HNTBs Paul Yarossi recognized with ARTBAs highest honor

Washington, D.C. — Paul Yarossi, president of HNTB Holdings Ltd., in New York City, is the sole recipient of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) highest honor — the 2013 ARTBA Award. It was presented at a June 10 luncheon during the association’s Federal Issues Program in Washington, D.C.

Established in 1960, the ARTBA Award recognizes individuals for outstanding contributions that have advanced the broad goals of the association. Over the years, ARTBA Award recipients have included several governors, more than 25 U.S. senators or representatives, two U.S. secretaries of transportation and dozens of top leaders and executives from government and the private sector of the transportation construction industry.

Yarossi was honored for his more than 40 years of work in the industry. He first joined HNTB, one of the nation’s top engineering, architecture, and construction management firms, in 1973 after graduating with a civil engineering degree from Manhattan College. He directs the firm’s governance, capitalization strategy, compliance and audit functions, as well as its external and government relations. Previously, he was chair of HNTB’s aviation practice, and officer-in-charge for several HNTB offices in New York and New Jersey. He has also been instrumental in formulating the firm’s training and development programs.

Yarossi’s leadership positions in ARTBA over the past 15 years are long and distinguished: chairman of the board, senior vice chairman, first vice chairman, vice chairman at-large, chairman of the Transportation Design & Construction Innovation Advisory Committee, co-chairman of the ARTBA SAFETEA-LU Reauthorization Task Force, and a trustee of the ARTBA Transportation Development Foundation.

As ARTBA chairman, Yarossi played a critical role in the July 2012 passage of the two-year, MAP-21 surface transportation investment law. The same day President Obama signed that bill into law; Yarossi took immediate steps to prepare the transportation design and construction industry for the next bill with the creation of the Trans 2020 Task Force. Also during his tenure as ARTBA chairman, and with an eye to the future, he helped launch the Dr. J. Don Brock TransOvation Workshop and the Local Transportation Management Virtual Conference & Innovation Showcase (LoTrans) featuring Best Practices in Work Zone Safety. 

As a volunteer leader, Paul has also been on the front lines of many policy battles on transportation investment and business issues working in key roles with the Council on Competitiveness, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Let’s Rebuild America Leadership Council, the Design Professionals Coalition, and the American Council of Engineering Companies.