Principals

Profile

Nicholas William Bodouva leads the studio as President, the successor practice to William Nicholas Bodouva + Associates, where he served as Senior Vice President before the predecessor firm's retirement. A senior executive with more than thirty years in the design, engineering, and construction industry, he has led and managed business development and marketing campaigns for large aviation and rail programs at home and abroad, with a background in large commercial planning, design, and project management encompassing billions of dollars of built work. He has also served as Senior Vice President and Transportation Sector Leader for a Long Island engineering and design firm.

His record of pursuits includes the $9.4 billion New Terminal One alternative-scheme analysis for the P3 team at JFK, the $14 billion New Chengdu Airport master plan (145 gates), the $4 billion LaGuardia new Central Terminal master plan (38 gates), the $1 billion Tampa International North Terminal master plan and schematic design (50 gates), the JetBlue terminal master plan at JFK, the William Donald Schaefer International Terminal at BWI, and airport and seaport privatization master plans in Poland and the Dominican Republic. He is known for identifying and acquiring new business, negotiating contracts, penetrating new markets, and optimizing the financial models that drive project growth, and his knowledge extends to sustainable energy solutions and carbon-credit markets.

Nick holds a Doctor of Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University and an M.B.A. from the New York Institute of Technology. He has taught marketing, market strategy, consumer behavior, marketing research, branding, international marketing, B2B marketing, and entrepreneurship at the undergraduate and graduate levels — as an adjunct professor at Long Island University since 2013, previously at Warner University, and as an honorarium professor and lecturer at NYIT and for the Global Link in Management Group's United Nations exchange program. His research on airport retail and aviation demand has appeared in the International Journal of Management & Marketing Research, Airport Terminal News, and publications of Airports Council International and the American Association of Airport Executives, and he is a frequent guest lecturer for ACI, AAAE, the Transportation Research Board, Massport, and the National Rail Association. He led research initiatives on algae-to-energy conversion and algae-based wastewater treatment with NYIT, Columbia University, and National Grid, and served on Long Island University's Sustainability Committee. Design citations and awards for Terminal One at JFK, Buffalo Niagara International Airport, and the USAir Terminal at LaGuardia are listed under Selected Honors.

What the President Does for a Design Firm

• Vision and strategy. Sets the firm's direction, design standards, and markets, and is accountable for its overall performance.
• Principal-in-charge. Holds the executive relationship with airport authorities, transit agencies, port operators, and private owners on the firm's major commissions.
• Pursuits. Leads go/no-go decisions, proposals, presentations, and contract negotiations.
• Teaming. Assembles and leads the multidisciplinary teams — engineering, program management, construction — that deliver complex programs.
• Design quality and delivery. Directs the quality of the work from feasibility study through completion.
• Stewardship. Holds ultimate responsibility for profit and loss, governance, and the firm's growth.
• Representation. Speaks for the firm before public agencies, industry organizations, and the press.

Profile

Jamie J. Bodouva is a senior business development and strategy executive with more than twenty-five years of leadership driving regional growth, client expansion, and multidisciplinary coordination across the design, engineering, and construction, transportation, aviation, ports, infrastructure, and advisory sectors. She has served as a senior officer of the studio since 2011, and before that as Senior Vice President and Aviation/Transportation Practice Leader at William Nicholas Bodouva + Associates (1990–2015), where she generated sustained revenue through strategic pursuit leadership supporting billions of dollars of aviation and transportation programs in domestic and international markets — including airport initiatives in China, the Dominican Republic, and Poland.

From 2017 to 2019 she was Vice President of Strategy, Business Development & Project Operations at B. Thayer Associates, where she led the New York region transportation and infrastructure practice, established a new aviation practice in the New York marketplace, increased revenue by fifteen percent, and served in a leadership role supporting NYSDOT as Program Manager for Airport Services. Her New York and Tri-State market experience runs deep, with long-standing relationships across airport authorities, transportation agencies, government stakeholders, and private-sector partners. She has been part of identifying, positioning, pursuing, and delivering some of the most complex transportation initiatives in New York City and beyond — among them the JFK Terminals 1, 2 & 3 alternative study for P3, the LaGuardia Airport unified master plan, the new LaGuardia Terminal B headhouse, the $4 billion World Trade Center Transportation Hub, the Times Square subway complex, the LIRR stations enhancement program, and the Penn Station Critical program.

Jamie holds a Doctor of Business Administration (with honors) from Nova Southeastern University and an M.B.A. (with distinction) from the New York Institute of Technology. As an undergraduate she was selected for the Institute of Future Studies Design Group's NASA faculty/student team, designing ergonomic zero-gravity environments for the Space Shuttle — work recognized in the “Los Angeles Prize” international competition. She is an adjunct professor in the School of Business at Lynn University and at Long Island University; has lectured on brand building, business relationship building, entrepreneurship, and sustainability at NYIT and for the Global Link in Management Group's United Nations exchange program; developed and delivered in-house marketing training for the predecessor firm's professionals for two decades; and has published research on service quality in the International Journal of Management and Marketing Research.

