Tipton F. Rowland
President and CEO
Tipton F. Rowland acquired Memphis, Tennessee-based Robinson & Son Tree Service, his grandfather’s company, in 1989 and incorporated it under its current name, TFR Enterprises, Inc. A disaster service division was created in 1992. This division manages debris after major events such as hurricanes, floods, ice storms, tornados and earthquakes. Projects that have been undertaken and successfully completed under his supervision include vegetative and C&D debris removal from Right-of-Way, Right-of-Entry, vegetative and C&D debris removal from streams and canals, Temporary Debris Storage and Reduction Site (TDSRS) management, weed and brush control services, tree pruning, trimming and removal services, mulch and compost production services, vegetation debris incineration (both open burn and air curtain), vegetative reduction by grinding, separation and recycling of C&D debris and demolition of residential structures. Mr. Rowland has overseen 100+ separate disaster response projects, federally funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). By providing “hands-on” oversight as President and Chief Executive Officer of TFR Enterprises, Inc. he has successfully performed as a damage assessment evaluator, cost proposal estimator, project supervisor, safety and compliance officer, and has assisted in interacting with local government officials in developing debris management policies in compliance with State and Federal (FEMA) reimbursement regulations.
William R. Droke
Vice President and COO
William R. Droke received his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Accounting from the University of North Alabama in 1972. He is a Certified Public Accountant with over 35 years of experience in public and private accounting and has served as a former member of the Alabama State Council of CPA’s. Since entering the debris management industry in 1992, he has been involved in the oversight of over 60 construction and service contracts with governmental agencies, most of which were federally funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He has worked in the capacity of Field Office Administrator, Quality Assurance Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Senior Project Manager and Vice President in charge of Contract Administration including documentation, compliance and reimbursement advisor. While working as the Senior Contract Administrator for a previous employer, he attended the joint Disaster/Catastrophe planning session between the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and FEMA in Washington, DC in April 2004. His duties have included preparation, negotiation and implementation of the USACE’s Advance Contracting Initiative (ACI) for Southwest Division (4), which was activated in October 2005 (DACW29-03D-0010). Mr. Droke has worked successfully as the contract administrator for the Prime Contractor on several USACE projects in Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Texas. His experience includes the preparation of request for equitable adjustments, contract modifications and documentation, contract interpretation, negotiation, compliance and performance, interacting with local government officials in developing debris management policies in compliance with State and Federal (FEMA) reimbursement regulations. He was also responsible for the establishment and administration of a foreign corporation which performed a one-year debris reduction project in Japan following the KOBE earthquake in 1995.
Julie Rowland
Secretary and CFO
Julie Rowland joined TFR in 1989 and has served as Administrative and Financial Accounting Manager for all projects. Ms. Rowland is in charge of financial record keeping and system requirements for the company and she serves as principal advisor to the CEO on all matters relating to cooperative agreements and procurement. She is also responsible for providing outside agencies with the necessary financial information. Ms. Rowland oversees the preparation of financial statements and income tax filings. She attended the University of Texas and received a B.A. in Communications from the University of Memphis in 1992.
Robert D. Day
CQC/Senior Project Manager
Prior to entering the debris removal and reduction industry, Mr. Day worked as a Field Supervisor for a national tree care company performing utility line clearance for Florida Power and Light Company. He entered the debris removal and reduction field in 1989 and was employed as the Field Superintendent in charge of a five year contract that included the demolition of hundreds of buildings for the United States Government during the period of 1984-1994 at Fort Rucker, Alabama;Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Cherry Point NAC, North Carolina; and Naval Air Station in Puerto Rico. These projects included the oversight of EPA and OSHA compliance in addition to the reduction, separation, recycling and disposal of the debris. Since that time, Mr. Day has performed as the Senior Project Manager for loading and hauling operations and/or TDSRS Manager for over 20 USACE debris removal and reduction projects resulting from Hurricanes Andrew, Floyd and Rita. He also has been involved in over 45 projects for the United States Military and state and local governments following tornados in Florida and Georgia; ice storms in Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina and Hurricanes Andrew, Fran, Erin, Opal, Lili, Isabel, Charley, Francis, Jeanne, Ivan, Katrina and Rita.
Johnny Conn
Senior Project Manager/Corporate Health and Safety Officer
Johnny Conn is a dedicated professional with over thirty years of experience in industrial, residential and commercial construction management. He has overseen a variety of construction projects including a $42,000,000 Offshore Construction Facility, as well as various construction projects including, Administration Buildings, Welding Labs, Fabrication Shops, Dive Lab, Warehouse, Mechanic Shop Pipe Rack, Electrical and Maintenance Shops. His responsibilities have included the coordination of all work, schedules and billing between owner, architect and general contractor, oversight of all subcontractors and compliance. He has also served as Chief Safety Officer for the Hurricane Rita Recovery Project contracted through the US Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District. His responsibilities included the oversight and safety compliance of over 700 employees over a 14 Government Area on a project that exceeded $130,000,000. Mr. Conn has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Lamar University. Additionally, he has attended numerous seminars and classes on cost accounting, estimating, and supervision and has received multiple certificates awarded by the Industrial Safety Training Institute including 40 OSHA 500 Standard Course, 24-hour Hazwoper Course for Construction Workers, 8-hour Hazwoper Supervision Course and a 16-hour Underground Storage Tanks-Installation and Repair Course.
