LaRocque-Baas Earns Prestigious National Award

Assistant County Administrator Shannon LaRocque-Baas, PE

Assistant County Administration Shannon LaRocque-Baas, PE

The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) has named Assistant County Administrator Shannon LaRocque-Baas, PE the winner of this year’s PEGASUS Award. She will accept her award July 13 at the NSPE annual conference in San Diego.

PEGASUS -- Professional Engineers in Government Achievement and Service in the United States -- recognizes one professional throughout the nation for outstanding leadership and service to the engineering profession. The awardee is selected by a panel of judges who consider civic/humanitarian activities, education (formal and continuing), engineering-related achievements, and professional and technical society activities.

“This is at the highest level of national recognition for a local government engineer,” said County Administrator Bob Weisman.

Shannon is no stranger to major awards in her field. In 2011, she earned Government Engineer of the Year awards from both the Florida Professional Engineers in Government and the Palm Beach chapter of the Florida Engineering Society (FES). In 2006, Shannon was named State Engineer of the Year by FES, and a year earlier the Palm Beach chapter named her Engineer of the Year.

Shannon has been active in FES since 1988, serving on several boards at the chapter level. She was named president of the local chapter in 1994, and the first female state president of FES in 2003. Shannon currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Florida Engineers Management Corporation.

Shannon has a civil engineering degree from the University of South Florida and worked in private industry for 12 years prior to entering the public sector. In 2005, Shannon came to work for Palm Beach County as the Scripps project manager and remains responsible for steering this $200 million countywide economic development initiative.

In 2006, Shannon was promoted to assistant county administrator and now oversees Water Utilities, Economic Sustainability, the Housing Finance Authority, the Westgate/Belvedere Homes CRA, the Business Development Board, and Workforce Alliance, along with Palm Beach County’s bioscience initiative. She is also managing development of the $100 million Convention Center hotel project.

Congratulations to Shannon LaRocque-Baas on her PEGASUS award!