William (Billy) Marchal
Louisiana
Mr. Marchal, a New Orleans native, holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech and a Masters of Business Administration from Tulane University. He served in the U.S. Navy as Electrical Officer on the guided missile cruiser USS ALBANY (CG-10).
Following Katrina, Mr. Marchal worked full time on the Drainage and Flood Control committee of the Bring New Orleans Back Commission formulating plans and generating new ideas to enhance the safety of New Orleans and the surrounding parishes. This effort has included bring together the Corps of Engineers, Sewerage and Water Board, engineering firms, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, and other environmental groups to help develop a consensus of the best way to proceed for both the short and long term.
Drawing on the success of the BNOBC planning, Mr. Marchal organized the Southeastern Louisiana Recovery Committee consisting of two dedicated citizens and one senor elected official from each of the parishes of the region, experts on coastal restoration and staffers from congressional offices. The purpose was to identify water-related projects and iron out any differences among the parishes before the projects were forwarded up the line to state officials, La. congressional delegation, and Corps of Engineers.
Mr. Marchal served as the Executive Director of the Flood Protection Alliance, a group of civic, business, and environmental leaders working behind the scenes to insure timely, robust flood protection for the metropolitan New Orleans area by coordinating, facilitating, and sometimes instigating. Mr. Marchal was appointed to Governor-elect Jindal's Transition Advisory Committee for Flood Protection and Coastal Preservation.
Mr. Marchal sits on the Executive Committee of the Horizon Initiative, the NGO that spearheaded the effort to form the public-private partnership for economic development in New Orleans. He chairs its Infrastructure Committee which includes over forty private sector members of water related businesses and representatives of the Sewerage & Water Board, City planning dept., City hazard mitigation dept., La. DEQ, Tulane, UNO, Loyola, LSU AgCenter, GNO Inc., and Rand. Corp., to name a few.
