Description

Jordan Baugh, Vice President

American Council of Engineering Companies

Jordan joined ACEC in September 2024 and leads ACEC’s federal advocacy efforts on water and environmental issues. A 16-year veteran of Capitol Hill, Jordan, came to ACEC after serving as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, where he played an instrumental role in the enactment of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and WRDA 2022. Before that, he served as the key advisor on environment, transportation, and energy issues for U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. Jordan is a native of Upstate New York and received his bachelor’s from Goucher College and master’s from American University.

Eric Hylton

Former IRS Commissioner and National Director, alliantgroup

With more than 30 years of government experience, Eric Hylton has held

several prominent positions at the IRS, including serving as the Commissioner

of the Small Business/ Self-Employed Division, Deputy Chief of the Criminal

Investigation Division, Executive Director of CI’s Head of International

Operations, as well as the Director of CI’s Narcotics and Counterterrorism

Office.

Eric is also the former chair for the Organization for Economic Cooperation

and Development (OECD)—Task Force for Tax Crimes and Other Financial

Crimes. As Chair, he led a multilateral commission of 40 international criminal

tax organizations to develop methodologies and typologies on emerging

global criminal tax and financial crimes threats.

His work at the IRS, where he managed thousands of employees, involved

complex tax matters, and his track record includes investigating some of the

most significant domestic and international financial crimes.

As alliantgroup’s National Director, Eric uses his years of experience at the

IRS to assist American small and medium sized businesses understand the

nuances of available tax credits and incentives. Eric also utilizes his unique

knowledge and expertise to educate alliantgroup clients on relevant tax

compliance issues, and the latest developments at the agency. He brings an

additional layer of expertise to the alliantgroup team that has helped to make

the firm’s approach to quality control and compliance even stronger.

Tyler Noesser

Technical Director, alliantgroup

Tyler is a Technical Director at alliantgroup, specializing in the engineering, manufacturing, and system integration industries. An engineer by trade, Tyler combines his strong industry expertise with his knowledge of the tax code to help American businesses identify powerful government-sponsored incentives. To date, Tyler has worked with hundreds of small to mid-sized businesses to help them claim more than $750 million in credits and incentives.

Julia Fisher-Cormier

Deputy Secretary, LADOTD

Julia is a third generation St. Charles Parish native, was appointed by Governor Landry to serve as Commissioner of the Office of Multimodal Commerce in March 2024.  The Office of Multimodal Commerce was created in 2016 within LADOTD to enhance the state’s strength in multimodal transportation, encompassing ports and waterway, rail, aviation and commercial trucking programs.

Prior to her role as Commissioner, Julia served as the Chief Commercial Officer at Louisiana’s largest tonnage port, the Port of South Louisiana, whose jurisdiction spans through St. Charles, St. the Baptist and St. James Parishes along a 54-mile stretch along the Mississippi River.  Julia’s successes at the Port of South Louisiana included a first-to-market, green recycling facility, the expansion and retention of several anchor tenants and supporting growth at Port of South Louisiana’s Globalplex Intermodal Facility that had not been seen in 20 years.  Julia role as a results-driven go-getter significantly contributed to reversing a decade long trend of lost tonnage to back-to back years of growth at the Port of South Louisiana. Before joining Port of South Louisiana, she spent 12 years as a property and casualty insurance agent with Brown & Brown Insurance in New Orleans and Riverlands Insurance Services Inc. in Luling.

Julia comes from a family with a passion for public service. She served as Councilwoman for District VII in St. Charles Parish from 2012-2024. During her time on the Council, Julia gained insight on Public Private Partnerships, which she applied not only in her council role, but also at the Port of South Louisiana, which fostered economic growth in her region.  Julia was an effective leader on the council, spanning through three administrations and serving with over 20 council colleagues. 

Julia is a graduate of Hahnville High School and furthered her education at the University of New Orleans. Julia invests in continuing to sharpen her skills. In recent years, Julia has completed Certified Louisiana Economic Developer curriculum, Leadership River Region and NACo Professional Development Leadership Academy.

