Our Team

Dave Backus, PG, RPG, LPG, CPG

Dave has a diverse background in managing, designing, and implementing investigations and remediation techniques at uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. This includes over 25 years’ experience in emergency response, industrial services, site characterization, risk management, acquisition due diligence, litigation support, and remedial design/implementation.

Gene Bailey, PE

Gene has more than 30 years of engineering experience with a background that spans a wide range of environmental issues and activities. His responsibilities have included administrative and technical assignments for multi-disciplinary projects involving assessment, design, implementation, and contract management. His background has included projects with private and governmental sector clients.  His environmental work has included multi-task assignments in the areas of Site Assessments, Brownfields, Storage Tank Management, Asbestos Management, Site Investigations under RCRA and CERCLA, and compliance projects mandated by NEPA, RCRA, OSHA, and the Clean Water Act.

David Baird

David joined Fisher Arnold in 2015 and is our Manager – Information Technology. He began his IT career supporting media production workflows before transitioning to a network design and support role for an IT consulting firm. His varied experience from consulting in many industries and a strong desire to continually learn allows him to adapt to changing technology quickly and apply it creatively to any business need. David lives in Southaven, MS.

David Baker

Keith Budlong, PE

Keith Budlong began his engineering career with Memphis Light Gas & Water in 1991. He worked as a consultant in Memphis and Knoxville, TN and Jackson, MS from 1993 until 2004. In 2005, Keith founded MidSouth Utility Consultants and led its growth as a top-quality provider of utility services across Tennessee. In January 2017, MidSouth Utility Consultants merged with Fisher & Arnold, Inc. He began as Executive Vice President and was subsequently named President in January 2020 and then President & CEO in January 2021. He is responsible for all aspects of professional services provided to our clients.

Kenneth Earnest, PG

Kenneth joined Fisher Arnold in 2014 and manages all activities in our Houston, TX office which specializes in telecommunications design and environmental engineering.  With over 30 years’ senior project management experience, he is proficient in Phase I and II site assessments, remediation feasibility studies, remedial systems design, system construction, and system operation. Kenneth also has extensive experience working with regulatory agencies to obtain site closures, and remedial technologies such as groundwater pump and treat, soil vapor extraction, air sparging, bio-venting, enhanced bio-remediation, steam injection, in-situ chemical oxidation and in-situ soil solidification. Kenneth is a graduate of San Diego State University and resides in The Woodlands, TX.

Rick Gafford, PE

Rick Gafford began his career with TDOT in 1981 with CEI activities, including construction inspection, materials testing, and surveying for various TDOT projects. He then worked for a small consulting engineering firm that needed a transportation engineer to perform TDOT design work. After gaining experience in roadway design and drainage work, he joined Fisher Arnold in 1986. Initially working as a design engineer on TDOT roadway projects, he later became a Project Manager and Principal-in-Charge. Rick has 40 years of experience in the field of Transportation including Traffic Studies, Roadway Design, and Construction. He oversees multiple departments including transportation and CEI Services for the firm.

DeMara Gray, SHRM-CP

DeMara joined Fisher Arnold as HR Coordinator in 2020 and was promoted to Manager – Human Resources in 2021.  A graduate of the University of Central Arkansas and the University of Phoenix, DeMara specializes in recruitment, programming, employee engagement and benefits. She brings experience in performance management and building internal strategic partnerships.  DeMara and her family live in Marion, AR.

George Hyfantis, Ph.D., PE

Dr. Hyfantis has 40 years of experience in remediation of formerly contaminated sites, many of which have been in the Brownfield program as well as the TDEC VOAP program.  During this time, he has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tennessee, teaching graduate level civil and environmental engineering students remediation of contaminated sites and solid and hazardous waste management.  He also serves as the technical advisor to the Sevier County Solid Waste Authority, serves on the State of Tennessee Underground Storage Tanks and Solid Waste Disposal Control Board, and as the representative of Tennessee Higher Education his fellow board members rely on him to provide advice on technical matters related to regulatory development.

Steve Jones

Steve has over 30 years of business development, sales, marketing, project management and operational experience ranging from Fortune 100 companies to B2B firms. He has served as a small business start-up advisor, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Technical Business Management.

Matt Kennedy, PE, PTOE

Matt Kennedy leads our Survey Department, which specializes in DOT Route Surveys, Boundary & ALTA Surveys, a well as Construction Staking.  He joined Fisher Arnold in 2013  and is an experienced Roadway and Traffic Operations Engineer. His experience includes numerous transportation projects for highway & conventional intersection design, traffic signal design, Level-of-Service (LOS) analysis, and various traffic studies. His Traffic Operations experience includes both isolated and coordination signal timings, vehicle detection designs, Traffic Impact Studies, and Pavement Marking and Signing designs.  Matt graduated from Oklahoma State University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering, and from the University of Memphis (MBA).  Matt and his family live in Memphis, TN.

