Counsilman-Hunsaker, the St. Louis-based aquatics consulting, engineering, design and operations firm, now has a new CEO and COO.
Kevin Post has been named chairman/chief executive officer, while Darren is president/chief operating officer.
Post said that, in the near future, the company will work on positioning its staff for company growth and identifying future leaders. “We’ve had significant growth over the past several years,” he said. “When I was hired we had about 20 people; now we have 50. Part of this is revisiting how we got here, what has worked, then ... seeing how we re-envision ourselves for the next 50 years.”
Former President Scott Hester and Chairman Doug Cook will continue as Managing Directors of HydroApps.
As part of restructuring for growth, he expects the company to take a more collaborative approach to projects. While project managers would still oversee each job, he said, more specialists would work together as a team for each project.
“At a small business, everyone has to do everything,” he said. “Now we’re a mid-sized business, so we don’t need people to do everything — we need to maximize their skills rather than having them spend time on things they don’t do as well.”
The company also will look at how the latest design technologies, specifically 3D modeling, affect project flow and timelines, and how the company and its processes can adapt to accommodate those, Post added.
Counsilman-Hunsaker was founded in 1970 by Olympic swimming coach James “Doc” Counsilman, Ph.D, and National Champion and record holding swimmer Joe Hunsaker. This marks the fourth major management era, with Hunsaker’s son, Scott, taking the reins after his father. The younger Hunsaker then sold the company to employees, at which point Hester and Cook took charge.
After serving in various lifeguarding and aquatics management roles from his teenage years, Post joined Counsilman-Hunsaker in 2007 as a project manager working on feasibility studies. When the company sold to key employees, he was promoted to shareholder and studio director. Among the committees and organizations in which he participates, he serves on the boards of the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance and the Council for the Model Aquatic Health Code, as well as on two of PHTA’s standards-writing committees. He teaches at industry events throughout the year.
Bevard also was a principal and studio director until his promotion. He was hired by Counsilman-Hunsaker in 2008 as a project manager before becoming a partner. He is registered as a professional engineer in seven states. He has participated in the development of codes affecting aquatics, such as the Texas Health and Safety Code and on public interactive waterfeatures.
Post and Bevard both have been honored in AI’s Power Issue.
