"Engineering is moving into a 3D virtual world, and we are staying in front of that as much as possible."
- Ricardo Palacios
Ricardo Palacios is the manager of the engineering team for Georgia Power Community and Economic Development. Ricardo guides the team as they collaborate with business and community developers to assist them through the decision-making process. Ricardo provides preliminary civil engineering, planning and environmental information for projects in manufacturing, distribution, office/headquarters and data centers, as well as assistance with mega sites. Ricardo also works with local communities in the preparation and presentation of site evaluations, land use studies, aerial imagery, preliminary environmental analysis, cost estimates, business park master plans and conceptual site plans.
Ricardo has many years of engineering experience in both the public and private sectors with organizations such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the City of Newark, New Jersey; AT&T; and Planning Design Group. In 2001, he began working as an engineer in Georgia Power’s economic development department, before leaving in 2006 to run his own consulting firm, providing civil engineering and right-of-way consulting services to the Georgia Department of Transportation. He returned to the Community & Economic Development team in 2014.
Ricardo holds his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and has been a registered professional engineer with the Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors in the states of Alabama, Florida and Georgia since 2003. He also holds numerous other training and professional certifications, including the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission Level II Design Professional certificate. Ricardo is a member of the Georgia Brownfields Association and the Georgia Economic Developers Association.
A native of Cuba, Ricardo is fluent in both Spanish and English. He lives in the Grayson area of Gwinnett County with his wife, Jenny, and their three children. Outside of work, he loves to travel and enjoy his favorite hobbies - tennis and tennis.