VENTURA COUNTY — The Ventura County Public Works Agency (VCPWA) has named 
as the Director of the Agency’s Engineering Services Department (ESD). Cooper succeeds Herbert Schwind who served VCPWA for over 4 years and retired earlier this year.
Cooper is excited for the opportunity to take the helm of ESD for the Agency at which he launched his engineering career almost 30 years ago. For the past 7 years, Cooper served as the Deputy Director of Project Services Division of VCPWA; during this time, the Division’s workload progressively increased from $24 million annual to nearly $111 million today. Under Cooper’s direction, the team has undertaken and delivered numerous noteworthy and award-winning projects for the Health Care Agency, Fire Protection District and the General Services Agency.
Previous to serving as ESD’s Deputy Director, Cooper began his career with VCPWA as an Engineer, and subsequently served in senior project management positions with the United Water Conservation District and Hawks & Associates before returning to VCPWA as Engineering Manager II, where he worked directly on the VCMC Replacement Clinic, Saticoy Operations Yard, and several water tanks and pipelines for County Waterworks Districts.
Cooper has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Davis, and a M.S. in Public Administration from California State University, Northridge.
“Chris brings a wealth of public and private experience to VCPWA,” said Jeff Pratt, Director of VCPWA. “I am confident that he is a positive addition to our team and will lead our Engineering Services Department through his superior work ethic and dedication to outstanding customer service.”