About

As an engineering and environmental consulting firm, Providence’s unique company culture is the foundation of our strength, influencing everything from the people we hire, to our project approach, and our client relationships. It starts with our mission, vision, and values — each meant to inspire and motivate. It lives and breathes with our team members, who bring diverse social, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds as well as different personalities and experiences. It continues in our encouragement of employees to not only grow professionally, but to also have fun while they do it.

Interested in a Providence career? View our current employment opportunities.

Our Vision

Providing for the future…our clients, our employees, and our communities

Our Mission

Our mission is to focus on our clients’ best interests and provide the highest quality services and products with integrity, innovation, and excellence.

Our Team Principles

SUSTAINABILITY »  Provide for the future

Enhance expertise and processes to foster long-term success.

EMPLOYEES »  Enjoy what we do

Develop talent while maintaining flexibility, work-life balance, mutual respect, and a safe work environment.

RELATIONSHIPS »  Our relationships provide for our future

Cultivate strong, respectful relationships with clients, vendors, employees, and communities that create a positive impact for all.

VALUE CREATION »  If you're not growing, you're dying

Seek growth opportunities, work efficiently, and optimize resources to add value.

INITIATIVE »  Attitude is everything

Anticipate and respond to needs with the right attitude, a sense of urgency, and enthusiasm.

COMMUNICATION »  Listen without defending, speak without offending

Communicate with facts, clarity, and professionalism to build trust and to align our actions with desired outcomes.

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT » The power of one

Take ownership of your responsibilities, seek solutions, seize opportunities, and take actions to achieve our goals.

Providence’s mission since its inception nearly 21 years ago, has been to Provide for the Future.  As we navigate through environmental challenges, we want to reiterate this focus – for our clients, our employees, and our communities.  

Our team can navigate environmental regulations no matter the political climate, with an eye towards lasting sustainability in our rapidly changing world.  Our approach begins with our  clients' goals and includes consideration of not only the project’s physical surroundings, but the short and long-term impacts to the community and environment.

Most importantly, our goal is to support a realistic balance between environmental responsibility and our nation’s needs. At Providence, a successful project is completed through thoughtful understanding of balancing economic drivers with the shared responsibility to reduce environmental impacts.  

Meet the Providence Management Team

Wayne “Hud” Smith

Chief Executive Officer

Wayne Smith has over 30 years of professional experience and leadership expertise. He currently serves as Providence's CEO and manages the development of the firm's short- and long-term strategies and initiatives along with implementing its vision and mission. Previously, he served as the Vice President of Safety, Health, and Environment for Sasol North American Operations where he was responsible for the strategic planning and issue resolution for safety, environmental, and process safety management matters. He also served at Westlake Chemical Corporation in numerous roles including Regional Manager and Manager of Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE), Safety and Environmental Superintendent, and Environmental Engineer. Prior to those positions, he gained experience at DuPont / ICI Acrylics / INEOS, Occidental Chemical Corp., Larco Environmental Services, and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ). Smith’s professional background includes a wide range of operational experience within the environmental and engineering arenas. His project management and operational business knowledge have allowed for many successfully executed responsibilities and projects. In previous positions, he was directly responsible for developing and managing multimillion-dollar annual department budgets, shared responsibility for managing critical business processes related to business risks, employee pay, benefits, expense and capital budgeting, and served a key role in implementing, establishing, and continuing an improvement plan that addressed and corrected weaknesses in operational discipline across multiple business functions.  

Mr. Smith received his BS in Animal Science from McNeese State University.  

Aimee Killeen

Chief Operating Officer

Ms. Killeen has over 20 years of experience in water resources regulation and policy, environmental consulting, and project management. She currently serves as COO for Providence - which supports clients’ needs in environmental engineering and design services, environmental permitting and regulatory compliance, environmental due diligence, wetlands and ecological compliance, expert witness testimony, drafting and GIS. Her technical background includes a wide range of experience with environmental permitting and regulatory compliance projects focused on water quality permitting, water quality modeling, water quality standards and assessment, regulatory oversight, and water policy. Ms. Killeen is an active member of the Louisiana Water Environment Association and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Water Environment Federation.
 

