MSA names Nick Wagner as new CEO

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MSA Professional Services has named Nick Wagner as CEO, effective January 1, 2025. Wagner replaces current CEO Gil Hantzsch, who has announced plans to retire.

Wagner 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 firm’s Dubuque office where he was promoted to team leader in 2012. In 2013, the growth of the organization’s Quad Cities team prompted him to relocate to Bettendorf, Iowa, to lead growth and development initiatives in the eastern Iowa and western Illinois regions, and was promoted to Illinois program manager in 2017.

In 2018, Wagner was named ESOP Trustee for MSA — acting trustee and custodian of the employee-owned S-Corporation trust. In 2019, he was elected to the company’s board of directors and in 2020, he was promoted to senior vice president of construction services, where he led the Kiel, Wisconsin-based company’s infrastructure vertical.

Wagner earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, for which he received the 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 a member of the ACEC Coalition of American Mechanical and Electrical Engineers (CAMEE).

Hantzsch has served in a variety of roles during his 32-year career with MSA. He joined MSA in 1992 as a wastewater engineer and was promoted to team leader in 1995 and vice president in 2008. In 2013, he accepted the position of president and CEO—a position he held for the next 11 years—during which he led the company through impactful organizational initiatives, three acquisitions, consistent revenue growth, geographic expansion, and numerous regional and national honors. Hantzsch also led efforts to position MSA to become a 100% employee-owned company in 2017, and in 2019, he was inducted into the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) College of Fellows.