As ms celebrates 60 years since our doors opened for business, we want to highlight the amazing employees who have worked at our company for the last 30 years or more. We are grateful for the culture they have helped to cultivate and love to hear about their ms memories.

We asked employees that have worked at ms for 30 or more years about their memories and experiences. Our 30-Year Legacies include:

Youngstown

• Steve Zappia, P.E., Construction Manager
• Brian Hughes, P.E., Senior BPM for Highway in Northeast Ohio
• Jim Marr, Resident Project Representative
• Christine Mosure, Learning & Development Specialist
• Randy Barker, Construction Manager
• Lori Paull, Senior Technical Administrative Assistant
• Gary Diorio, P.E., Senior Engineer, Municipal

Columbus

• Mike Kratofil, P.E., President
• Ken Ricker, P.E., Senior TSM for Water
• Dan Hall, Senior CAD Technician

Pittsburgh

• Jack Besselman, P.E., Senior Project Engineer for Structures

Akron

• Karel Cubick, a TSM for Transportation in Akron.

Q: What brought you to ms 30+ years ago?

Mike Kratofil – Back in the late 1980s, I was in my third year at Youngstown State University (YSU), and job opportunities were not widely available, regardless of your profession. Through mutual friends, an opportunity came my way to get in the “ground floor” at ms as an intern, so I jumped at the opportunity. My plan was always to move out of the Youngstown area after graduation and go to the “big” city, so getting any type of engineering experience was part of the bigger plan. But, as most plans tend to get modified, I spent the next 17 years working in the Youngstown office. Working on great projects and working with great co-workers put my “plans” on a temporary hold, as well as getting married and starting a family. Eventually, other opportunities became available at ms, and I was able to get to the big cities of Indianapolis and, now, Columbus.

Karel Cubick – When I was finishing graduate school, I saw a newspaper story about the environmental group at ms, so I sent John Pierko my resume and asked if he could use someone focused on Environmental Planning, NEPA, and GIS. John sent it to Bill Steinmetz in Canton, who needed exactly that for the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Southern Beltway. When Bill told me about the variety of projects ms was working on, I said, “Sign me up.”

Dan Hall – The Classified Section in the Columbus Dispatch brought me to ms! Back then, you needed the Sunday paper to find jobs. You would then get your resume ready and mail it in or drop it off in person and then wait a day or two to see if there was any response on your answering machine. ms left a message in April of 1993, and the rest is history!

Brian Hughes – I wanted to continue to live and work in Youngstown with the hopes of making a positive contribution to my hometown. After graduating from YSU, I initially applied to ms without success. I took a different job with an inspection company but continued to stay in touch with ms. By the following spring, I was hired as a field inspector for ms, and shortly later, I was moved into the office in the bridge inspection group. And so my career started…

Ken Ricker – During my seven-year tenure at Ohio EPA, I worked with numerous consulting firms, including ms, on wastewater-focused projects. During that time, I found ms to be a special company through my relationships developed with Tom F. Mosure, Tom E. Mosure, and David Mosure, and yes – even John Pierko. ms offered me the opportunity to be the first Columbus office employee in what is now the Water Business Unit, and immediately allowed me to expand my technical knowledge into other areas such as public drinking water and solid and hazardous waste management.

Steve Zappia – Three things brought me to ms: the stability of the firm, the ability to go to someone who has experience if I have a question, and the fact that everyone works together to get the job done. It feels like ms was, and still is, a family.

Christine Mosure – When I was little, my father used to take me to the office in City Centre One on Saturdays. I loved to sit at the draftsman’s tables, they would let me look at plans, let me pretend to draft, and walk through the building. I always thought the whole process was so very cool. Then driving around town, I would learn of all the great projects that were completed because of the work of ms. There is a lot of pride in our work in the communities, so I always knew I wanted to be a part of it, even in a small way. Not just because of my father and family, but also what I thought was the awesomeness of it! The more I worked in the summers during High School –  helping in many roles or interning with Marketing – the more I loved being part of the company!

Q: What is your favorite ms memory?

Randy Barker – It’s really hard for me to single out a favorite memory because there are so many. It could be going golfing with clients one day. I was angry because of a bad shot, and Mr. Mosure said, “Listen, Randy, the sun is shining, and you are getting paid to do this. Enjoy it.” What brought me here and has kept me here is the fact from day one, I was treated like family. This is a family-run business in which everyone that works here is treated like family. That’s not something you find with very many large companies.

Jack Besselman – My favorite ms memory was just last year, in September of 2022, when the company invited us all to Columbus for the companywide B.R.E.W. Party. There was a very good feeling that was fostered at that celebration: the sense that we are all one company, not a collection of individual offices working alone, but as a whole that uses all pieces of all offices to create a united company. With the pandemic and the changes that have come with it, we are in a different time now, and these types of gatherings and companywide meetings help establish that sense of working together, a feeling I have always appreciated.

Gary Diorio – Back in 2009 to 2010, the Federal Government provided opportunities for communities to apply for grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This grant funding opportunity was set up for “shovel-ready” projects to improve infrastructure and energy conservation. We immediately contacted our clients to determine if they would be interested in this type of funding for any eligible projects, and all of the applications were submitted online by our staff on behalf of the community. Our Water Department staff worked diligently with several clients and the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments to apply for stormwater flooding projects, a WWTP Energy Conservation project (Methane Gas Conversion), and Federal Aid Routes Resurfacing projects. We were successful in obtaining over $7 million in full Federal funding for these projects! 

It was a great team effort of engineers, technicians, and clerical personnel to quickly turn these “shovel-ready” projects into a reality that included design, bidding, and construction administration services. All projects awarded were 100% funded through the ARRA. The work we performed under this Federal funding opportunity provided several life-long personal relationships with individuals from client communities that are still active today, not just with myself but with many others at ms consultants. 

Mike Kratofil – There are way too many memories to list. One of the early memories was when I got hired as an intern and was told they could guarantee me about nine months of work. Here we are – 36 years later – and the workload is still holding strong!

The first time I was assigned as a project manager to a large $6 million wastewater treatment project, the bids came in under budget. We had a large project team with several service groups working on the project, a lot of moving parts, and a fast-tracked schedule. John Pierko, who was the leader of the Water Business Unit at the time (and who never got excited about anything), gave me a high five after the bids were read in the public meeting because he was so thrilled with the bid results. I didn’t fully realize the significance of that accomplishment until a few years later. It was really gratifying to be part of a team and accomplish what we did.

The overall memory of being at ms for this long is the amount of opportunities that became available over the years, the journey it took me on, and ALL of the many friendships I’ve developed with the “good folks” that we’ve hired and people that we’ve worked with on all of the projects we’ve done. It’s priceless! 

Jim Marr – My fondest and greatest memories are non-work activities that included the company co-ed softball team, the outdoor picnics, and Christmas parties, as well as after-work get-togethers when someone retired or left ms. These memories will always be cherished long after my days at ms. Thank you, ms consultants.

Lori Paull – I have many wonderful memories from my time at ms consultants, but the people that I have had the privilege to work with are the most important. I enjoyed participating in the Community Cup events with my co-workers, wonderful summer picnics, and Christmas parties. ms has always made everyone feel like part of a family.

ms is excited about the opportunity for growth and continues to welcome new people to the company. Click here to see available positions.

You can also read more about the 60-year anniversary on the ms Blog.

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