PennDOT names new District 9 chief

Greenland has been with department for more than 25 years

Longtime PennDOT employee Vince Greenland has been named to the top job in District 9.

Greenland moves from assistant district executive for design to district executive, replacing Tom Prestash, who transferred in the spring to the top job in District 2, closer to his home.

Since Prestash left, Greenland, Assistant District Executive for Construction Brad Brumbaugh and Assistant District Executive for Maintenance Dave Kammerer have rotated as interim district executives in the District 9 post.

Four people applied for the job, including Brumbaugh and Kammerer, according to PennDOT Deputy Secretary Michael Rebert, who was involved in the decision to hire Greenland.

Greenland was in his prior position for 15 years and "excelled," Rebert said in an email. "He has been a great relationship builder with all of our industry partners over the years, which has led to successfully delivering hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of infrastructure and safety improvement projects," Rebert wrote. "(He also) engages and empowers his staff."

District executives at PennDOT need to be "dedicated, safety conscious, strong leader(s) who embrace innovation," Rebert wrote. They need also to be willing to work toward improving the quality of life for Pennsylvanians.

The approximately seven-month interim rotation was not so much a chance for the three assistant district executives to audition for the job but "an opportunity for them to ensure they fully understood the requirements and time commitments of the position," Rebert wrote. All three did an "exceptional" job while serving as interim leaders, Rebert wrote.

Among his main responsibilities will be to "stretch every dollar," because funding is always an issue, Greenland said.

Another will be to build up staff, because "we are not immune to the current challenges of the job market," he said.

That effort will require retaining and attracting engineers, technicians, mechanics and drivers, Greenland said.

There are currently 15 engineering vacancies in District 9, which represents about a third of full staff -- a shortfall that has forced the district to use overtime, to juggle project schedules and to contemplate increased reliance on consultants.

The district is also short three mechanics, and there are vacancies in all six district counties for drivers.

To deal with the staffing problem, the district has been participating in career fairs, Greenland said. It's also planning to use social media to burnish the image of the department and to instill the notion of PennDOT as a potential employer, he said. The district will also send relevant employees to visit colleges, trade schools and high schools.

Another responsibility will be to ensure that the district's design, construction and maintenance divisions work together smoothly, Greenland said.

Yet another is to ensure adherence to "quality checks" in all three areas, he said.

For design, that means adequate reviews to ensure that projects can be built as specified and delivered on time, Greenland said.

Any changes that need to be made during construction adds to cost, he said. That includes delays connected with utility work, the availability of materials like signal poles and the public response to the project, he said.

"Time is money."

Another key responsibility is to ensure that maintenance-type construction projects are done at the ideal times, especially on major assets like I-99, Route 22 and the larger bridges.

Otherwise, deterioration occurs, and subsequent projects to bring those assets up to standard cost much more, he said.

"We need to pick the right project at the right time," he said. "That is critical."

An example of such attention to a major asset is the district's plan next year to put a thin hot overlay 1.5 inches thick on I-99 between Newry and 17th Street, Greenland said.

As part of his effort in the new job, Greenland plans to review district operations to determine "where we can streamline things," he said.

That is typical when new leadership is appointed, he said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.

The Greenland file

Name: Vince Greenland

Age: 52

Hometown: Born in the Altoona area, grew up in Duncansville

Residence: Duncansville

Education: Hollidaysburg Area High School graduate; Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1994

Career: Newly appointed District 9 executive; worked as a project manager for Stiffler McGraw, starting in 1994; started at PennDOT in 1997; worked at various positions, becoming assistant district executive for design in District 9 in 2008

Family: Wife, Rebekah; four daughters, ages 15, 17, 22 and 25