Tripp Berry, PE
President, GMK Design-Build
Tripp brings 32 years of design and construction experience to the team and a very hands-on approach to every design-build project. His vision of this alternative delivery method and trend-setting belief in its ability to provide clients with up-front pricing and “go, no-go” opportunities throughout design have ensured its success for GMK since 1985 and created a viable design/construction delivery alternative never more relevant than to today’s facility owner. Tripp is a registered engineer with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Clemson University.
Tom Monahan, CPA
Board Chairman and Treasurer
Tom joined GMK in 1981 after 10 years in public practice as a CPA. With the inclusion of his financial expertise, the GMK management team expanded its services to include engineering, interior design, design-build and certain selected real estate projects. In 2001, he administered the ownership transfer from the founding partners to the existing employees/shareholders and assumed his current position as chairman of the firm.
Jeff Baker
President, Architecture/Engineering/Construction Services
Jeff has more than 25 years experience in school construction management, all with GMK Associates. He has been involved with multiple major building programs for a series of school districts across the Carolinas and Georgia and has met with outstanding success in growing GMK’s design and construction operations across all three states. Jeff is currently the building program director for the Richmond County Schools building program in Augusta, Georgia, where GMK has been hired and rehired three times over the last 15 years and managed more than $300 million in school construction.
Barbara Summerford
President, GMK Interiors
Barbara brings 29 years in the design and furniture industry to her role as president of GMK Interiors, 21 of which have been with GMK in the retirement, hospitality and healthcare arenas on more than $836 million worth of new construction and renovation projects. Her direct experience with many communities’ management teams over the years has facilitated her expertise in planning and positioned her to help communities assess their overall needs and articulate a roadmap and program to meet their objectives. She has spoken at national and state-level industry conferences, including LeadingAge. Under her leadership the GMK Interiors team has garnered numerous industry awards and recognitions, including an International Gold Key Award Grand Prize for Excellence in Hospitality Design, recognition in Trends in Design by AAHSA and in the DESIGN Environments for Aging SAGE Awards, where her team’s work received a citation of merit.
Bruce Barragan, FACHE
President
A senior healthcare executive with more than 31 years experience in hospital administration and six years in healthcare strategic planning and facility master planning, Bruce served 19 years as the president/CEO of McLeod Health, a major 453-bed tertiary/ teaching healthcare system. In his role on the GMK planning team, Bruce assists GMK’s healthcare clients in the areas of operations, strategic planning and healthcare design. He also advises hospital planning groups on strategic expansion/renovation plans and operational reengineering for efficiencies, emerging healthcare trends and delivery systems, and participates in hospital foundation community fundraising campaigns, as needed.
Bob Heilman
President Emeritus
As a former member of the Army Surgeon General Health Facility Planning Agency (working with the Army Medical Departments facility planning/design/construction program worldwide), a medical consulting firm founder and principal, and board member of a Lexington Medical Center, a 384-bed system in Lexington, SC, Bob brings significant experience in facility planning to the table. He works hand-in-hand with our clients’ planning teams as needed to provide strategic counsel and assistance in consensus building among stakeholders.
Don McElveen, PE
Founder, Chairman Emeritus
One of the three original founders of GMK Associates, Don’s continued involvement with the firm has been integral to GMK’s success. His primary role consists of community and business relations efforts in and around South Carolina. He has an extensive, 45-year history working with municipalities and government seats, and understands the critical budgetary and schedule constraints for such clients. Likewise, he has been involved with a number of historic renovation projects over the years and has a true appreciation for what it means to preserve historic buildings within their natural environments while ensuring a seamless transition to new spaces.
Robert Kennedy
Founder, Chairman Emeritus
Robert is one of the three original founders of GMK Associates, playing a truly integral role since 1966. His attention to detail and creative designs have made GMK one of the most successful architectural firms in the Southeast. He continues to serve the company using a hands-on approach to design and has extensive historic renovation experience. Robert has a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Clemson University and attended Academia di Belle Arte in Florence, Italy. In addition to his architectural design strength, Robert is an exceptionally talented, active artist whose work is frequently on display throughout the Midlands.
