1999 Graduate of the Swalm School of Chemical Engineering at the Bagley College of Engineering with a B.S. in Engineering and a B.S. in Chemistry at Mississippi State University. Began working as an Engineering Intern at the Bureau of Public Water Supply at the Mississippi State Department of Health as a Regional Engineer in April 2002. Served on Emergency Support Function Groups 3 (Public Works) and 8 (Public Health) during the response and recovery from the impacts of Hurricane Katrina. Obtained a Professional Engineering License in June 2007, and was shortly promoted to become the Engineering Coordinator and Supervisor of the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund Program. Serves as Vice President (Region 1) with the Mississippi Engineering Society and has served as the Mississippi House Delegate with the National Society of Professional Engineers from 2019 through 2021 and ran for the office of NSPE Treasurer in 2021. Served as the Secretary/Treasurer for the Alabama/Mississippi Section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) from 2015 through 2018. Is a two time recipient of the Kenny McCool Outstanding Service Award (2014 & 2021) and currently is the Communications Chair for the Alabama/Mississippi Section of AWWA

Finding funding for Drinking Water Systems Improvements can be a daunting task.

The Drinking Water SRF Program has been in existence since the 1996 Amendments of the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Mississippi State Department of Health has been administering these funds to water systems throughout the state to not only assist in water systems to return to compliance, but also to help systems maintain compliance for future generations. In addition to the program, Congress also passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which provides additional funding to SRF Programs to provide additional funding to help underserved communities and to address emerging contaminant issues and replacing of lead service lines. This session will provide updates in the SRF Programs administration of these funds over the next several years.

Also in 2022, the Mississippi Legislature passed bills to appropriate funds awarded to the State for the investment of water infrastructure through the passage of the American Recovery Plan Act through two different grant programs. This presentation will briefly go over these legislations and give updates on how the funds are being administered throughout the state.