ITE Journal January 2018 - 27

to help the city of Jackson, MS, USA pass
its one-cent sales tax referendum. Having
worked with the city and being part of
the community and living in Jackson
for so long, and being committed to
serve the city, it had become increasingly
apparent that there were such limited
funds available, particularly for water and
sewer and street repair, that it was a crisis
that would affect the city's economic
viability. So I volunteered to help educate
the community by going with the mayor
to community meetings, and I'm proud
that this one-cent sales tax passed by
90 percent. I'm very proud that during
my ITE presidency we established an
advocacy committee that is very active,
and is doing a good job of promoting our
advocacy initiatives.

was the defining project of my early
career. After these early exposures to the
transportation profession, I knew what
career I wanted.

than office locations to succeed. We
brought on engineers with an entrepreneurial spirit, and put them in positions
where they could excel.

ITEJ: How did you grow your business
from one office to 38 offices and 500
employees?

ITEJ: You have been a champion for
transportation advocacy. Why have
you felt it important to invest so much
of your personal time to working with
elected officials on transportation
issues?

HN: We started Neel-Schaffer with 20
employees and focused primarily on
traffic engineering in Jackson. But it soon
became apparent that to grow, we needed
to be a multi-disciplined, multi-office
firm, and an employee-owned firm. We
developed an office in Nashville, TN, USA
and from that base we developed work
throughout Tennessee, especially the
Tennessee State Highway Department.
And although we grew as a multi-disciplined firm, a majority of our contracts
were in transportation engineering
and planning. We never lost that base
discipline. As federal mandates and local
priorities emerged, we established offices
to provide services to clients throughout
the Southeast. But you have to have more

HN: Our most successful professionals
are those who love their work and are
excited to explain what they do and
the value of what they do to elected
officials and policymakers. I was always
inspired by people such as Herman
Hoose in Charlotte and John Exnicios
in New Orleans and Marble Hensley, all
Honorary Members of ITE. And having
chaired our ITE ethics task force, I realize
how important it is that everything we do
has to be in the public's best interest. For
me, advocacy is educating public officials
about the right thing to do for their
communities. An example was working

ITEJ: What advice do you have for
professionals just starting a career in
transportation engineering, and is there
anything else you would like to add?
HN: We must be committed to
continuous improvement and take
advantage of every educational
opportunity, especially those offered
by ITE. I would advise a new employee
to work under a professional who will
devote a good deal of time to mentoring
and helping the young engineer gain
experience. Join a firm or public organization that will support their involvement
and professional development and be
committed to them being able to reach
their professional potential. Of course,
I certainly hope that employer would
support their involvement in ITE. I
would like to add that I am honored to
receive this award, but I know what little
success I've achieved I would not have
achieved without the great support of my
wonderful wife Susan. We are celebrating
our 50th anniversary this year on May
11, 2018. And we have had many talented,
dedicated employees who have really
made this company a success. itej
w w w .i t e.or g

Ja nu ar y 2018

27
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ITE Journal January 2018
