Milhouse Engineering acquires Zroka Engineering

Chicago — Milhouse Engineering & Construction, Inc. acquired Chicago-based Zroka Engineering, P.C., a woman-owned structural engineering consulting and design firm. With the acquisition, Milhouse becomes the largest African American-owned engineering and architectural company in Chicago and one of the fastest-growing in the United States. Joining forces with Zroka greatly expands Milhouse’s breadth of structural engineer capabilities and increases its market competitiveness, enabling the company to offer a broader, more diverse range of services in multiple practice areas.

“Zroka Engineering’s advanced capabilities in structural engineering and design further diversifies our already broad portfolio of services and increases our value proposition to customers across multiple market disciplines,” said Wilbur C. Milhouse III, P.E., president and CEO of Milhouse Engineering & Construction. “I am pleased to join forces with a firm that has a proven track record and deep talent bench that will move Milhouse closer to our goal of becoming the largest full-service professional engineering firm in the City of Chicago.”

Milhouse offers civil; construction; environmental; mechanical-electrical, plumbing and fire protection; structural; and architectural services. It specializes in 11 markets including aviation, construction, education, energy, environment, facilities, healthcare, power, program management, parks and recreation, and water/wastewater.  By joining forces with Zroka, the company will additionally be able to perform services for various types of structures including:

• highway and railroad bridges
• retaining walls
• approach slabs
• culverts
• vaults
• manholes
• crib intakes
• junction chambers
• transit structures

Milhouse's structural team will be led by Deborah Zroka, P.E., S.E., a structural engineer with over 30 years of experience working in the transportation industry, including 23 years as a business owner; and Stan Kaderbek, P.E., S.E., Director of Civil & Transportation, who has 38 years of experience in private practice and public service. He has also served as Deputy Commissioner/Chief Engineer for the Chicago Department of Transportation and Commissioner of Buildings for the Chicago Department of Buildings.

“On behalf of the staff and the entire executive team at Zroka Engineering, I want to thank Wilbur Milhouse for providing us with the vision to combine forces to expand our practice areas and capture additional market share,” Zroka said. “I’m delighted to become a part of a company on the fast-track with a stellar reputation that has extended economic opportunity to professionals in the field. We look forward to collaborating and putting our combined market and business intelligence to work.”

Milhouse additionally will inherit from Zroka Engineering the following capabilities:

• drainage and roadway design
• location drainage studies
• hydraulic and hydrological modeling
• watershed planning
• hydraulic reports and
• civil plan preparation 
• inspection services
• condition evaluation and assessment
• rehabilitation
• design, specifications and cost estimates for various types of structures

Founded in 2001 by Wilbur C. Milhouse III, the company has experienced exponential growth, winning competitive bids to work on high-profile projects such as the U.S. Cellular Field – 35th Street Development; McCormick Place Event Center; Garfield Park Conservatory; Center for Care and Discovery Building for the University of Chicago Medicine; and Phase 2 of the Navy Pier Redevelopment Project, to name a few.

“We are committed to providing the highest standards of integrity, quality and responsiveness to our clients' needs. We look forward to collaborating with Zroka’s impressive executive team as we seamlessly integrate our business,” said Milhouse.