A FEW MINUTES WITH STEPHANIE KRUEL OF VHB
Stephanie Kruel is Senior Regulatory and Resilience Advisor at VHB, which has been consulting with Core Investments, Inc. since early 2019.
What is VHB?
We are engineers, scientists, planners and designers, and we consult on engineering-related work to improve communities. We work with private sector real estate developers as well as institutions and public sector clients at the local, state and federal levels.
How many people work at VHB?
I think we have over 2,000 employees now. We have over 30 offices, from Florida to Maine. In Boston we have about 70 people. Our headquarters and largest office is in Watertown, with over 300 people. I work out of the Boston office.
What do you actually do for Core?
I’ve been helping Core do the environmental entitlement permitting work with local, state and federal agencies. I’ve primarily worked on the On the Dot project, Core Investments’ planned and permitted 21-acre mixed-used development along Dorchester Avenue in South Boston.
What else do you do besides work for Core?
At any time, I have probably 20 clients. They include firms like Tishman Speyer, National Development, and the Davis Companies, and public sector clients like the MBTA and Massport.
What did you do before VHB?
I was the Executive Director of the Boston Conservation Commission.
And where did you grow up?
I’m from Long Island.
Where did you go to school?
I went to school in Atlanta at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. I have a Masters in City Planning. I’m not an engineer.
Where do you live now?
Brookline.
What do you do to have fun when you’re not working?
I play the clarinet in a chamber ensemble. I am taking an improv class, at the Improv Asylum in the North End. You can go and see shows there by people who are way more advanced than I am. I also like to go bike-riding with my kids. I have two.
What’s a favorite place of yours in the Boston area?
The Arnold Arboretum.
Is there anything else new in your life?
Both of my kids are now in high school. That’s new. They are in cross-country and Ultimate frisbee.