Val Satko, AIA
Senior Health Facility Planner
Val is a health facility planner with more than 38 years of healthcare design experience. Well published, he brings leadership, creativity and knowledge to the team and is responsible for translating strategic objectives into practical physical facility solutions. He develops space program requirements, alternative conceptual solutions and conducts frequent interface meetings with user groups, physicians and governance in order to achieve facility solutions compatible with institutional objectives. Val has a unique way of taking ideas and bringing them to life with trendsetting designs. He has a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Iowa State and two graduate studies, one in architecture and urban planning from Illinois Institute of Technology and the other in business administration from University of Minnesota, and is a licensed architect in 22 states.
Larry Kogut, AIA, LEED AP
Director, Architecture
A 30-year veteran healthcare architect with domestic and international design experience, Larry serves as GMK Associates’ director of architecture, managing relationships with hospital clients ranging in size from 629 beds to a rural Georgia critical access hospital of 25. His extensive background in healthcare design and campus master planning lends itself well to developing long-term, sustainable design solutions and his particular areas of expertise include patient unit, intensive care and surgery design, as well as ambulatory and outpatient spaces. Currently, he is leading the architectural and engineering design team in delivering the state’s first LEED-certified inpatient facility at Clarendon Health System in Manning, South Carolina. Larry has been the architect-of-record on many nationally recognized and published healthcare projects.
John Ramsay, AIA
Principal and Architect-in-Charge, Raleigh
John provides programming, design supervision and construction administration for GMK’s Raleigh office. He brings 29 years experience and an extensive background in education planning and design to the GMK team, including leading all work on Wake County Public School System (a 20+ year relationship for the country’s 17th largest public school district). John has an intimate understanding of the procedural and regulatory steps it takes to work with state-owned universities, and is a licensed general contractor with field experience in plumbing, HVAC and electrical installations. And, John is a graduate of BURSI (Better Understanding of Roofing Systems Institute).
Tom Weiland, AIA, LEED AP
Principal Architect
Tom brings more than 15 years of experience and an extensive background in institutional design to the GMK team. He has been involved in all of GMK’s state design and feasibility study projects over the last decade and has unparalleled safety, schedule and budget knowledge. Tom also has intimate understanding of the procedural and regulatory steps it takes to work with state entities. He has served as the principle architect for all GMK’s government projects for the past 13 years, and is currently the team leader on GMK’s education architectural indefinite delivery contracts. Tom has been involved in all GMK’s recent energy assessments and audits with the initial exterior envelope analysis, and manages the architectural support it takes to continue those projects through design, construction documents, bidding and construction administration. Likewise, Tom leads the architectural design for all GMK’s energy industry projects, including a prototype nuclear control room simulator.
David Reichard, AIA, ACHA, LEED Green Associate
Principal Architect
David brings 30 years of healthcare architectural experience in planning, design and project management to the team. He works to advance the quality of a rapidly changing healthcare environment through innovative programming, design and patient-focused care, responsive to the current shift from inpatient to outpatient service. David has in-depth expertise in emergency department design and was part of the design team that brought to fruition the International Learning Center for Emergency Medicine, a state-of-the-art think tank for emergency medicine in Orlando, Fla. Well-published, David has worked on numerous award-winning healthcare projects. Prior to joining GMK in 2010, he worked with other leading healthcare design firms around the country.