Chad Winchester, P.E.

Chief Engineer, LADOTD

Hailing from Alexandria, Chad graduated from LSU with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1992. With a distinguished 30-year career at the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, the journey began as an Engineer Intern in roadway and geometric design. Chad has been the Chief Engineer Since August 2023, leading a team of 500 and responsible for all engineering policies and activities within the agency. Chad has served a pivotal role in nearly every major DOTD project over the past 15 years, contributing expertise in alternative delivery projects including Design-Build, CMAR, and P3.

Archie Chaisson, III

Executive Director, Office of La. Highway Construction

Archie Chaisson was appointed by Governor Jeff Landry as the Executive Director of the Office of Louisiana Highway Construction on August 4, 2025. This new office is tasked with reimaging how infrastructure projects across the state are delivered. Prior to his appointment Archie served as the 9th Lafourche Parish President and took office on January 1, 2020, and was re-elected without opposition to his second term in 2024. Prior to his election Archie served in various executive roles in government including the Public Works Director for the City of Thibodaux and as the Parish Administrator for Lafourche Parish Government where he led the parish restoration efforts in the aftermath of the BP Oil Spill. In addition to serving as the Parish President Archie also served as the President of Parish’s Advocating for Coastal Endurance, also known as PACE, which is made up of the 20 costal parishes in Louisiana. Archie also served on the national level as the Chairman of both NACo’s Environment, Energy and Land Use Committee and the Gulf States Counties and Parishes Caucus.

Roger Husser, P.E.  

Assistant Commissioner, Division of Administration 

Roger Husser is a native of Husser, Louisiana.  Roger obtained a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering in 1993 from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (ULL) and a Master of Science in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from LSU in 2000.  Roger became licensed in both Civil Engineering and in Agricultural Engineering in 2001.  Roger’s career began at the LSU AgCenter in 1994 as a Research Associate in the areas of ergonomic workspace design and alternative energy research.  Roger later became a Project Manager in the LSU Agricultural Center Facilities Planning Department then became Director in 2001.  After serving in this capacity for eleven years, Roger became Director of LSU Planning, Design and Construction in 2012 and was later promoted to Assistant Vice President in 2016 having the responsibility for a $1 billion capital development portfolio including all long-term physical planning, development and construction efforts on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge.  In 2023, Roger accepted the position of Director of Facility Planning and Control in the Division of Administration, administering the multi-billion dollar Capital Outlay Act for the State of Louisiana.  In November of 2024, Roger was promoted to Assistant Commissioner in the Division of Administration with oversight of Facility Planning and Control as well as the Office of State Lands. 

Rudy Simoneaux, P.E.

Chief Engineer, La. Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority

With more than 17 years of experience in coastal and ecosystem restoration, Rudy Simoneaux currently serves as the Chief of Engineering for the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). Since beginning his career at CPRA in 2004, Rudy has worked on some of the agency’s largest and most complex restoration initiatives, including the Mid-Barataria and Mid-Breton Sediment Diversion Projects. He’s also been highly involved in the planning, design, and delivery of most of the Marsh Creation and Barrier Islands projects implemented by CPRA over the past two decades. Additionally, Rudy served as CPRA’s Project Manager and Technical Lead for the development of the Lower Mississippi River Physical Model and Center for River Studies.

Rudy has been affiliated with governing bodies of the American Society of Civil Engineers since 2005 and has held several leadership roles including the 2012-2013 ASCE Baton Rouge Branch President and the 2018-2019 ASCE Louisiana Section President. In 2020 he was elected to the position of ASCE Region 5 Governor. Rudy is also a founding member and Past-Chairman of the Louisiana Chapter of ASCE’s Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute (COPRI) and has been an affiliate member of the Western Dredging Association (WEDA) since 2007. He received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Louisiana State University in 2004 and is a Registered Professional Engineer in State of Louisiana.

