Meet Karl Kalbacher, PG, President – Kalbacher Associates
Karl Kalbacher directly manages KA’s highly successful Grants and Economic Development and Environmental consulting services practice. Since 2015 he has secured over $1.15 billion in grants and fixed rate and below market loans for public, private and non-profit sector clients. Karl has secured funding in the areas of public safety, agriculture, economic development, renewable energy, energy efficiency, hazard mitigation, environmental protection, housing, and transportation. Since 2018, Karl has won 11 US DOT infrastructure development grants for clients totaling $155,767,294 and four US EDA grants totaling $5,520,000. Since 2022, Karl has won three DOE or State Energy Administration grants totaling $520,995,451.
A nationally recognized Brownfields redevelopment expert, Karl has developed and managed environmental and finance programs at both the state and local level that support the redevelopment of contaminated properties and Grayfields. Karl has over 30 years of technical experience in solid and hazardous waste management, investigation and remediation, water resources and hydrogeology for public and private sectors. Karl’s experience includes managing over 500 hazardous substance release and nuclear waste site investigations and remediations in the states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio, New York, Florida, and North Carolina.
As the Director of Economic Redevelopment for New Castle County, DE (2005-2012), Karl led efforts to attract and recruit businesses to locate operations that resulted in the creation of 4,399 jobs during his eight-year tenure. He served on a multi-governmental team that was awarded two US Department of Transportation grants totaling over $12 million for the Newark Train Station located on the University of Delaware's 272-acre Science Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus.
Karl also managed New Castle County's US Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant stimulus program. This $7.8 million grant/bond program funded energy efficiency upgrades at 20 county buildings, which resulted in energy cost savings in excess of $4 million over the 20-year life cycle of equipment and the creation of 156 jobs.
Karl served four terms on the City Council of Newark, DE, where he acquired expertise in land use development, annexations, condemnations, re-zonings, capital improvement projects, operating budgets, land acquisition, and approved the Downtown Newark Partnership, one of five winners of the 2011 Great American Main Street Awards.
Karl possesses extensive grant management experience that includes preparing Department of Energy, DOT and HUD CDBG, CDBG-DR, HOME, and ESG grant applications and compliance reporting.
Karl holds a B.S. in Geology from Tulane University and a M.S. Degree in Geology from Stephen F. Austin State University. Karl has been a Registered Professional Geologist since 1993, and was an Adjunct Instructor of Geology and Climate Studies at Cecil Community College in Maryland.