Renee Echols, a longtime executive at nuclear services provider Perma-Fix Environmental Services, has been named president of FireWater Associates.
The nearly 8-year-old Maryville, Tenn., company offers a wide range of nuclear waste management, transport, regulatory and environmental compliance, and supply chain management services, for government and commercial clients, including radioactive waste profiling, waste management plans and disposition, regulatory compliance auditing, and storage and disposal site inspections.
Echols will lead the company’s efforts to grow and expand its business, according to a FireWater Associates press release issued Thursday.
“I was presented with an opportunity to help brand and grow another Waste Management company working with people that I respect,” Echols said Thursday by email. “This opportunity was so intriguing and exciting that I decided it was the right job for me.”
Echols will take her new position in January, after 16 years as senior vice president for sales, marketing, and business development at Perma-Fix. She takes over for company founder and President Kahren White, who will remain as chief financial officer. White’s background is in public accounting and finance, and she wanted a waste management specialist to lead the company as it works to grow its nuclear industry footprint, Echols said.
In August, FireWater Associates was named 2016 Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year by URS CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR), the Energy Department’s prime cleanup contractor for the Oak Ridge Reservation. The company, which Echols said on average employs 10-20 people, provides technical support for UCOR surveillance and maintenance operations at several facilities at Oak Ridge.
UCOR Chief Takes Spot on Nonprofit Board
Separately, UCOR announced this week that President and Project Manager Ken Rueter had been elected to the Board of Directors of the Center for Construction Research and Training (CP.
The Silver Spring, Md.-based nonprofit organization promotes construction safety, along with health research and training, according to a UCOR press release.
“I am honored to have been chosen to serve in an organization whose strong commitment to workplace safety culture matches that of my company,” Rueter said in the release. “As we pursue our mission of environmental remediation of hazardous nuclear facilities and capital construction projects at the country’s premier national defense sites in Oak Ridge, UCOR focuses on maintaining a robust safety culture – one that conveys our belief that all accidents are preventable and promotes worker engagement to establish a zero-injury work environment.”
The UCOR press release emphasizes the company’s programs and advances in worker safety, including a 40 percent reduction in recordable injuries since the start of fiscal 2016 on Oct. 1, 2015, even while boosting employment by 20 percent.
