Expanding Halff’s Federal Services with Key Hire

For more than 50 years, Halff has provided engineering design, surveying, planning, landscape architecture and historic preservation services as well as feasibility studies, hydraulic and hydrologic modeling, and flood/risk assessments on a wide variety of federal projects.

Halff is continuing to invest heavily in serving federal clients such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army Reserve, General Services Administration (GSA), FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security.

While we’ve done incredible work for federal clients in the past, Halff’s future is even brighter. We recently hired Federal Planning Leader Jennifer Switzer to help open new doors for Halff’s Federal practice.

Meet Jennifer Switzer

Jennifer brings more than 20 years of planning experience to Halff, with time spent in both the public sector at the National Park Service and the USACE as well as the private sector.

Jennifer’s expertise as a both a civil works and military planner offers Halff the chance to pursue some unique federal projects. She served overseas as a civilian in the Middle East, where she supported Army engineers and led planning efforts for nine joint operations bases in Iraq.

As a civil works planner, Jennifer managed one of the largest planning studies for the USACE Kansas City district — the Missouri River Ecosystem Restoration Plan. This $85 million project spanned eight states and involved coordinating with more than 20 state and federal agencies.

During her career, Jennifer has leveraged her vast National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) knowledge to prepare environmental impact statements and biological opinions.

Jennifer was eventually promoted to chief of planning for the USACE Kansas City district, a role she held for 10 years. She served as a congressional liaison for the district, becoming adept at testifying on Capitol Hill to get funding for projects.

After making the switch to consulting a few years ago, Jennifer was on the lookout for a firm whose culture values matched her own. She found one in Halff.

“I joined Halff after the collaborative approach I experienced as a partner on a major pursuit. We met every other week for almost two years straight, and I always looked forward to meeting,” Jennifer said. “Halff really has a small firm feel, and I’m looking forward to helping build a strong Federal program with a talented team.”

Federal Case Studies

Sheppard Air Force Base Stormwater Survey

The Halff-led project team set new standards in stormwater asset management through the U.S. Air Force’s Sheppard Air Force Base project.

Keeping the military base and airfield functional for pilot training is extremely important for Sheppard Air Force Base (AFB). This survey and evaluation helped the Base achieve these goals, where high-impact and time-constrained deliverables did not stop the team from taking an innovative approach.

San Antonio Federal Courthouse

Halff served as the engineer of record for several disciplines on a state-of-the-art federal courthouse in San Antonio, executed as a design-build GSA project.

The project won DBIA’s 2023 National Merit Award and ENR’s 2022 Texas-Louisiana Best Project Award. Constructed to achieve LEED V4 Gold and SITES Silver certifications (pending certification), it met several strict requirements and successfully navigated unique challenges during the construction process.