Ms. Killeen received her BS in Environmental Management Systems from Louisiana State University.

Kevin Calhoun, PE

Systems Officer

Kevin Calhoun, PE, is a licensed Professional Civil Engineer with over 25 years of multi-media environmental experience with primary focus on air quality. He currently serves as Operations Officer and ESOP Committee Chair for Providence.  Mr. Calhoun’s consulting includes a full array of environmental work, including pollution control, permitting and compliance issues, hazardous and solid wastes, air pollution, and radiation. His experience further includes a particular emphasis on air quality issues with extensive experience assisting clients in permitting and enforcement actions before state and federal agencies. Mr. Calhoun has extensive experience with the development of fence line monitoring projects.  Experience includes interpretation of regulations, siting analysis, systems design and construction, system deployment, operation, and interpretation of monitoring results.  Monitoring projects have included both passive and active systems including fixed, semi-fixed (trailer based), and mobile systems. 

Mr. Calhoun received his BS in Civil Engineering from Louisiana State University and MBA from Louisiana State University – Shreveport.

Gary Leonards, PE

Director, Private and Public Engineering

Gary Leonards, PE, is a licensed Professional Civil Engineer with over 20 years of engineering experience, including work in environmental, infrastructure, transportation, and coastal engineering arenas. He has been associated with governmental and private industry projects and his background includes design, studies, regulatory permitting, engineering oversight, field investigations, risk-based evaluations, and closure planning for various types of waste treatment and disposal facilities. In addition, his background includes water quality evaluations of restoration projects as well as reclamation of marsh and open water areas with dredge material. Mr. Leonards has been involved in several components of public transportation projects including environmental studies, project permitting and cost estimating, preliminary line and grade design, and construction quality assurance/quality control. His experience also includes all aspects of the design, permitting, operation, and construction of solid and hazardous waste disposal facilities, including general engineering support in construction maintenance, demolition, and closure of industrial and municipal landfills.

Mr. Leonards received his BS in Biological Engineering from Louisiana State University in 1998. 

Adam Davis, PE

Director, Business Development

Adam Davis, PE,  is a licensed Professional Civil Engineer and has over 15 years of business development, engineering, and environmental consulting experience serving multiple markets throughout Louisiana and the surrounding Gulf Coast region. He currently serves as Providence’s Director of Business Development, ensuring clients’ needs and expectations drive the consulting firm’s performance. His professional background in the civil engineering and construction arena provide a unique perspective conducive to business development, allowing each client’s needs to be met and exceeded with sound engineering principles and feasible construction solutions. Mr. Davis has directed and participated in public and private transportation projects, facility design, environmental studies, project permitting, cost estimating, construction oversight, and inspection projects.

Mr. Davis received his BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Georgene “Happy” Giroir

Chief Financial Officer

Georgene "Happy" Giroir  has over 39 years of financial experience with a specialization in improving corporate and divisional profitability in the banking, manufacturing, and the industrial services sectors. She currently serves as Providence’s CFO and manages the operations of the accounting, human resources, risk management, and information technology departments. Her professional experience includes financial reporting, operational budgets and projections, successful completion of tax audits, and directing fiscal functions of the organization. She has managed the implementation of new accounting and inventory systems, and successfully completed acquisitions that led to increased corporate revenue. Her professional skills include profit and loss management, strategic financial planning, operational management, and assessment and evaluation of accounting systems and processes. Her unique skillset includes financial efficiencies for small to medium-sized companies. She has secured both federal and state tax incentives that totaled approximately $1.6 million at her previous organization, and has experience in implementing the accounting and process infrastructure needed for rapid revenue growth momentum and corporate transformation -  providing the successful framework that increased revenue from $6 million to $55 million annually during her previous professional role.  

Ms. Giroir is a graduate of the Louisiana Bankers Association (LBA) School of Banking and the Louisiana Banking School of the South and is also a Notary Public.