NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 18, 2023) – A program manager in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District is being lauded by the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division for her work that led to $376 million in Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriation Act funding to replace the spillway gates and associated equipment at Wolf Creek Dam in Jamestown, Kentucky, and Center Hill Dam in Lancaster, Tennessee.
Joe Savage, Great Lakes and Ohio River Division programs director, presented the Ron Keeling Civil Works Programming Excellence Award Aug. 29 to Connie Flatt, civil engineer and program manager in the Nashville District’s Planning, Program, and Project Management, recognizing her contributions, which included her support for the Nashville District’s Operations and Maintenance Program.
“Connie’s dedication to service is evident by her continued hard work to bring the large operations and maintenance program to fruition by meticulously collecting the information needed to justify and defend the program,” Savage noted. “The continued success of the Nashville District to develop, defend and ultimately execute such a large and varied program are a testament to the organized and methodical approach Connie makes annually.”
Flatt joined federal service in 1980 and then the Nashville District in 1985 as a program and project manager. She then worked as the district’s Engineering and Construction Division coordinator for architect engineer acquisition from 1997 to 2003. She has served in her current position as Operations and Maintenance Program manager since 2003. Today she keeps track of more than $150 million of O&M projects annually.
Her work supports complex navigation, hydropower, flood risk management, recreation, environmental stewardship, water supply and emergency management projects across seven states in the Cumberland River and Tennessee River basins.
In receiving the award, Flatt said she actually knew Ron Keeling when she began working in programs, so she is very humbled and grateful for being recognized.
“He (Ron Keeling) was so very well respected amongst his peers,” Flatt said. “So, it’s especially nice to have my career accomplishments recognized in this fashion. Thank you to everyone within the Nashville District and across the Lakes and Rivers Division that supported me over the years! It’s been quite a pleasure to work with all of you.”
Flatt is a civil engineer with experience in the Engineering Division, Operations Division, and Planning, Programs and Project Management Division. A civil engineer, she possesses expert skills in multiple information systems and is proficient with financial, scheduling and budgeting systems.
She is a native of Hermitage, Tennessee, and graduate of Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville.
Jamie James, Nashville District’s Planning, Programs and Project Management Division deputy chief, said Flatt is very experienced, tackles difficult assignments in a way that makes them appear to be basic and routine, and is very deserving of this award.
“I’m proud to see Connie recognized for her tremendous contributions to the Nashville District, the region, and the Corps,” James said. “She’s a great teammate who uses her vast knowledge of programs and her broad experience to ensure that the district has the resources we need to accomplish our missions every day.”
The Ron Keeling Award is given annually to recognize an employee’s role in the programs and project management community of practice in the Great Lakes and Ohio Rivers Division. It is named after the father of Heather Turner, Nashville District’s Contracting Division chief.
Turner said when the division renamed the Programming Excellence Award after her father in 2006, it meant a lot given her father’s passion and commitment to the career field. Keeling served as a program manager in the Huntington District for 15 years and as chief of Programs Management at the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division when he passed away Sept. 21, 2005.
“It was a true honor and very humbling to see how my dad’s legacy would continue to be honored throughout the division,” Turner said. “I was happy and excited to hear that Connie is the latest recipient of this award. Connie’s passion to serve and provide outstanding results are characteristics my dad valued in his USACE family.”
Turner said Flatt truly embodies the dedication and service that this award represents in the programs and project management field.
The public can obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District on the district’s website at www.lrn.usace.army.mil, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nashvillecorps and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nashvillecorps. Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest Nashville District employment and contracting opportunities at https://www.linkedin.com/company/u-s-army-corps-of-engineers-nashville-district.