BATON ROUGE, La. (November 27, 2023) – Neel-Schaffer is pleased to announce that Chris Knotts, PE, F.ASCE, BC.WRE, has joined the firm and will serve as the Director of Business Development – Louisiana.

Chris has nearly 40 years of civil engineering experience. He began his career in the private sector and for the last 26.5 years worked in various roles for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. He held the position of DOTD Chief Engineer – supervising 550 employees and overseeing the agency’s Office of Engineering – for the final six years before retiring from LADOTD in October.

In his new role, Chris will be responsible for managing client relationships and driving business growth, catering to existing and prospective Neel-Schaffer clients across the state.

“Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Neel-Schaffer,” said Jerry Trumps, Executive Vice President for Neel-Schaffer’s Southwest Region. “He has worked for state agencies for decades and throughout his career he has worked with various municipalities and parishes around the state. We will look for him to develop an outreach program that will allow us to connect with current and future clients and assist in expanding our services in Louisiana.”

Neel-Schaffer has built a strong reputation as a traffic engineering firm in Louisiana, “but we are much more than that,” said Chris. “Drawing from my experience, I see numerous additional services that could greatly benefit our clients and it’s my goal to develop a plan for how we can provide those services to our existing clients and how we can expand our client base across the state, contributing to the firm’s growth.”

Chris’ dedication to the engineering field and fostering client connections is evident through his service to the profession. His involvement includes an active role in the National Council of Examiners for Engineering & Surveying (NCEES), where he served as national President in 2020-2021. Additionally, he was Member President for the Louisiana Engineering Society in 2019-2020 and was on the Louisiana Professional Engineering and Land Surveying Board (LAPELS) from 2013 through 2019. He also served as the Louisiana Section President of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 2009-2010. He was a member of the Louisiana Water Resources Commission from 2013-2023 and was a member of the Louisiana Watershed Initiative from 2018-2023. And he was a member of the Comite River Diversion Canal Task Force from 2014 through 2023.

Chris holds two degrees from Louisiana State University: A Bachelor of Engineering Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He earned a Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering (Structures) from the University of Texas at Arlington.