Nic Herr has had a diverse and progressive career trajectory since graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from James Madison University in 2001. He began his professional journey with Phoenix Development Corporation, and after just six months, William A. Hazel, Inc. acquired the company. Since then, Nic has held a series of increasingly significant positions at William A. Hazel, Inc., starting as an Estimator and progressing through roles such as Project Manager, Chief Estimator, and currently serving as Vice President of Engineering.

In his current role, Nic oversees both the Engineering and Purchasing Departments. His responsibilities span a wide range of critical tasks including soliciting and managing bids, contracting, project management, purchasing, and fostering client relationship.

Mike Rockefeller joined William A. Hazel, Inc. in 2024 following a career in public accounting and several years of experience with a regional wholesale distributor. Mike comes to Hazel with a focus on improving company processes and controls, enhancing administrative efficiencies, and researching and implementing new technologies while modernizing existing information systems to better serve our employees and customers.

With over 25 years of financial experience, Mike is responsible for our accounting, human resources, information technology, and administrative functions as well as company compliance requirements, risk management, and financial relationships.

A lifelong resident of the Washington, DC metro area, Mike graduated from McDaniel College in 1998 with bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration and Economics.

Doug Palatt began his career with William A. Hazel, Inc. in 1993 after graduating from Virginia Tech with a BS in Building Construction. He started with the company as an Engineer assisting the Project Managers in the office.

During his time at Hazel, Doug has worked in several different roles: Estimator, Project Administrator, Project Manager, Contract Manager, and most recently Construction Manager – supervising the total construction effort of his project management team.

As Chief Operating Officer, Doug is responsible for maintaining and driving operational results for the company.

John Roddy came to William A. Hazel, Inc. from Head, Inc. in Columbus, Ohio, where he served as Vice President of Operations and he was responsible for implementing many changes that modernized the company. Prior to that he spent over 30 years working at Lane Construction. At Lane he was responsible for operations and profitability in the central US from Illinois and Indiana to Texas.

Prior to opening Lane’s Midwest District Office in 2012, John served for a year as Lane’s Business Development Manager for the Mid-Atlantic region. In the region he has previously managed several nationally recognized projects for Lane including the 495 Capital Beltway HOT Lanes, WMATA Green Line Completion and Blue Line Extension, and the runway expansion at Dulles International Airport.

As Chief Executive Officer of William A. Hazel, Inc. John is responsible for the profitability and future of the company. He feels privileged to be an employee of the firm and understands that the company’s greatest asset is its employees, over 150 of who have been with the firm for over 20 years.