MSA announced today the transition of Nick Wagner, PE, to the role of chief executive officer effective January 1, 2025. Nick succeeds former CEO Gil Hantzsch, PE, who will serve in a strategic advisory capacity until his retirement in late 2025. This planned transition maintains MSA’s success in delivering top-tier client service and quality projects to communities across the country.

Nick first joined MSA as a co-op student in 2004 and as a summer intern in 2005. He was hired full time in 2006, moving to the company’s Dubuque office location where he was promoted to the role of team leader in 2012. In 2013, growth of the organization’s Quad Cities team led Nick to relocate to Bettendorf, Iowa, to guide growth and development initiatives in the greater eastern Iowa-western Illinois region, after which he was promoted to the role of Illinois program manager in 2017. In 2018, Nick was appointed an ESOP trustee for MSA — an acting fiduciary and overseer of the company’s employee-owned S-Corporation trust. In 2019, he was elected to the company’s board of directors, and in 2020, promoted to senior vice president of the Buildings service line, where he guided the strategic growth and pursuits of the firm’s vertical infrastructure division from Kiel, Wisconsin. Nick was selected as the company’s CEO-elect as announced publicly in August 2024.

Nick holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, from which he was honored with an Outstanding Alumni Award in 2021. He is a licensed professional engineer in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin, a graduate of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Senior Executives Institute (Class of 2019) and member of the ACEC Coalition of American Mechanical and Electrical Engineers (CAMEE).

Throughout his career, Nick has demonstrated consistent success through strong client relationships and servant leadership, supporting clients throughout the firm’s footprint and establishing strong professional relationships across the industry.

“I am incredibly honored and enthusiastic to step into this role,” commented Nick Wagner, MSA CEO. “Gil and I have been working together to ensure a smooth transition of leadership and lay the groundwork for the next phase of MSA’s journey as a thriving employee-owned firm. I’d like to thank Gil for his exceptional tenure of leadership and look forward to working with him in an advisory capacity in the coming months. MSA has been the cornerstone of my professional career. I am steadfast in my loyalty to its success and committed to continuing the firm’s tradition of excellence in the years to come.”