What the Executive Vice President Does for a Design Firm

• Second-in-command. Directs the firm's day-to-day operations on behalf of the President.
• Business development and strategy. Leads market positioning, pipeline development, and capture strategy for large-scale infrastructure programs.
• Project operations. Directs staffing strategy, fee development, forecasting, contract review, and financial performance analysis across all service lines.
• Client relationships. Manages executive-level relationships with public agencies, airport leadership, and strategic teaming partners.
• Pursuit teams. Organizes multidisciplinary pursuit teams and coordinates internal and external resources to maximize competitive position.
• Marketing and visibility. Oversees the firm's brand and represents it at industry forums and conferences.
• People. Mentors, coaches, and develops staff — assigning accountabilities, setting objectives, and monitoring results.

Profile

Christopher R. Zapalski is a Florida trial attorney, tax practitioner, and business scholar who has practiced law since 2002. He pairs a Juris Doctor and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) with a Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.) — a combination that lets him read a contract, a balance sheet, and a business plan with equal fluency. For more than two decades he has represented individuals and businesses in complex business disputes and other contested matters in state and federal courts, advised companies on entity selection, formation, and structure, and resolved difficult tax matters before the IRS and state revenue authorities.

Chris is also a Chartered Wealth Manager (CWM), a designation recognized in FINRA's professional designations directory, and a Wealth Management Fellow of the Global Academy of Finance & Management. He has served as Audit Committee Chairman of a publicly traded company, giving him firsthand experience with governance, financial oversight, and fiduciary duty at the highest level, and he is a member of Hillsdale College's Free Market Forum, a fellowship of scholars dedicated to the study of free enterprise.

What the Chief Legal Officer Does for a Design Firm

• Contracts. Negotiates and drafts the firm's agreements — owner–consultant contracts, teaming and joint-venture agreements, and subconsultant agreements — on public and private programs.
• Risk management. Manages professional risk: indemnification, limitation of liability, standard-of-care language, and professional liability insurance.
• Compliance. Ensures the firm meets public procurement rules, licensing and registration requirements, and agency contracting standards.
• Intellectual property. Protects ownership, licensing, and reuse of the firm's design documents and work product.
• Disputes. Leads dispute avoidance and resolution — claims, change-order disputes, mediation, arbitration, and litigation.
• Governance. Oversees corporate governance, entity structure, employment matters, and confidentiality agreements.
• Coordination. Works with the Controller on tax strategy and with the Vice President for Investments on securities compliance for capital transactions.

Profile

Tabitha Zapalski directs the studio's financial operations as Controller. She brings a background in business operations and publications management — managing workflow, correspondence, production schedules, and vendor coordination — to the disciplined financial administration a design practice requires: accurate project accounting, timely billing, clean books, and reporting that lets the firm's leadership make decisions with confidence.

What the Controller Does for a Design Firm

• Books and reporting. Maintains the firm's accounts and produces monthly financial statements, budgets, and forecasts.
• Project accounting. Tracks every commission against its fee — budgets, work-in-progress, earned value, and staff utilization.
• Billing and payables. Manages invoicing and collections under hourly, lump-sum, and percent-complete contracts, and payments to subconsultants and vendors.
• Cash and payroll. Manages cash flow, banking, and payroll, and administers benefits and expense reimbursement.
• Overhead and audits. Develops overhead rates and supports the audits required by public-agency contracts.
• Controls. Maintains internal controls, insurance certificates, and tax and regulatory filings.
• Reporting up. Reports financial performance to the President and Executive Vice President.

Profile

David L. Entrekin is an economist by training, holding a Master of Science in Agricultural and Applied Economics and a Bachelor of Science in Management with a concentration in Economics, both from Clemson University. He has taught economics at the university level for more than two decades — macroeconomics and microeconomics, money and banking, statistics, research methods, and international trade — has served on a university economics faculty since 2012, and is a repeat recipient of excellence-in-teaching awards, recognized for making complex financial and economic concepts clear and practical.

David also serves as Chief Financial Officer of a multi-state tax and accounting practice. That same rigor defines his work for the studio and its clients: careful analysis of the numbers, a working command of markets, banking, and financial instruments, and the financial oversight that keeps capital programs accurate and accountable. He is a member of Hillsdale College's Free Market Forum, a fellowship of scholars dedicated to the study of free enterprise.

What the Vice President for Investments and Capital Acquisition Does for a Design Firm

• Capital structure. Identifies and structures the capital behind client programs — public–private partnerships (P3), project finance, and private placements.
• Feasibility and analysis. Prepares financial feasibility assessments, investment analyses, and financial models for terminals, stations, ports, and infrastructure.
• Funding sources. Maps federal and state grants, passenger facility charges, municipal bonds, federal credit programs, and private debt and equity to each program.
• Investor and lender relations. Cultivates relationships with investors, lenders, and development partners, and leads financial due diligence.
• Capital program advisory. Advises clients on capital planning and alternative delivery methods.
• The firm's own capital. Manages the studio's investments, reserves, and capital planning.
• Coordination. Works with the Chief Legal Officer on offering documents and securities compliance.