Shepard Thomas Poole
President & CEO
Shepard Poole is the President and CEO of The Hallen Construction Company, Inc. Starting at Hallen as a laborer in 1987, he is now responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company. Shep has served on the Board of Directors for the Distribution Contractors Association (DCA), a professional trade organization of utility contractors and suppliers, and is a past president of the group. With the DCA, he was a member of numerous committees including Government Relations, Safety and Scholarship. Involved with many charitable and community initiatives, Shep was as a board member of The Marty Lyons Foundation from 1996 to 2010, including a stint as vice president. In 2008, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of Winthrop University Hospital and is now in the role of vice-chair. In 2009, Shep was recognized by the Long Island Business News as one of their “40 Under 40” honorees. He was also a part of the first Energeia Partnership class, a regional stewardship program through Molloy College. A member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) international business peer group since 2010, Shep has taken on the role as the local Long Island chapter’s membership chair for three years and is currently the regional representative. His other charitable endeavors include serving as a Little Flower Children Services Gala Committee member and actively supporting the Junior Achievement Bowl-a-Thon. Further, he has spent time on the Executive Committee of the Commerce Bank Championship and was active in the Garden City Centennial Soccer Club, as well as, the Garden City Athletic Association. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Garden City Golf Club and the LaRonde Beach Club. Shep earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Hobart College and has continued his executive education at The Harvard Business School. He previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of Hobart’s Statesmen Athletic Association. Shep resides in Garden City, New York, with his wife, Anne, and their three children, daughters Dale and Gwen, and son, Tom.
Mike Hickey
Executive Vice President of Operations
Mike is the current Executive Vice President of Operations at The Hallen Construction Company, Inc. and has been the running the field operations since 1994.
A veteran of the industry since 1978, Mike’s career began as a commercial diver for Oceaneering International in Morgan City, Louisiana. In 1980, he moved back to the New York area and started working for Kalb Construction as a laborer. He worked his way up the Kalb ranks in maintenance, then as a foreman, and ultimately became a supervisor overseeing distribution gas service and main installations in 1984. In 1990, Mike joined the Hallen Construction family as a supervisor and held that title until being promoted to his current position.
Mike belongs to several professional associations including the Northeast Gas Association (of which he is an associate member and served a four-year term on the Board of Directors), The Society of Gas Operators, and serves on the American Gas Association’s Construction Operations Committee.
Mike is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Distribution Contractors Association (DCA) and will begin serving a term as President of the group in February 2019.
Pascale J. Ambrosio
Executive Vice President of Engineering & Estimating
Pat is the Executive Vice President of Engineering and Estimating for The Hallen Construction Company, Inc. and has worked for the company since 1994.
With over forty years of industry experience in various field operations, supervision and management roles, Pat’s areas of expertise include project engineering, planning and design, project management, client relations, code research, bid proposals, estimates and feasibility studies.
This industry veteran has worked on major projects for companies such as National Grid, Con Edison, Iroquois Gas Transmission System LP, Spectra Energy Partners LP, Buckeye Pipe Line Co., LLP, Power Bridge LLC, Neptune Regional Transmission System LLC, Williams Partners LP, and Prysmian Power Cables & Systems USA, LLC.
Dennis Springer
Senior Vice President, Finance
Dennis is the Senior Vice President of Finance for The Hallen Construction Company, Inc., and also handles the role of Corporate Secretary. Joining the company in 2010 as Controller, he was recently elevated to his current position.
Including his time with Hallen, Dennis spent almost twenty years in the accounting field including tenures with a public accounting firm and a public benefit corporation. He remains active in the Farmingdale, NY community where he resides with his wife, Tracey, and daughters Alexandra & Keira.
Dennis is a member of the Distribution Contractors Association (DCA) and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.
Eugene Hickey
Senior Vice President of Operations
Eugene Hickey is the Senior Vice President of Operations for The Hallen Construction Company, Inc. In this role, he oversees all aspects of operations and manages a team of supervisors that oversee daily field operations.
Gene’s oversight includes all aspects of construction related activities including productivity, efficiency and safety.
No stranger to utility construction, Gene has spent 35 years in the industry, with the last 27 at Hallen. His career began in 1981 as a laborer, and he moved steadily through the ranks until being named to his current role in 2012.
Stuart Buhrendorf
Senior Vice President of EHS and Risk Management
Stu is the Senior Vice President of EHS and Risk Management at The Hallen Construction Company, Inc. and has been with the company since 1989.
Known for his commitment to worker health and safety and his passionate involvement in industry causes – particularly damage prevention and employee training – he plays a key role as a caretaker for the Hallen family.
A two-time winner of the Distribution Contractors Association’s Safety Director of the Year award, Stu is an Excavator Lead on the Common Ground Alliance Best Practices Committee. He currently co-chairs the Northeast Gas Association Contractor Committee and is a frequent speaker at their conferences.