Jeff Bernagozzi, PE, CxA, LEED AP
Director, Mechanical Engineering
Jeff serves as GMK Associates’ director of mechanical engineering and the firm’s lead energy-efficiency consultant. Working with healthcare, education and energy clients all over the Carolinas and Georgia, he has extensive experience in campus environment infrastructure system design, building energy modeling and has written multiple, successful stimulus energy-efficiency applications (through the South Carolina Department of Energy). For clients and in GMK’s role as a preferred vendor for the South Carolina Energy Office, Jeff calculates return on investment for energy-efficiency solutions by assessing existing systems, simulating energy use, exploring alternative systems and determining payback period based on lifetime usage of each energy measure. In addition to leading the firm’s efforts toward energy-efficient design, Jeff manages all outside engineering discipline partners for the firm, as well as plumbing and fire protection design, and is a certified commissioning authority for building commissioning.
Brell Foster, PE
Director, Electrical Engineering
With 34 years of engineering experience, 29 as part of the GMK team, Brell brings tremendous expertise in electrical design for the institutional arena to the team, including work in healthcare, higher education, government and the energy industry. With a strong understanding of what it means to upgrade systems for older buildings, he delivers design consultation during design modification/adapt-phases and full-time design solutions during final document preparation. A senior electrical engineer, Brell delivers electrical engineering design, project management and electrical construction administration.
Barry Morgan, CCM
Director, Construction Services
As director of GMK’s Construction Services Division, Barry oversees and manages construction management programs for the company, including project programming, design development and construction. He is responsible for all aspects of project budgeting, scheduling and program communication issues. In addition to project management, Barry oversees contract administrators who provide contract administration for GMK’s architectural projects. He provides quality assurance for all projects that enter the Construction Services Division and has been with GMK for more than 21 years. Barry is a certified construction manager (CCM) and a licensed South Carolina General Contractor.
Zoltan Lukacs
Director of Construction, Design-Build
A project executive with tremendous experience in all phases of construction management and project development, Zoltan has a strong background in project management, job cost control during all phases of project development and major building construction, and quality assurance. He has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich., and brings 32 years of construction industry experience to the overall supervision and management of GMK Design-Build’s construction component.
Ryan McCormick, PE
Director, Contract Document Production and Costing
Ryan provides an invaluable and unique service for GMK and its clients. As a check-point for all design-build work – every project funnels through him – Ryan brings enhanced levels of budget compliance (even at the design phase) and risk mitigation to every project. He reviews projects from many angles, including constructability, code compliance, owner intent, budget adherence, quality control and more. He provides cost modeling and feasibility for various design options, and GMK bonds its projects based on the laser-sharp accuracy of his estimates. Ryan brings 18 years of experience to the table, and has the following degrees: a master’s degree in structural engineering from the University of South Carolina and bachelors’ degrees in civil engineering and building science and management from Clemson University.
Del Burns, Ed.D.
Director, Education Services
Del is the founder and director of GMK Education Services, helping school administrators make the decisions critical to effective public school leadership and governance. A former superintendent of the Wake County Public School System, the 17th largest in the country with more than 145,000 students, Del has created and led high-performing teams of senior leaders in large and small districts. He developed and managed a $1.2 billion annual operating budget, as well as implemented a $1.056 billion capital program and passed a $970 million bond referendum. Del served as interim superintendent of the Alamance-Burlington School System and Edgecombe County Public Schools, and has served as an adjunct graduate school professor at N.C. State in school finance. Also, he is co-author of a groundbreaking recently released book addressing public values and public value conflicts, Preserving the Public in Public Schools, written in conjunction with Phil Boyle, for anyone interested in improving the effectiveness of public school leadership and governance.
Christie Richardson, NCIDQ Certificate #026209
Design Director, GMK Interiors
As design director of GMK Interiors, Christie drives client design concepts and leads the rest of the interior design team. She has vast experience in the retirement industry, including work with eight CCRCs (two very substantial projects that together total $132 million in construction costs), multiple greenfield sites, as well as other healthcare and high-end hospitality projects. Her design work has been recognized in Trends in Design by AAHSA and in the DESIGN Environments for Aging SAGE Awards, including a citation of merit. Christie’s passion for interior design and captivating presentation style has endeared her to audiences on the national, state and local levels.