Meet Nicholson

We’ve been working hard lifting buildings, holding back rivers and stabilizing dams for more than 60 years—and having our share of fun along the way. Meet some of the people who make up our talented team.

In-House Experts and the Next Generation

In-House Experts—they've seen it all and done it all. They've logged serious hours shaping our industry and are actively mentoring the next generation of Nicholson. Meet some of the people who make up our company—including our very own experts.
Dino has been building iconic projects for Nicholson for the past 24 years. Some of his greatest hits include Mandalay Bay, Gilboa Dam, Williamsburg Bridge and the Four Seasons Baltimore. Starting as a Project Engineer, he’s climbed the ranks to his current role as Vice President/Eastern Region. Follow the sound of laughter and you’ll find Dino—who is known for his infectious humor.
Dino Kartofilis
Senior Vice President, Eastern Region
Greg has one of the most important jobs in the company: leading the charge to keep our people safe. With more than 20 years of experience as a Safety professional, Greg has led safety efforts for some of construction’s biggest names. In addition to being really safe, Greg is just a great guy—he's one of the most positive people on staff and we benefit from him being an amateur chef.
Greg Lewis, CHST
Director of Health, Safety and Environment (HSE)
Ron has been in the world of geotechnical construction for more than 40 years, buliding and overseeing projects across the country. He's been part of many of Nicholson's Landmark projects, including Port of Miami and Wanapum Dam. Ron is a leader and a mentor to our next generation, and he probably has more frequent flier miles than anyone in the company.
Ron Hall
Vice President of Operations, Western Region
As the Vice President of Risk Management, Tom is the Keeper of Contracts, the Champion of Claims and the Decoder of Legalese. He’s a steady hand as a leader, a great colleague and a champion corn hole player.
Tom Beggs
Vice President of Risk Management
Tommy has a special place in Nicholson's history—he's been overseeing our projects for nearly 20 years all across the country, including World Trade Center, the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore and the Port of Miami. He's a Safety Champion, an all around great teammate and has one of the best laughs in the business hands down. We're a better company with him on board.
Tommy Kyle
Superintendent
Brian drives the company’s business development efforts out of our Corporate office, but you can find him visiting our clients all over the country. You can also find him on the ski slopes whenever possible—as a former instructor, he may be able to teach you a thing or two.
Brian Barkauskas, P.E.
Business Development Director
John takes complex projects like the Norris Cut Tunnel and turns them into successes by carefully managing talent, equipment, quality control and timelines. He puts his tried and true skills into every large project strategy and job site team that Nicholson fields, and he expertly advises on all facets of geotechnical construction including designing, estimating and testing.
John Wise, P.E.
Senior Vice President
Gretchen has been the keeper (and policer) of the Nicholson brand for more than ten years. Outside of brand policing, she makes sure the rest of the world knows how amazing our team is and how awesome our work is by putting us front and center in industry publications, at conferences and everywhere in between—and she will never be convinced that silty sand and sandy silt aren't the same thing.
Gretchen Connelly
Marketing Director
The story of Nicholson could not be written without the help of our talented (and extremely humble) Operations Manager Danny Mirt, who has worked on some of our most recognizable and impressive projects, including Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and the sprawling Epic Systems Campus in Wisconsin. We consider ourselves fortunate to work alongside him.
Danny Mirt
Operations Manager
Ryan has been building some of our biggest and most complicated projects for the last 20 years. As part of our Special Projects group, he's traveled the country, working on notable and challenging projects like US Capitol Visitor's Center, Second Avenue Subway and Central Subway. Ryan is a problem solver, a leader and a teambuilder—and one of the best storytellers around. 
Ryan Streets
Vice President of Operations, Major Projects
Frederic has been a champion for innovation in our industry for more than 20 years. The most creative civil engineer you'll ever meet, we're convinced he was some type of artist in another life. Frederic is a true servant leader - and could teach a master class on building a positive, employee-centered corporate culture. Merci to Frederic for joining our team!
Frederic Masse
Vice President, Corporate Services
Dan has been with Nicholson for 19 successful years. He started with us as a Field Engineer and is now the Vice President of Operations for our Central Region, where he is responsible for securing and successfully building our work. Dan is a great colleague and mentor—and a Michigan State Spartan for life. We feel pretty lucky he's on our team.
Dan Thome, P.E.
Senior Vice President, Central Region
Rob has been the steadying financial hand of Nicholson for the seven years. He was so good at steering our financial ship that he is now responsible for all of the North American companies. Outside of managing the financial fleet, Rob brings a wicked sense of humor to the office every day and is an all-around nice guy to work with.
Rob Serenyi
Chief Financial Officer
For the last ten years, Patty has been working closely with our Safety Manager to make sure that our teams in the field have what they need to build our jobs safely. Patty is a word-processing wizard who can cut through the mysteries of Microsoft Word like nobody's business. We've been a better company for having Patty on our team for the last decade.
Patty Crowley
Safety Assistant 
Luca is currently responsible for Nicholson's Special Projects group, which tackles our large-scale projects across the country. Luca has been with Nicholson for two decades, helping us to secure and successfully bid some of our biggest projects, including the Port of Miami Tunnel and Second Avenue Subway, and mentoring those around him along the way.
Luca Barison
Senior Vice President, Major Projects
A native of our northern neighbor, Jeff is a 25-year industry veteran, having worked throughout Canada and the Pacific Northwest. He has worked for some of the biggest names in our industry and has even spent time with our sister company, AGRA Foundations. Canadians are notorious for being nice folks, and Jeff is no exception. We're happy to have Jeff leading our team!
Jeff Grieder, P.Eng.
Senior Leader
If there was an Engineering Hall of Fame, Rick would be in it. He's the giver of advice, solver of problems and leader of Engineering at Nicholson, not to mention a two-time Annual Cornhole Tournament Champion. Though he's too humble to admit it, Rick is an award-winning contributor to our industry, and we are lucky to call him a colleague.
Rick Deschamps, P.E., PhD
Vice President of Engineering
Jen oversees Human Resources at Nicholson, which means she is the knower of all things, the official corporate referee and the answerer of all questions. Somehow, she manages to tackle listening and refereeing and advising us all with superhero-like patience and a smile on her face—even during Open Enrollment.
Jennifer Hall
HR Manager

Work Hard Play Hard

These are some of the hardest-working people you'll ever meet...but for as hard as we work, we play hard, too!