Weapons Complex Monitor Vol. 24, No. 2, January 11, 2013

Former ORP Manager Launches New Consulting Firm

Shirley Olinger, the former manager of the Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection, has launched a new management and technical consulting business in the Hanford area. Olinger was ORP manager from 2007 to 2010, overseeing work by more than 5,000 employees to operate the tank farms and build the Waste Treatment Plant. Since then, she has worked for DOE headquarters, including as assistant principal deputy for Environmental Management, and was given the energy secretary’s Exceptional Service Award as she retired from 32 years of work for the federal government last fall (WC Monitor, Vol. 23 No. 53). She’s recruited a team of 21 experts, many of them well-known in the DOE complex, who will work as needed on projects for the new company, Independent Strategic Management Solutions, or ISMSolutions. They include Ines Triay, the former DOE assistant secretary of Environmental Management, who also will continue to serve as the executive director of the Applied Research Center at Florida International University.

All are people Olinger has worked with through her career and all share her emphasis on executing work in an effective and safe manner, she said. “We’ve created a highly motivated team of industry professionals with proven track records of obtaining solutions to difficult challenges in complex and heavily regulated work environments,” she said. The new company will provide professional technical consulting services initially in areas Olinger knows well, environmental cleanup and the nuclear industry. In addition to seeking work in the DOE complex, Olinger also is interested in opportunities as cleanup continues from the Fukushima, Japan, nuclear disaster. ISMSolutions also will be offering services in the national security, energy, electrical utility and defense sectors.

Olinger expects ISMSolutions to be needed during temporary workload peaks, when government organizations and contractors do not want to hire full-time staff, she said. It also will be available for assessments to prevent problems or for troubleshooting when independent and experienced technical experts are needed, she said. The new company’s strategy is to offer superior expertise at a competitive price because of its low operating costs during a time of uncertainty
in the federal budget. Members of the team she has assembled will work as their expertise is needed for specific projects, and many are retired from contracting or government jobs and do not need health insurance or retirement benefits. Olinger, the founder and president of the company, allows the company to qualify as a woman- and minority-owned business. Olinger, who is married to Matt McCormick, the manager of the DOE Richland Operations Office, said she would work with DOE legal counsel to clear any potential conflict of interest issues that might arise for work at Hanford.

Weapons Complex Monitor Vol. 23., No. 53, November 30, 2012

Former ORP Manager Shirley Olinger wins DOE Award

Shown with Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Washington Senator Maria Cantwell at the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site

Longtime Department of Energy official Shirley Olinger has been awarded the Secretary of Energy Exceptional Service Award as she retires from DOE. In the award certificate, Olinger was praised for serving with “distinction” throughout her federal career, which ran for 32 years, and was described as “a national leader and expert in the areas of nuclear safety, nuclear operations and worker safety.” Among her previous positions in DOE, Olinger served as manager of the Department’s Office of River Protection at Hanford and as Associate Principal Deputy for Corporate Operations in DOE’s Office of Environmental Management.