Anderson & Associates’ Blacksburg Project Manager Rick Howard recently passed the LEED exam and became a LEED Accredited Professional. Many of you may not realize what an impressive accomplishment this is because you’re asking yourself "what exactly is LEED?"

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) as the nationally accepted standard for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings or buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work.

LEED measures a building’s performance in five key areas of human and environmental health including sustainable site planning, water use reduction, energy efficiency and renewable energy, conservation of materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. The LEED Green Building Rating System provides the tools necessary for green design and construction practices that significantly reduce the negative impact of buildings on the environment and occupants.

Anderson & Associates’ HR Generalist, Allison White is a young professional who knows who she is and what she wants. She grew up in Christiansburg, Virginia, attended Dayspring Christian Academy in Blacksburg, Virginia, and graduated from nearby Radford University in 2002 with a B.S. in Human Foods and Nutrition.

Allison’s small town values have remained an integral part of her life, and have helped shape her ambitions. She values family and friends above anything else, and she spends most of her free time with them. She regularly travels to Northern Virginia to visit one of her two sisters, and newborn niece, and many of her weekends are spent visiting friends in Virginia and North Carolina.

Drawing from her love of people, she found her niche in Human Resources in 2002 when she began working in the field at Echo Star. She soon discovered that she loved working with people, and had a knack for it.

She was drawn to the family atmosphere among Anderson & Associates’ employee-owners, and began her career at A&A in 2005, where her primary responsibility is recruiting. Allison attends job fairs at Virginia Tech and North Carolina State University each year along with other locations that she feels may be beneficial to A&A.

Her efforts and effective communication allow her to discover qualified individuals to join A&A’s talented staff. Allison is enthusiastic about the culture at Anderson & Associates and is able to convey this to potential A&A employees. She loves the flexibility of the company, and the life-work balance she’s found while working at A&A appeals to her.