Primera Engineers is thrilled to announce that Melissa Helphingstine has been promoted to Consulting Department Manager for the Midwest Region. In her expanded role, Melissa will shape and support strategic training, client relationships, and exploratory initiatives. “I’m honored to play an essential part in expanding Primera’s service offerings in various markets utilizing our go-to-market business development initiatives. I feel well-primed to support the strategic growth of our division,” said Melissa. Her dexterity and vast knowledge from nearly 20 years in the industry–within both the technical and administrative sides of business–continues to serve Primera and our clients well.

Melissa earned her bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture and environmental policy from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. As a landscape architect, she was able to couple her love of the outdoors with technical and civil design, which led her to earn a master’s in science through the environmental science program at the University of Illinois Springfield. Upon receiving her M.S., she moved up to a position with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA).

Melissa worked in both public and private sectors on brownfield cleanups, green infrastructure design, and utility and state-wide energy efficiency programs within the energy industry before joining Primera’s business consulting team in 2014. One of her many wins for Primera over the last eight years was establishing a Project Management Office (PMO) for a large capital infrastructure program. Contributing to the bigger picture of keeping systems safe and reliable and keeping the lights on is what encourages Melissa in her work at Primera. “My neighbors benefit, hospitals benefit, all sorts of people benefit from this important work,” she says.

Trevor Leeds, Primera Consulting Division Manager calls Melissa the heart of the Consulting team. Her work-ethic and steady nature have garnered the utmost respect not only amongst the team but amongst clients and peers in the industry as well. “One of the many facets of Melissa’s work style I thoroughly appreciate is she’s smart enough and tough enough to communicate the facts and the truth to a client without concern for her personal interests.” The rest of the team can always count on her to consistently exemplify all of Primera’s core values. Melissa points all wins back to the team, “I am fortunate to work with an emotionally intelligent and pragmatic team that values our clients’ experiences as much as I do.”

Founded in 1987, Primera is a full-service, certified woman-owned (WBE) engineering design and consulting firm offering a wide range of professional services with a focus in four major areas of expertise: Buildings, Transportation, Utilities, and Consulting. Primera’s Consulting division provides integrated capital planning and portfolio management services tailored specifically to client needs, including: business analysis, change management, stakeholder facilitation, gap analysis/benchmarking, project controls assessment and implementation, quality management systems, data analysis and reporting, and training development and delivery. Primera’s core service offerings include a wide range of professional services in the disciplines of mechanical, electrical, plumbing (M/E/P), structural, civil, and telecommunications engineering, as well as commissioning, energy, architecture, sustainability, life safety, lighting, transportation, natural gas, power delivery, and project and construction management services.