Pond announced the hiring of Benjamin Lawless, PE as federal program manager for Pond’s new office location in the Washington D.C. area, located at 137 National Plaza in Oxon Hill, MD.
Lawless is an executive-level installation and facility professional with more than 32 years of experience in the planning, budgeting, design, construction, operations and maintenance of installations for the United States Air Force. He has successfully led a diverse group of engineers, architects and facility professionals in the development and execution of capital facility investment and maintenance and repair programs ($700 million per year total) for the Air National Guard (ANG).
After earning a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, Lawless was hired by the Air Force, where he progressed to leading the Asset Management Division for the HQ Air National Guard Installation and Mission Support Directorate.
Now retiring from civil service, Lawless left his mark in the areas of campus planning, design development, construction management, budgeting and contract management. He oversaw more than $5 billion in facility planning, programming, design and construction, won over 30 Air Force and industry design awards, and championed the ANG facility energy program to reduce usage by 20 percent.
Pond has known Ben since they first worked together on a project 25 years ago. They frequently crossed paths as Pond partnered with the Air National Guard on various construction projects. “I have always enjoyed working with Pond and appreciated their approach to project delivery. The company stands out as an industry leader with an excellent team,” Lawless said.
Chris Farnie, Senior Vice President at Pond, appreciated Lawless’ strategic thinking and understanding of how installations and facility infrastructure are developed and funded. “I am very excited to have Ben on board as Pond’s Federal Program Manager,” said Farnie. “We have been working with Ben for over two decades to execute facility and infrastructure projects for the Air Guard world-wide. His career experience in government and federal agencies will be instrumental to strengthen our presence in the National Capital Region.”
