U.S. General Services Administration
PBS Director Zach Hawks to depart GSA
PBS Design and Construction Division Director Zach Hawks will leave GSA April 1 to work in the private sector. He has served as division director since May 2019.
“His dedication to excellence, integrity, adaptability, thoughtfulness, and intentionality should be highly commended,” PBS Regional Commissioner Kevin Rothmier said. “His leadership, presence, and counsel in our region will be greatly missed.”
Hawks joined GSA as an intern in the Design and Construction Division in 2004. He became the leasing construction program manager and team leader in 2008 and was promoted to chief of the West Project Management Branch in 2012.
“While his contributions to the Heartland Region’s portfolio are significant, Zach has also had a profound impact on the people in our workforce,” Rothmier said. “He is a leader who has brought cohesion to the table to solve problems, made solid business decisions to drive to intended outcomes, and always gave his best to his people each day.”
Hawks said working as the Design and Construction Division director was an opportunity he never dreamed of early in his career.
“The chance to lead a group of professionals like the DCD team during some very interesting times is something I will never forget,” he said. “From a leadership standpoint, I would not have wanted to experience that with anyone else but the DCD leadership team and the board of directors. I know I wasn’t always perfect, and never will be, but I tried to lead in a way that I thought was in the best interest of the organization.”
He added that he will look back at his time with GSA “with great pride and satisfaction.”
“The people here are second to none, and I will always be thankful for the time spent here,” he said.
He was involved with several high-profile projects over the years, including a renovation of the Edward Zorinsky Federal Building, the new Des Moines U.S. Courthouse, and several Recovery Act [PDF - 109 KB] projects.
Hawks comments on the Zorinsky renovation:
“Working on the Zorinsky major (repair and alteration) project as (contracting officer’s representative) was one of the most influential times in my career. I worked really closely with (Project Manager) Mike Sizemore and other PMs on the shell and tenant improvement projects. (Former Deputy Regional Commissioner) Courtney Springer and (Contracting Officer) Mike Flanigan were the acquisition team. It wasn’t always fun working with a difficult contractor, but working with a great GSA team — including (Field Office Director) Jeff Warinski, (Field Office Deputy Director) Dan Rankin and the field office staff — really shaped me and my approach to project and construction management.”
Hawks comments on the new Des Moines U.S. Courthouse:
“Working as the project manager for the Des Moines Courthouse was also an experience that I will always look back on as an amazing experience. Working with Flanigan, (Contract Specialist) Adam Sawatzke, (Contract Specialist) Jason Taylor and (Former Site Acquisition Representative) Sheri DeMartino through the site, design and construction procurements to assemble what we hoped would be the best team to deliver, was an excellent experience. There were trying times through the site selection process, but Sheri, I, and many others endured to do what we felt was truly right for the federal government and taxpayer. As difficult as that was, it was a decision I’ll never regret. Working with the Courts and the project team through the concept design and getting approval from the Commissioner was one of the most satisfying experiences of my career.”
Hawks comments on the Recovery Act projects:
“The few years of delivering Recovery Act projects throughout the region were some of the most rewarding times of my career. DCD had just hired several contracting officer representative interns — namely Danielle Freeborn, Bryant Schneider and Peter Leonhard — so several of us were coaching and mentoring this great new crop of up-and-coming GSA employees while delivering tens of millions of dollars of projects. We worked really hard and asked a lot of the intern CORs, but I look back really fondly at that time and how much fun we had as a group.”