Carole Venters has come a long way from her humble career beginnings in document control in the 1970s. She has always had a technical aptitude and can be quite “nittygritty” in the details. After relocating to Denver, Colorado in 1985, her career took a turn into project controls, primarily cost control. This new career path fit perfectly with her analytical skills and desires to grow professionally.
After working three years at Raytheon/United Engineers (currently the Washington Group), Carole decided to attend evening classes at Denver Tech and within 22 months received her Bachelor of Science in business management. Now armed with experience and a degree, she became more determined to make a difference in how projects tracked their costs and controlled their budgets. She continued to work in Raytheon’s Project Controls group for the next 14 years.
In October of 2000, an opportunity to join Jacobs Engineering in Denver came Carole’s way and she took it. The move to Jacobs opened new doors and introduced her to AACE International. She joined AACE International in 2000 and began attending the Rocky Mountain Section meetings regularly, as well as getting involved in various other activities sponsored by the section. While at Jacobs, Carole worked on the Coors/Jacobs Alliance for three years, then moved to a large refinery upgrade project where she was the lead cost person responsible for the overall budget/forecast and progressing of a $65MM engineering effort over two years. Moving to the site, she assisted the lead field cost person in tracking and forecasting the total installed cost (TIC) portion of the project.
While working on the engineering portion of the refinery upgrade project, Carole had the opportunity to work with new project controls software for Jacobs called JPCS. She played a role in the live-beta testing and worked directly with the lead programmer for the TIC Module of JPCS, making user decisions on various aspects of the program. Currently, she is the lead trainer and super user for the implementation of this new corporate software. Her involvement in the JPCS implementation has taken her from the West Coast to the East Coast, both participating and leading the BETA testing and training of the various offices on the software. Visiting the other Jacobs offices has given Carole the opportunity to meet and interface with many different levels of people within Jacobs Corporation, as well as viewing first hand how different offices working on different types of projects track project costs, forecast, implement change management, and progress home office engineering and field costs. Recently she spent three months assisting a new multi-tasked project in California with setup and training of their project personnel, both in project controls and JPCS.
Carole is always looking for avenues to expand her knowledge. Her interest in contracts and business law lead her to enroll in paralegal school. In January 2000, she received her paralegal certificate. The knowledge learned during her paralegal studies has given Carole the ability to assist project managers in the review of agreements and subcontracts for projects.
As Carole gained more experience and the career opportunities became more competitive, Carole became interested in AACE International’s certification program and was encouraged to pursue her CCC (Certified Cost Consultant certification.) The Rocky Mountain Section sponsored the first ever four-day review course taught by Dr. Randy Rapp in December 2003. Carole attended the course and sat for the CCC exam. In January 2004, Carole received notice she had been successful and obtained her certification as a Certified Cost Consultant.
She was elected to the Rocky Mountain Section Board of Directors in 2001, and began working with the local section’s certification committee, assisting the VP Programs with finding speakers, and doing whatever had to be done. In 2004, Carole became treasurer of the section, serving as secretary the following year and was elected as Section President in 2006.
On the Association level, Carole joined AACE International’s Certification Board in 2004. Getting more and more involved, Carole became responsible for maintenance of Part I of the CCC/CCE exam; additionally, she assists in the technical paper grading and other special projects as needed. Carole is also working with AACE International’s Women in Project Controls Task Force. This task force was created to encourage and mentor the growing number of women entering the project controls profession. AACE International offers a number of opportunities for women to grow professionally and take on leadership positions. Carole has stated many times, “AACE International has given me the knowledge and resources to move further in my career as a project controls specialist. I have been given the opportunity to meet so many more professionals through my connections in AACE International than I ever would have met outside of AACE International. These contacts have helped me have confidence in myself and my abilities.”
From Carole’s early career days in document control to her current position at Jacobs Engineering as lead trainer and super user of JPCS, she has continued to work hard and learn as much
as possible in each situation. As I am privileged to be Carole’s sister-in-law and writer of this article, I can truly say that Carole has come a long way. I have seen her grow personally and professionally and watched as she has gained knowledge and confidence by being part of AACE International. AACE International offers many opportunities for project controls professionals to take
on leadership roles and grow professionally. Carole has taken advantage of that AACE International value-added benefit and has proven that when knowledge and confidence is joined with opportunity - great things happen.
Carole Venters has come a long way from her humble career beginnings in document control in the 1970s. She has always had a technical aptitude and can be quite “nittygritty” in the details. After relocating to Denver, Colorado in 1985, her career took a turn into project controls, primarily cost control. This new career path fit perfectly with her analytical skills and desires to grow professionally.
