Cliff Jamile stood and raised his glass, clearing his throat. The lively discussion died down, and the assembled guests around the table turned their eyes to the fatherly figure in an Aloha shirt with a twinkle in his eyes. “I want to toast to our friends from CH2M,” Cliff said…

On a beautiful Thursday in August of 2005, I traveled to Denver for a company training session. I was supposed to fly home to New Orleans on Saturday, but instead I decided to stay over the weekend to avoid Hurricane Katrina, which was bearing down on the Gulf Coast. On…