Stu is active as a committee member, speaker and panelist for several industry groups including the Gold Shovel Standard, American Gas Association-DCA Workshops, NYC-Long Island 811 and Underground Construction Conferences.
A 30+ year industry veteran, Stu holds the Construction Health and Safety Technician (CHST) and Certified Utility Safety Professional (CUSP) accreditations. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Denison University in Granville, Ohio.
James P Small Jr.
Vice President - Purchasing
Jim is the Vice President of Purchasing at The Hallen Construction Company, Inc. He embraces the company’s 90-year heritage of commitment to quality, safety and innovative approach to utility projects.
A 30-year industry veteran, Jim started in the field as a laborer with Hallen in 1987 and worked his way up to be an officer of the company. During his tenure, he has been Laborer Foreman, Fuser, Project Manager and ultimately transitioned to the office as a Vice President. He is currently responsible for all purchasing and procurement, buildings and maintenance, sustaining strong vendor relationships, fleet management, and real estate purchases and leases.
Among the many large projects Jim has been involved with as both a Project Manager and Project Engineer are the Neptune, South Hampton Electric, and Iroquois jobs.
Jim is active with the Long Island Power Networking Group and is a member of the Long Island Contractors Association. He was also the proud recipient of the Alchemist Award from Brooklyn Union Gas for Keyhole Tooling.
He and his wife, Barbara, have three children – Shannon, Jimmy and Derek.
Linda Birkeland
Vice President of Finance & Treasurer
Linda holds the titles of Vice President of Finance and Treasurer at The Hallen Construction Company, Inc.
A proud member of the Hallen team since 2010, Linda is a New York State Certified Public Accountant. Before joining the company, she worked in public accounting for eleven years and has an additional ten years of accounting experience in private industry as Director of Finance for a non-profit organization and Manager of General Accounting for a publicly traded company.
Linda graduated with a master’s degree in accounting and taxation from the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.
Edward Fitzgerald
Vice President of Operations
Ed has been with The Hallen Construction Company, Inc. for over 30 years and is currently the Vice President of Operations. During his tenure with the company, he has been involved with securing and running various contracts from keyhole excavation to mains and services for Hallen’s two largest customers, National Grid and Con Edison.
The epitome of working your way up “the hard way,” Ed has climbed the ladder during his career at Hallen from Dispatcher to Vice President of Operations. His passion and motivation are a testament to his continued success with the company.
Currently overseeing the Paving and Drafting departments, Ed works daily with EHS and Operations to ensure the quality and safety for which Hallen Construction is known and respected.
Ed also coordinates all New York City and community relations which involve negotiations and responsibility for all violations, customer complaints and permitting.
Paul Handley
Assistant Vice President of Engineering and Estimating
Paul is the Assistant Vice President of Engineering and Estimating for the Hallen Construction Company and has worked for the company since March of 2001.
Paul started his career with Hallen in the drafting department and has worked his way up through many positions including expediter, project engineer, project manager, superintendent, and contract billing manager overseeing annual contracts with National Grid and Con Edison.
Over the past 20 years, he has been involved and has worked on major projects for companies such as National Grid, Con Edison, LIPA, Iroquois Gas Transmission System LP, Buckeye Pipe Line Co., LLP, Neptune Regional Transmission System LLC, Williams Partners LP, and Prysmian Power Cables & Systems USA, LLC. Paul was promoted to his role as Assistant Vice President of Engineering and Estimating in April of 2021. He remains active in coaching in his community of Williston Park where he resides with his wife Michelle and their children McKayla and William.
Tom Fedrigoni
Assistant Vice President of Special Projects
Tom Fedrigoni is the Assistant Vice President of Special Projects for The Hallen Construction Co. Inc. He joined the firm in 2009 bringing with him more than twenty years of heavy civil and utility construction experience within the U.S. and Canada. His background includes work with structural concrete, road and bridge construction, sewer and water main, traffic signals and municipal lighting, adding natural gas transmission and distribution pipeline work here at Hallen.
For more than a decade, Tom has played a lead role in some of Hallen’s most challenging projects and in April 2021 was invited to join Hallen’s executive team. His versatility and passion to lead are expected to serve well as Hallen expands its operations into a broader cross-section of the utility construction industry.
Tom and his wife Lisa reside in Queens, NY with their three children Tommy, Sara and Anthony.
John Cuffaro
Assistant Vice President of Information Technology
John is the Assistant Vice President of Information Technology for The Hallen Construction Company. In this role he oversees all IT operations including Infrastructure, Compliance, Business Intelligence and Application Development. He was the company’s first IT employee and quickly established himself as an integral part of the company’s future.
Prior to this role, John managed the IT department for an industry leading marketing firm in New York City. He has spent over 25 years working in the IT field in various roles including Mainframe operations, Infrastructure support, Database Design, and development of Enterprise applications to support business operations.
Since joining the company in 2015, John has been managing the company’s technological vision. Through his leadership, he has been responsible for the implementation of IT modernization efforts by delivering end-to-end technology solutions utilized throughout the entire organization.