Valerie is a passionate mechanical engineer turned writer with a special interest in using her talents and skills for the betterment of others. She has decades of experience with budgeting, schedules, maintenance, and renewals and replacements of large capital components and systems. For the last decade she supported the Defense Logistics Agency’s Utilities Privatization Program as the lead for the privatization of Water, Wastewater, Electrical and Natural Gas Systems on US military installations.

Prior to entering the utilities industry, Valerie worked for Fortune 100 companies such as the Walt Disney Company, Eastman Kodak Company and Northrop Grumman Corporation, where she became accomplished at recruiting and managing teams, negotiating with vendors, and ensuring on time project delivery. Further training as a certified Project Management Professional and an MBA broadened the scope of her skills.

Her career has placed her in diverse environments such as manufacturing plants, theme parks, and Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, where she cultivated positive working relationships with everyone from apprentice technicians to top military leaders, elected officials, and utility company CEOs.

In this chapter of her life, Valerie is an entrepreneur in government contracting. Her company, Laurel Rock Consulting, wins State, Municipal and Federal contracts in addition to assisting other small businesses to do the same. Laurel Rock Consulting specializes in technical writing, grant writing, and proposal preparation for non-profits, educational institutions, and small businesses in the Federal and SLED markets.

Shannon is a technical writer and linguist. As a certified medical Spanish language interpreter she regularly volunteers in her local community to assist her neighbors in getting much needed medical care. Her mastery of language and the art of explanation have been further enhanced by her years of working with the Autism community and groups like Autism Speaks. Shannon is also a regular on the tennis court, avid soccer fan and fanatic Dutch Blitz player.

Who We Are