Kim Cole, P.E.
Principal
Kim Cole is the owner of fast-growing KimHEC, a specialized water treatment consulting firm, and a passionate engineer.
Kim provides vital pretreatment assistance to clients in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, and Colorado, balancing client and industry needs with environmental sustainability. Kim believes one of the most rewarding parts of her career is bringing expert-level knowledge to communities of all sizes.
Kim has more than twenty years of experience in the wastewater treatment field. She is a graduate of Purdue University with an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering. She went on to earn her M.S. in Environmental Engineering and Science from Clemson University.
One of her other passions is inspiring future female engineers. Kim is a proud registered Professional Engineer in Missouri and her firm is a certified women-owned business enterprise (WBE). In her wastewater treatment work, Kim prioritizes helping her clients gain a better understanding of their water systems, and how different parts of the wastewater industry impact the systems..
When she’s not providing wastewater treatment guidance to her clients, Kim enjoys reading, traveling, cooking and creating a pollinator garden in her backyard.
Katie Bruegge
Environmental Program Manager, Class A Operator
If you can think of a job in wastewater, Katie Bruegge has likely done it! Katie joined the KimHEC team in Summer of 2022 and comes to us from St. Joseph, Missouri. She most recently served as the Technical Services Manager for St. Joseph’s wastewater treatment facility.
Katie serves as KimHEC’s Environmental Program Manager, a key link to KimHEC clients. Her specialties include industrial pretreatment program management, stormwater management, laboratory management, and FOG management programs. FOG stands for Fats, Oils and Grease which do serious harm to wastewater collection systems each year. In many cases, FOG plans haven’t been updated in years, especially in fast-growing communities and Katie understands how Pretreatment Programs can be used to right-size a community’s FOG program to protect the collection system.
One of her favorite parts of the job is thinking of new ways to get the community involved and interested in its water resources. She has been interested in the environment and water resources all her life. Katie is a graduate of Bradley University with a degree in Environmental Science – Biology. Katie is actively involved in MWEA as the co-chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Katie also recently joined the PFAS workgroup that MDNR is organizing.
Since Katie and her husband recently moved to St. Louis, they are enjoying exploring their new hometown. For relaxation, Katie enjoys boating, fishing, skiing, hiking and walking the couple’s two dogs, Amos Moses and Lorrie.
Juju Wellemeyer
Environmental Project Manager
Juju Wellemeyer joined KimHEC in October 2022 as an Environmental Project Manager. Juju works from the Kansas City side of the state and serves as a client representative to clients in that geographic area. Juju adds a higher layer of data management and ArcGIS experience to the services that KimHEC provides to clients. Since Juju has joined KimHEC, she has added Power Automate functionality to workflows and has taken over the role as the project manager for the development of DROP (KimHEC’s data management software).
Juju has extensive experience in natural resource management and watershed-scale ecology, providing insight into emerging nutrient regulation for POTWs and industrial dischargers contributing to the wastewater characteristics. Her previous employers include the K-State Research and Extension, Missouri Department of Conservation, and Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. She graduated from Wichita State University in 2014 with a B.S. in Biology and she graduated from Tennessee Tech University in 2017 with a M.S. in Biology.
Juju is active in her free time, going camping, hiking, and kayaking with her dog, traveling to visit friends and National Parks, attending concerts, and gardening. She recently began learning golf and watercolor painting.
Elisa Edge
Senior Scientist
Elisa Edge is a water resources scientist who cares deeply about the wellbeing of people and the environment. As a scientist, she approaches challenges by asking questions, gathering data, and communicating what is learned. She values KimHEC’s mission of collaboratively implementing Pretreatment Programs to better protect downstream waters. She is excited to support clients as they steward water resources and serve local communities.
Elisa has over a decade of experience in water quality and stream ecology. She earned a B.S. in Watershed Science from Colorado State University and a M.S. in Fish and Wildlife from University of Missouri. Her previous work as a water quality specialist with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources took her across the state conducting stream surveys, collecting water samples at direct discharge and industrial pretreatment facilities, and teaching sampling trainings.
Elisa combines her loves of science, art, and play through gardening, throwing pottery, floating rivers, and cooking.
Joe Naert
Director of Business Development
Joe is an experienced business owner with an deep experience in client relations. In addition to working closely with clients, Joe will be instrumental in growing a new product offering – KimHEC DROP. DROP is our proprietary software application that helps communities implement pretreatment programs and also specifically incorporates collection system and wastewater treatment plant data.
Since data is so important in the water treatment field, this new 360-degree view of water samples will make it easier for companies to stay in compliance with state and municipal regulations.
Joe’s top priority is to ensure client success at every level, including creating custom solutions for each industry partner or water treatment team. His mission is to get the word out to communities who could use the help.
Joe’s motto is to listen, learn and help solve.
In addition to his role at KimHEC, Joe is also a successful entrepreneur in his own right. For the past 20+ years he has grown Naert Properties, a residential real estate company in St. Louis, Misssouri. In 2007 Joe was awarded the 40 under 40 honor in the St. Louis Business Journal.
Brittany Sterling
Project Engineer
Brittany Sterling joined our team in the fall of 2021. With a background in water and wastewater treatment plant design, Brittany brings a thorough understanding of plant operations to the team.
In her role as a project engineer, Brittany creates personalized sample plans for each client to help them meet the requirements of their pretreatment program. Her strong attention to details helps clients review their data and streamline their sampling efforts to benefit both municipal clients and industries.
Brittany is a graduate of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering with a focus on water quality. She is a licensed professional engineer in Illinois, Iowa and Colorado.
When she is not working, you will find Brittany working on water projects abroad. She co-founded and runs a nonprofit organization, Basic Dignities, that works to bring clean water to underprivileged communities around the world. Brittany’s favorite part about working in the water/waste water treatment field is showing her three children the importance of taking care of the planet and helping others.
Jess Terri
Project Engineer
Jess is our veteran employee. She has been with KimHEC since 2019. In her role as a project engineer, she helps our municipal clients with compliance evaluations, NPDES permit applications, custom enforcement response plans (ERPs), biosolids tracking and reporting spreadsheets and any data analysis needs. For industrial clients, she helps decode the regulations, make the compliance process easy and streamlined, and implement solutions to their wastewater issues.
For Jess, the best part of the job is having a positive impact on the environment and helping people understand and respect the water resources we have. She values the work environment at KimHEC for its fostering environment and focus on constant improvements. In turn, she hopes to be a good role model for future female engineers in our industry.
This mom of three holds an undergraduate degree from Northwestern and a Master’s in environmental engineering from Michigan. She will tell you she’s not what most people expect when they hear engineer! She is talkative and outgoing. Interfacing and problem solving with clients is her favorite part of the job. On her off time Jess enjoys spending time with her family, traveling (especially to Lake Michigan) and listening to true crime podcasts while walking her dog.
