Valiant Group

Brian graduated from West Point in summer of 2002 where he earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering, and he was commissioned as an Officer in the US Army.

Brian served six and half years on Active Duty, and during his service, he successfully graduated from the U.S. Army Ranger School and the U.S. Army Airborne School. Brian deployed to Iraq in 2005, where he led a platoon of Soldiers in combat operations within Sadr City. From 2006 through the end of 2008, Brian graduated from the Engineer Captains Advanced Course and he later became the Assistant Operations Officer for the 249th Engineering Battalion (Prime Power) in Ft. Belvoir, Virginia.

In December of 2008, Brian transitioned from Active Duty to the U.S. Army Reserves and accepted a position as a Project Manager in Lancaster, PA. From 2009-2010. During this time, Brian served in the Contingency Response Unit based out of the United States Army Corps of Engineer HQ’s. In 2010, Brian deployed to Afghanistan with the United States Army Corps of Engineers where he was the resident engineer and led reconstruction efforts on Kandahar Air Base.

In 2011, Brian started working for PPL Electric Utilities and he held multiple positions. During his time with PPL, he led the execution of a billion dollar capital spend and construction efforts to rebuild Power Transmission and Substation assets as the Manager of the Construction Management division.

Brian founded Valiant Group LLC in 2017, which is an engineering and construction firm operating in the public and private markets, including Federal/State agencies and electrical utility clients.

Brian holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the United States Military Academy, a Professional Engineer Licensure in Civil Engineering, an M.S. in Engineering Management, and an Executive M.B.A.

From a military perspective, Brian is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves where he is a graduate of Engineer Office Basic Course, Engineer Captains Advanced Course, and Command General Staff College, U.S. Army Airborne School, and U.S. Army Ranger School. Additionally, Brian has earned the Bronze Star for actions in Iraq.

With over a decade of experience in the construction management field, Wayne has managed multi-million dollar projects, ranging from government contracts to airports, schools, and hotels. He currently serves as Project Executive for Valiant Group LLC where he is responsible for filling the PE/BD role for the East Coast.

Wayne is a Certified Construction Manager through the Construction Management Association of America. His responsibilities include construction management, estimating costs, drafting proposals, and assisting in marketing efforts.

Prior to joining Valiant Group, Wayne’s projects included a new memorial for the Flight 93 plane that crashed in Pennsylvania during the 9/11 terror attacks, a $250 million dollar county correctional facility in New Jersey, and the Sheraton National Hotel in Virginia.

Throughout his years of experience, Wayne has taken on many different roles and successfully executed coordination of bid packages, daily construction administration, project inspection, design problem resolution, change order management, quality control, scheduling, commissioning, and more. Other skills include: change order scope preparation, price negotiations, and estimating.

Wayne holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering and an M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering—both from West Virginia University.

James graduated from Rutgers University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. He holds a master’s in Applied Theology from St. Sophia Theological Seminary, and attended the US Military Academy at West Point.

James is a Certified Construction Manager and has more than 25 years of experience working as a Project Engineer, Project Manager, and Senior Project/ Program Manager. His background covers all facets of civil / structural engineering, resident engineering, and building development programs.

His career began in the New Jersey Municipal Engineering sector – both office and field – with emphasis on complex structural and waterfront projects. He progressed as a Structural Engineer and Inspector on commercial buildings in New York City, eventually becoming a full-time construction manager with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for seven years.

From 2005 to 2010, he served as Resident Engineer in New Jersey on multiple Municipal, County, and State projects. And from 2011 to 2017, he led a six-person team that provided building program management services to the federal government’s GSA Region 2. This work included leading a team on the delivery of a $72M buildout of floors 50-55 at the new One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower).

From 2017 to 2018, James was responsible for the historic rehabilitation of the 100 year old Paradise Inn Annex located on Mt. Rainier in Washington State.  As the Senior Construction Representative for the National Park Service, he ensured that modern upgrades to this historic building met new building codes, while maintaining the period architecture and ambiance.

Starting in 2018, James joined the Valiant Group team as a Senior Construction Manager / Regional Manager responsible for professional services.  He is currently overseeing a $60M energy systems upgrade at James J. Peters VA Medical Hospital in the Bronx, NY.  This is part of the federal governments Energy Savings Performance Contracts program aimed at reducing utility costs to various government entities.

Kim Zickefoose serves as the Marketing Manager for Valiant Group LLC. Kim has been leading Valiant Group’s marketing efforts and strategy for the past two years and continues to leverage her creativity to support the vision of Valiant Group. She developed the name, logo, and initial branding of the company while managing daily operations and business development. Kim’s diverse thinking and creative problem solving helps the company solve each client’s needs in a changing environment.

Prior to her service with Valiant Group, Kim was an influential leader within the military’s Family Readiness Group and Soldier Support structure while her husband, Brian, was deployed for training stateside and/or overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. Concurrently, she taught middle school in Hinesville, GA. After graduating college, Kim was a schoolteacher within the Department of Defense system in West Point, NY, where she also coached the girls’ soccer team at O’Neil High School.

Kim is from Bridgeport, WV and is a graduate of Bridgeport High School. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Fairmont State University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Kim enjoys spending time with her husband and three kids by traveling and sharing new experiences together. Additionally, she loves hiking in the mountains, kayaking, and hard physical training within Olympic weightlifting community at Fortius Fitness.

At Valiant Group, Steve’s responsibilities include strategic planning and tactical leadership of all business development activities, start to finish, to include goal and target setting, capture planning and proposal process establishment, as well as strategic partnerships in the various forms that can take.