Jennifer Oetgen Named Principal and Vice President
Savannah, Georgia – Hussey Gay Bell announces Ms. Jennifer Oetgen, PE, as a Principal and Officer of the firm, founded in 1958.
Based in Savannah, Ms. Oetgen currently serves as Hussey Gay Bell’s Director of Water & Wastewater – a role Ms. Oetgen accepted in 2012 after twelve years of service to the firm. An employee of Hussey Gay Bell since 2000, Ms.Oetgen has more than 15 years of experience specializing in municipal water and wastewater facilities systems design. Since 2000, Ms. Oetgen has designed more than ten (10) water quality control plants (WQCP) including the first Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) Wastewater Treatment Facility in Coastal Georgia. She has expertise in the design, planning, permitting and project management of water resources and wastewater projects for clients throughout Georgia and South Carolina including the City of Savannah, City of Statesboro, Garden City, Bryan County, City of Richmond Hill, City of Pooler, City of Tybee Island, Fripp Island Public Service District, Broad Creek Public Service District and Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority.
“I feel like I grew up here at Hussey Gay Bell,” says Oetgen. “I have been fortunate to be involved in some amazing projects over the last 15 years.”
“Ms. Oetgen has been instrumental in obtaining some of the firm’s large water/wastewater contracts in addition to managing some of our larger clients,” adds CEO, Holmes Bell. “I have no doubt Ms. Oetgen will serve as an asset to the executive leadership team of Hussey Gay Bell. She is also the first female Principal and Officer since our founding in 1958.”
Ms. Oetgen is currently leading Hussey Gay Bell’s design efforts for the City of Savannah’s President Street Biosolids Facilities Expansion project in addition to the GEFA Deep Aquifer project slated for Tybee Island. Other career projects of note include: Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority’s Secession Effluent Force Main which, in 2007, set a world record as the longest horizontal directional drill (HDD) using fused PVC; City of Savannah’s Crossroads 3.0 MGD WWTP and Bacon Park 1.0 MGD MBR WWTP; City of Pooler’s 2.5 MGD MBR Wastewater Treatment Plant and 3.7-Mile Nordic Reuse Water Force Main; Fripp Island Public Service District’s 0.5 MGD MBR Wastewater Treatment Plant; and the City of Richmond Hill’s 4.0 MGD Sterling Creek MBR Wastewater Reclamation Facility.
As Principal and Vice President, Ms. Oetgen will continue to serve as the Director of Water & Wastewater for Hussey Gay Bell with new duties extending to include executive strategy development and execution and overall client management.
A licensed professional engineer holding registrations in Georgia and South Carolina, Ms. Oetgen holds two degrees – a Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering degree from Purdue University and a Master of Science, Environmental Engineering degree from the University of Iowa. Ms. Oetgen is a graduate of Leadership Savanah and volunteer for The Next Generation for the Children’s Hospital at Memorial and Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Coastal Empire. Affiliations include American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Water Environment Federation (WEF) and American Water Works Association (AWWA). She is a regular attendee of WEFTEC, South Carolina Environmental Conference (SCEC) and the GAWP Annual Conference & Expo.
As a direct result of her work with Hussey Gay Bell, Ms. Oetgen actively interfaces with the Governor’s appointed Water Council, which involves continuous interface with Georgia EPD regarding water issues and permitting in Coastal Georgia and provides working knowledge of the original Sound Science Initiative as well as the State’s Plan for Managing Saltwater Intrusion.
Ms. Oetgen is a member Isle of Hope Methodist Church. She enjoys spending time with her husband, Eric – an Olympic Trials-contending sailboat racer – and their three children, Ella, Elizabeth and William.