Scott Leopold brings 17 years of experience in K-12 facility planning and GIS to the program management firm
HPM has announced the hiring of Scott Leopold as Director of Planning Services. Leopold will work alongside Tracy Richter, Vice President of Planning Services at HPM, to expand the company’s partnerships with K-12 school districts in markets throughout the Southeast, bolster existing relationships with clients and enhance the overall facility planning process for bond programs.
Leopold joins HPM with more than 17 years of experience in facility planning and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) services, having coordinated and led capacity and utilization analyses, educational adequacy assessments, demographic analyses and enrollment projections for K-12 school districts of all sizes. He previously served as partner at Cooperative Strategies, where he worked with school districts across the country to lead successful facilities master planning projects and assist with implementation of GIS programs. Within the past decade, Leopold has toured more than 500 schools and worked on projects in 100 school districts. He has also worked as a subcontractor on numerous jobs with HPM and collaborated with Richter on many of these projects.
Using his experience in GIS, Leopold will work to enhance the methods that HPM uses to present data to clients and build new strategies using advanced digital platforms to make the process more interactive and convenient. The creation of online mapping applications and the use of dashboards will allow clients to visualize large amounts of data in a way that is digestible and easy to understand. He hopes to expand this concept to projects within other sectors in HPM’s portfolio, as well.
“My passion lies in understanding the wants and needs of communities that often have strong emotional attachment to their school systems, and turning that into data that can be used to improve education facilities,” said Leopold. “As conditions continue to change across our industry and the need for adaptability increases, it is time to move into the next generation of interactive data presentation to make the planning process smoother for these communities. HPM has established a track record of excellence within facility planning, and I look forward to continuing this pattern of success and strengthening client relationships alongside Tracy.”
With the addition of Leopold, HPM’s planning services team will continue to provide comprehensive oversight and guidance on capital and operational building programs, providing a holistic scope to clients offering a life cycle of services from planning to implementation. Leopold will help to lead client initiatives and engage with new K-12 school districts seeking to begin planning for bond programs.
“In any facilities planning project, our end goal is always to have an informed community that supports its school system and is excited to implement improvements to make those schools function at the highest possible level,” said Richter. “I believe Scott’s drive to make the entire process as inclusive and community-driven as possible will only take HPM’s planning services capabilities to the next level. His knowledge combined with our experience in successful K-12 planning will continue to drive cost and time savings for our clients.”
HPM is currently involved in numerous K-12 planning projects across the region, including a $280 million bond program for the Manor Independent School District in Manor Texas, Facility Master Planning for Round Rock ISD and South Bend Community Schools and Pre-Bond Planning Services for Nampa Schools.
With a presence throughout the U.S. and a total management portfolio value of $1+ billion annually, HPM has established itself as one of the industry’s leading program managers and owner’s representative companies. The firm’s recent notable clients and accounts include a program management contract for Airbus’ campus including the A320 and A220 assembly lines in Mobile, Alabama; an assignment to lead the site selection process, planning, design and construction of Boom Supersonic’s first manufacturing facility; project management services for several new minor league baseball ballparks and major league spring training facilities in Florida; a preconstruction services and construction administration contract for facilities owned by Regions Financial Corporation; a partnership with the World Games 2022 as the official program management partner; and program management services for multiple K-12 school districts and higher education institutions throughout the South.
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About HPM
HPM provides comprehensive planning, design and construction-related experience to offer clients a one-stop approach to complete program management and owner’s representation. From real estate acquisition analysis and facilities assessments to construction auditing and move management, HPM services clients in aerospace, automotive, sports and entertainment venues, commercial and industrial, higher education, K-12 and state and local government. With a footprint of accounts, projects and offices spanning throughout the US, the HPM team manages its work for national and international clients while providing a flexible, scalable team of experts at just the right time in the life of your facilities. For more information, please visit www.hpmleadership.com.