Monique Edwards

Director of Water Administration, Department of Conservation and Energy

Monique Marie Edwards currently serves as the Director of Water Administration, in the new Office of State Resources in the reorganized Department of Conservation and Energy. She was previously appointed by Governor John Bel Edwards as the Commissioner of Conservation and was the first woman to hold the position from April 17, 2023 until February of 2024. Ms. Edwards has served as a Visiting Professor at the Southern University Law Center (SULC) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she taught Louisiana Obligations, Common law contracts, State and Local Government, Professional Responsibility and Law Office Practice. She was appointed by Governor Bobby Jindal as the secretary of the Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board and Assistant Secretary for the Office of Mineral Resources in the Department of Natural Resources.

A Louisiana native, Attorney Edwards has served as counsel to the Louisiana House of Representatives’ Committee on Natural Resources and Environment. This committee has oversight over Louisiana Departments of Environmental Quality, Energy & Natural Resources and Wildlife & Fisheries.  Prior to that, she was the managing member of Edwards, Valdez and Ellis, LLC of Orlando, Florida, in charge of the business law and governmental relations areas. She is a graduate of St. Mary’s Dominican College formerly in New Orleans and received her Juris Doctor from the Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge. She continues to serve as the principal of The Edwards Law Group, LLC and as the Energy, Conservation and HBCU Initiatives for the Louisiana Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

Ms. Edwards has been inducted into the SULC Hall of Fame and is the recipient of the National Bar Association’s Heman M. Sweatt Award. Her activities include being a member of the Junior League of Baton Rouge, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the Catholic Charities for the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge Advisory Board, the Diocesan School Board for the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge and Leadership Baton Rouge Alumni.

Ms. Edwards is a member of both the Louisiana State Bar Association and The Florida Bar. Her service to the LSBA includes past Chair of the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Committee, a member of the Committee on the Profession and she serves as a mentor for new lawyers. Her professional affiliations include being a member of the Louisiana Mineral Law Institute Advisory Council; the National Bar Association where she was selected to serve on the Centennial Commission to commemorate the establishment of the organization in 1925; and the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society of Greater Baton Rouge. Ms. Edwards has served as the Louisiana state representative to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC). She now serves as Chair of the IOGCC Legal and Regulatory Affairs Standing Committee. 

John F. "Trip" McCormick, III

Director, Galloway Johnson Tompkins Burr & Smith

John “Trip” McCormick diligently protects each client’s legal interests while helping grow and develop the client’s business. Trip’s legal counsel seeks not only to achieve the best legal outcomes, but also to preserve valuable business relationships and the client’s hard-earned reputation. Trip takes deep pride in the partnerships he forges with his clients and is committed to fostering the growth and prosperity of the businesses working in Louisiana’s most vital markets.

Focused on his clients’ business success, Trip aggressively defends contractual or third-party claims, pursues debts gone unpaid, and helps craft strategic business plans by identifying and eliminating uncertainties that may stand in the way. He provides general advice and assistance to his clients in negotiating and drafting contracts, selecting insurance products and coverages, managing risk, and resolving conflicts early.

More specifically, Trip focuses his practice on commercial and construction litigation, representing a broad spectrum of clients ranging from architects and engineers to general contractors, subcontractors, land surveyors, and material suppliers. He has litigated cases arising from a variety of public, private, commercial, and industrial projects in bench trials, jury trials in state and federal courts, and arbitrations. Types of matters include claims under the Louisiana New Home Warranty Act; payment claims on federal projects under the Miller Act; major public works such as storm levees and pumping stations, emergency response centers, and university classroom buildings; commercial projects, including luxury hotels, condominiums and apartment complexes, shopping centers, and hospitals; and catastrophic structural failures. In addition to the construction industry, Trip also represents clients in trucking and transportation, energy, oil and gas, real estate and property management, and regulated utilities.