Employee Spotlight
Alan Schankweiler
Project Manager, USAID
Alan Schankweiler, Project Manager, USAID
Alan Schankweiler was hired as a contractor by L-3 Communications to work as the assistant help desk manager for the Army headquarters department located at the Pentagon right after the events of 9/11.
His exposure to the Pentagon’s post-9/11 scene helped him to develop an appreciation for what goes into a disaster recovery effort.
That’s what excites him about taking his position on Catapult’s contract with United States Agency for International Development (USAID). “It’s similar work,” he says. “You’re making a difference by reducing human suffering.”
But before Catapult could do any on-the-ground work keeping communications channels open in an international disaster situation, Alan, as project manager, had to lead the team transitioning the $58 million contract from a previous contractor.
He had to keep multiple wheels turning. Catapult won the contract in April, and the transition was completed in early June.
“It was pretty chaotic getting things up and running,” he says. “And even now that the transition is complete, you’re naturally on edge since the actual work of the agency is about reacting to disasters.”
As part of the transition, Catapult hired about 70% of the staff from the previous contractor and moved them to a new location. There are 33 people on the project, including employees of Cascendo and Great Falls, the subcontractors on the contract.
Alan says that Catapult retained many of the key players from the previous contractor. “They have the institutional knowledge to make the project a success,” he says. New hires round out the entire staff with the knowledge they bring from such agencies and organizations as the White House communications agency, the Pentagon, and others.
Alan has been enthusiastic about Catapult since he joined the company in 2007 as Deputy Local Support Manager on the GSA Infrastructure Technology Global Operations (GITGO) contract, covering all of the contract’s 14 regions.
“What I have always admired about Catapult,” he says, “is that I have access to top level executives. They really care about the people and a project’s success. You get the support you need. Your voice matters.”
He adds, “Having come from a larger company, Catapult feels more like a family than it does just a business. It’s pretty close-knit group of people.”
Alan feels that Catapult has matured over the time he has been here. “Processes are more structured now,” he says.
Alan lives in Laurel, MD with his wife Jamie, daughter Alexis (12) and son Zachary (9).
He jokes that during the USAID transition, sleep deprivation was his main hobby. But through it all, family remains his main focus. “We travel a lot to see relatives,” he says. “Both sets of parents are three hours away, but in opposite directions.”
While he makes time to visit places like Williamsburg, VA and Busch Gardens with his family, he is mindful of the importance of the USAID’s mission of delivering international humanitarian assistance.
“There is a lot of work in recovery efforts” he says. “If we can prove ourselves with USAID, then we can pursue similar work with other agencies.”
