Jeffrey Kash Grimes, who has been acting director of the U.S. Energy Department Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC) since December, has been named the permanent head of the procurement operation.
The DOE Office of Environmental Management announced Grimes’ promotion on Thursday. He replaces Ralph Holland, who retired at the end of 2017.
The Cincinnati-based EMCBC manages contract procurements for the department’s roughly $6.5 billion annual Cold War cleanup program. Grimes joined DOE and became deputy director of EMCBC in 2016.
In addition to handling contract procurement across the cleanup complex, EMCBC provides oversight for certain EM field sites, including the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project (UMTRA) project in Utah and the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state.
Grimes previously was a captain the U.S. Navy, working most recently in its Supply Corps. His last Navy assignment was deputy assistant commander for contracts at the Naval Air Systems Command, where he managed a staff of more than 800 people and oversaw several billion dollars in contracts.
At EMCBC, Grimes leads a federal staff of about 175.
An industry source said by telephone Thursday he didn’t know anything about the new EMCBC chief, which might be attributable to the fact Grimes is still relatively new to DOE.