Sharon Lyell
Project Administrator
Ms. Sharon Lyell joined TFR in 2006 following a successful career at Fisher Rosemount Systems, Inc., where she was pivotal in the reduction and accuracy of delivery times and ensure the vitality of operations by coordinating with the finance, scheduling, materials and manufacturing departments. This experience primed Ms. Lyell to seamlessly step into the role of Project Administrator in which she manages all subcontracting and employee resource needs for any and all FEMA declared disaster projects. Ms. Lyell’s duties include any and all subcontractor records including Subcontract Agreements, appropriate certificates of insurance, work orders, lien releases and subcontractor payouts in addition to the preparation of all Certified Payrolls for Federal Projects. Furthermore, she has been cross-trained in appropriate TFR accounting processes and managed accounts payable and bank reconciliations to ensure operations run efficiently and smoothly. Ms. Lyell is currently pursuing her B.S. degree in environmental science.
Art Auville
Senior Project Manager
Mr. Art Auville has over 17 years experience in Debris Management and Construction. He has been involved in civil construction projects as construction and line foreman, equipment management and supervision. He has been involved in FEMA funded disaster recovery projects, since Hurricane Isabel, in Virginia in 2003. Since that time, Mr. Auville has performed in clean-up and recovery projects in Hurricane Charlie, Francis, and Jean in Florida in 2004, Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi, Hurricane Rita in Texas, and Hurricane Wilma in Florida in 2005. His duties in these emergency situations ranged from foreman, quality assurance, project management and project superintendent. He continued in disaster recovery with the ice storms in Oklahoma in 2006 and 2007 working in Norman and Edmond, Oklahoma as project manager. Following the landfall of Hurricane Dolly in 2008, Mr. Auville was the project manager for the load, haul and disposal operations for four counties under the Texas Department of Transportation. Following the successful completion of the TXDOT contract, Mr. Auville was reassigned to Fort Bend County to serve as the Senior Project Manager for the removal and disposal of 700,000 CY of debris from Hurricane Ike.
Kevin Rolison
Project Supervisor
Mr. Rolison has many years experience in the disaster management industry and extensive experience in heavy-equipment, including knucklebooms, heavy haulers, self-loaders and grinders. Mr. Rolison came to TFR in 2002 as a CDL; Class A driver working on storm-related projects in Virginia. In 2004, Mr. Rolison served TFR as a project supervisor on various projects resulting from Hurricanes Charley, Fran, Jeanne and Ivan in Florida. He continued as a Project and Site Manager in 2005 and 2006 on jobs in Louisiana and Texas resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Prior to coming to TFR, Mr. Rolison owned and operated his own hauling business, Rolison Trucking, Inc. In addition to his current role, Mr. Rolison has extensive knowledge of the maintenance and logistics of debris removal equipment, including Sterling Self-Loaders, knucklebooms and Diamond Z Grinders.
Dan Graham
Environmental Safety and Compliance Officer
Mr. Graham has over 25 years experience in logistics, disaster response, geology, construction, engineering, and environmental sciences and forestry. Mr. Graham holds a B.S. in Biology from Wisconsin with advanced course work. At various times he has functioned as a Major Incident Commander, Major Contract Site Safety and Health Officer, and CQM. He also holds a Wetlands Certification. He has functioned as Program Manager for $500 million in federal contracts. He founded and was CEO for an Engineering and Environmental firm in Anchorage, Alaska with over 175 employees. One of his projects received the Secretary of Environmental Excellence Award. He has worked in disaster response for hurricanes such as Katrina, Rita, Wilma and Ike. He has experience working in major blizzards and ice storms such as The Baltimore Blizzard of 2010. He sure isn’t afraid of the cold!
Tiffany Wilkes
Contracts Administrator
Since joining TFR in 2008, Mrs. Wilkes has been responsible for all aspects of office personnel and communications. She has been responsible for the oversight of bid and contract documentation and management, and serves as the key administrative contact in the home office for project supervisors in need of additional resources in the field, such as equipment-rental, fuel companies, sub-contractors, local temporary labor agencies, etc. Mrs. Wilkes also represents TFR Enterprises at national trade shows and conferences, exhibiting the company’s services and capabilities. Mrs. Wilkes graduated from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, with a B.A. in History and a minor in Political Science.