchella, Executive Vice President, Surety
As an Executive Vice President for VERTEX, Diana Minchella manages the surety claims consulting division nationwide. Ms. Minchella has a strong background in investigating and analyzing construction claims for contractors, owners, sureties and insurance carriers on a variety of projects including commercial, municipal, healthcare, transportation, wastewater treatment and solar facilities. Ms. Minchella has the experience and capabilities to review and defend against construction claims as well as to prepare affirmative claims. Her claims experience has involved construction delays, design defects, owner-initiated changes, unanticipated weather, differing site conditions, disruption, and defective work. As a claims consultant, Ms. Minchella has experience in analyzing schedules and calculating damages. Ms. Minchella has a B.S in Civil Engineering from Duke University, and an M.S. in Construction Engineering and Management from the University of California, Berkeley.

Insights from VERTEX's Industry Experts
Voluntary Cleanup Programs – Should you enroll?
In commercial real estate transactions, an Environmental Site Assessment is a common exercise to identify existing environmental impacts before the new owner assumes responsibility for them or has to manage them during site redevelopment. If unregulated contaminants are found, the option is often to enroll in a voluntary cleanup program. VERTEX's David Berry discusses the pros and cons of voluntary cleanup programs. 
Hydraulic Fluid Releases & Environmental Concerns
Hydraulic fluid is a large and loosely defined class of materials with a variety of uses as a medium by which energy is transferred. The most common uses are within hydraulic machinery as a means of transferring pressure. VERTEX's James Odom discusses the history of hydraulic fluid and the effects of an environmental release.
Managing Environmental Risks During Redevelopment
The real estate business abounds with environmental and construction challenges. Whether you’re a real estate investor, developer or owner, your project’s success may depend on how well environmental risk is identified, analyzed and managed from acquisition through construction completion. VERTEX's Kelly Bishop discusses considerations that should be incorporated into your redevelopment plan. 
Distillery Operations & Environmental Concerns
Although not the type of operations that come to mind when you consider environmentally risky facilities, distilleries can cause substantial damage to the surrounding environment in the event of a release. VERTEX's Courtney Ciapciak discusses the environmental concerns of ethanol.