Management

Thomas D. Brisbin has served as our Chairman of the Board since November 2016, a member of the Board since 2007 and as our Chief Executive Officer since 2007. Dr. Brisbin also served as our President from April 2007 to November 2016. Dr. Brisbin previously was vice president of and consultant for AECOM Technology Corporation, or AECOM, a company focused on infrastructure, environment and facilities engineering contracts, from spring 2004 until he joined us. Prior to joining AECOM, Dr. Brisbin was chief operating officer and executive vice president of Tetra Tech, Inc., or Tetra Tech, a leading provider of consulting, engineering and technical services, for five years. Prior to that, he was employed by Planning Research Corporation, or PRC, a systems analysis and management consulting company and wholly-owned subsidiary of The Black & Decker Corporation, from 1978 to 1995 and was co-founder and President of PRC Environmental Management, Inc. During his tenure at PRC, he was involved in all aspects of operations, marketing and finance. Before joining PRC, he was a research associate at Argonne National Laboratory. He has also served as an adjunct professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Dr. Brisbin holds a B.S. degree from Northern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology. He also completed Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program in 1988. Dr. Brisbin, as our current Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer and our prior President, brings his in-depth knowledge of the day-to-day operations of the Company and its industry to the Board, providing valuable insight to the Board as it reviews our operations, growth and financial prospects. In addition, we believe that his experience as an executive officer at Tetra Tech, a publicly traded engineering and consulting company, benefits our Board by increasing his knowledge of our industry and effective public company corporate governance.

Michael A. Bieber was appointed President of Willdan Group in November 2016. Mr. Bieber joined Willdan Group in December 2014 as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President at Tetra Tech, where he served in a number of leadership roles for over 18 years. From March 2007 to December 2014, Mr. Bieber managed Tetra Tech’s mergers and acquisitions and investor relations functions, overseeing over fifty acquisitions. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Bieber managed Tetra Tech’s corporate business development group, where he was responsible for overseeing internal business development, marketing and communications. From January 2000 to December 2014, Mr. Bieber also worked in Tetra Tech’s investor relations group. From 1996 to 2000, he was a proposal manager in Tetra Tech’s corporate marketing group. From 1994 to 1996, he served at CRC, Inc., and its successor, as a strategic business development consultant to large defense, infrastructure, and environmental firms. Prior to 1994, Mr. Bieber worked for IT Corporation (now CB&I) where he served as project manager and engineer on government nuclear and commercial environmental projects. Mr. Bieber holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the Tennessee Technological University.

Creighton K. (Kim) Early was appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Company, effective April 16, 2021. Mr. Early served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Willdan’s Energy Solutions group from 2015 to 2021. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Early acted as Chief Financial Officer for Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, a $700 million builder of utility-scale wind, solar, and biomass projects. Previously, he acted as the Chief Financial Officer for Earth Tech and helped the company grow over 14 years from a $37 million federal government geotechnical consulting firm into a $1.3 billion multi-national water, environmental, and transportation engineering leader. Mr. Early has participated in more than 50 M&A transactions as either a buyer, seller, or advisor.
Mr. Early has a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Michigan and a B.S. degree in Finance from Ohio State University.

Micah Chen currently serves as General Counsel for Willdan Group, Inc., where he manages and mitigates all legal and regulatory risks for the organization. From 2006 to 2007, Mr. Chen served as Vice President of the Construction Risk Group at Willis Towers Watson. He held various positions, from Senior Vice President to Managing Director, at Aon Corporation from 2008 to 2017. In these roles, he developed risk management programs for Engineering News-Record Top 100 clients, contractors, and manufacturers.
He received his B.A. in International Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles and earned his J.D. (Juris Doctor) from Western State University, College of Law. He is a member of the American Bar Association as well as the California Bar Association.