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About Us

      Mike Vanderweide founded VDW Services in Charlottesville, VA based on his expertise in aviation and engineering.  Always the problem solver, he listened to large contruction companies complain about two things.  The first was the amount of time and money they lost having employees fight their way through the mess that airline travel has become just to get to a short meeting and get home, often having to wake up before dawn and getting back late at night.  Having spent 11 years as a general aviation pilot, Mike knew the savings that could be found in general aviation.  Mike worked out a program that took into account the travel needs of each individual company and then determined the best aircraft solution.  He quickly determined that for many companies, general aviation could save them over $100,000 a year versus the airlines.  These companies also would need someone to manage their aircraft and Mike realized that his experience and connections in founding a flying club and managing their aircraft was applicable to doing the same for construction companies, so he founded VDW Services to provide this aviation solutions and management company. 

     While working with these companies, he heard the second complaint; that construction owners were demanding project integration and information management, but did not have the experience to know what they wanted and were often disappointed in what they were given because of this.  Mike has worked for a large owner doing project management and had helped them through these very issues and had created a system for them to be able to make the most out of recent technological advances in project integration and information management.  He began offering to provide this same service through VDW Services.

     Through all of this, many of the companies Mike was working with expressed their appreciation for his honesty and integrity.  If something that the clients were asking for was not in their best interest, Mike made them aware of this and found a better solution for them, even if it wasn't to his personal advantage.  Mike attributes this to his years in the Marine Corps where serving those around you was primary to your own well being.  Word began spreading about Mike's integrity and he has been asked to provide miscelaneous services to people and firms who needed an honest person to represent them on whatever endevour they were working on.

     As for the company name, it is in honor of Mike's ancestors who wrote his last name as three seperate words; van der Weide.  The only thing more important to Mike than honest service to his clients is family.

 

Mike Vanderweide, PE - President

   Mike was born in Durham North Carolina, obtained his private pilot's license while in college, and then obtained his engineering degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.  During his Junior year he joined the Navy as part of a college degree program.  He spent 6 years in active-duty Navy Construction, including a combat deployment to Iraq.  At the conclusion of his active-duty service, he felt it irresponsible to abandon the service at a time when they were involved in two separate conflicts, so he transferred to the Marine Corps and did a further two combat deployments all while accepting a civilian construction project management job at the University of Virginia. 

   During his years of work, Mike has managed everything from a 100 bed Naval Hospital, reconstruction efforts in the city of Fallujah, a company of more than 150 Marines, a $70M hospital renovation project, and two simultaneous $14M mechanical plants.  Through all of this he obtained his commercial, multi, instrument pilot ratings and founded and managed a flying club.  He has over 1,000 hours of flight time. 

   Mike met his wife, Heather, while in the military.  They got married, moved to Charlottesville, VA, have a lovely daughter, and another one on the way.

 

 

Heather Vanderweide - Head Engineer

Heather was born in Wheeling WV.  She obtained her engineering degree from the University of West Virginia where she also joined the Navy in her Junior year.  She worked as an engineer in the Navy for 4 years and upon resigning her commission she took a job at a site-civil firm in Charlottesville VA where she conducted dam inspections and designed storm water solutions including filing storm water mangement plans with the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Other Services

VDW Services utilizes several independent contractors to perform additional tasks.  We also subcontract sevices from several specialized firms to ensure our clients get the most qualified services.