Jason MacDonald, PE

Andrew Maybee, PE, MLE

Andrew joined Fisher Arnold in 2015 and leads our Structural Engineering group.  With over 30 years’ experience he specializes in buildings, bridges, and design of other civil structures.  He is experienced with condition evaluation, repair, and rehabilitation of existing damaged or deteriorated structures. With a career focus in concrete, Andrew is versed in concrete repair, precast and prestressed bridge design and construction, concrete mixture design, material quality control, and concrete durability and performance. Andrew is a graduate of the University of Memphis and a member of various engineering professional organizations including the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute.  Andrew and his family live in Collierville.

Stan Moore, PE

Stan has served as Project Manager, Department Head, Senior Electrical Engineer and Project Engineer on numerous projects. His experience includes high voltage power systems design, mapping, studies of electrical distribution systems, fault current analysis, retail rate, power factor correction, power supply, co-generation, load management cost-benefit and sectionalizing studies, transmission and distribution design, contract preparation and bidding of various electrical projects, project schedules, industrial power supply requirements and design, metering installations, substation design, wholesale power cost study, upgrading of electrical distribution systems for military installation, and technical support for regulatory compliance for retail rate studies.

Dave Morris, CPA, CFF, CGMA

John Pankey, PE

Chris Robinson

Chris joined Fisher Arnold in 2016 and manages our Industrial Process Group.  Chris has more than 25 years’ of paper production, converting, and corrugating experience. His previous roles include plant engineering, customer service, market analytics, and site-level manufacturing leadership. Those roles included planning and execution of numerous capital expenditures and implementation of process improvement projects. Organizational effectiveness hinges on reliable manufacturing and repeatable processes, and his strength is in developing and implementing sustainable systems.  He is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University and lives in Springdale, Arkansas.

Michael Rogers, PE, RLS, QHP, LEED AP BD+C, CPESC

Kiel Sims, MS, MBA

Kiel is an Environmental Scientist with over 13 years of experience in environmental consulting and remediation. He began his career as an environmental field technician, collecting soil and groundwater data for petroleum, chlorinated solvents, and heavy metals contamination sites throughout the state of Florida. His experience and special interest in Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments and remediation strategy development guided his career path to his position as Environmental Manager of the Fisher Arnold office in Tallahassee, FL. Kiel holds a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science and a Master of Business Administration degree from Florida State University.

Jill Stanko, PE

Jill joined Fisher Arnold in 2013 as an intern in our Transportation Department. Since 2013, she has gained knowledge and experience in the design of interstates, highways, local roads, resurfacing, drainage, SWPPP, and 3D modeling. Jill is Manager of TDOT Design and oversees all TDOT design and survey projects, as well as TDOT locally managed projects. She is also the past President of the Memphis Chapter of Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE). Jill graduated from the University of Memphis with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and lives with her family in Lakeland, TN.

Steve Stringfield, CHMM

Steve’s involvement in the environmental industry began with an internship at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and has spanned 25 years and 10 states. He has hands-on experience in a variety of environmental positions ranging from performing laboratory analyses of samples, executing site assessments to leading investigations, and overseeing site remediation objectives for a myriad of commercial, industrial, and residential properties. Mr. Stringfield has completed dozens of Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) on properties ranging from undeveloped agricultural land to complex chemical production facilities located throughout the eastern and midwestern portion of the United States. Steve and his family live in Indianapolis, IN.

Stephen Townsend, AIA, NCARB

Stephen has over 10 years of service in the practice of architecture and project management with a wide range of experience in commercial, industrial, institutional, educational, and mixed-use building types. Stephen views each project as an opportunity to solve complicated challenges in creative ways, with the ultimate goal of serving others. Stephen and his family live in Memphis.

Tim Verner, PE

Tim joined Fisher Arnold in 1986. He now serves as Senior Vice President and is responsible for all of the firm’s civil and sanitary engineering activities. During his career he has had many responsibilities from construction observation of public works type projects to the design and project management of major sanitary sewer and potable water infrastructure for area municipalities. Tim has been responsible for many interceptor sewer and large sewage pumping station facilities during his tenure. He and his family live in Memphis, TN.

Matthew Waddell

John Mark Windsor, PE

Ricky Witherspoon

Billy Wright

Billy has been a design engineer providing design and project management duties for Fisher Arnold since 2005. He has worked on more than 30 FDOT roadway design projects, and has served as the lead designer on many Resurfacing, Restoration, and Rehabilitation projects. Billy is a graduate of Florida State University and lives in Chipley, FL.