The Kleingers Group, one of the Midwest’s leading civil engineering, land surveying, and landscape architecture firms, has announced its transition to 100% employee ownership through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), effective September 1, 2025.

This move ensures the firm’s long-term independence and rewards the employees who have helped build its success. Through the ESOP, all shares of the company are now held in trust for the benefit of employees, offering them a valuable, long-term retirement benefit at no cost.

Kleingers’ leadership team remains the same and continues to run daily operations with added accountability to the new employee-owners, reinforcing the firm’s collaborative culture and client-first values.

“We’re in a strong position to transition to an ESOP now, and it’s a forward-looking move that safeguards future leadership transitions and creates lasting wealth for our employees,” said Tim Casto, CEO and President of The Kleingers Group. “As we move from second-generation ownership to the next, this sets the stage for a sustainable, employee-driven future. It secures our future, while staying true to who we are as a local, independent company.”

Founded in 1993, The Kleingers Group has grown to more than 170 employees across six offices in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Florida, and adding a seventh office this month. The firm was ranked the fifth largest engineering company in the Cincinnati region in 2025, and is known for notable projects including TQL Stadium, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Critical Care Tower Expansion, the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame, Union Terminal Plaza Restoration, and the University of Cincinnati Sheakley Indoor Practice Facility and Athletics Performance Center. Recognized as a Top Workplace in Cincinnati for three consecutive years and a Best Place to Work in Louisville, Kleingers has laid a strong foundation for this natural transition to employee ownership.

“As a 100% employee-owned company, Kleingers is here to stay,” added Casto, “We continue to be rooted in our communities, committed to serving clients, invested in the places where we live and work, and are building a lasting legacy that honors our people-first culture for sustained success. Together We Build. Together We Benefit.”

Read More at Cincinnati Business Courier

The Kleingers Group’s own Shelby County Kentucky Surveyor and regionally infamous “sharp-dressed-man,” Christopher Morris, PLS, recently met with Kentucky Speaker of the House David Osborne in his Frankfort office. As part of the “Home Builders Association of Kentucky Day at the Capitol,” Morris found it especially important to support the HBAK Workforce Development policy enabling students to use KEES funds for various educational and training programs in the skilled trades.

KEES Funds are slated for Kentucky Workforce Development. The HBAK policy would allow their application by Kentucky residents toward both registered skilled trade apprenticeship programs and degree-based coursework. These could include land surveying certificate programs, bachelor’s level degrees in civil engineering, and registered apprenticeship programs as an electrician, ironworker, carpenter and more.

Morris says, “No civil engineering or construction project can reach its full potential without the applied knowledge, skill, talent, and wisdom of both college graduates and experienced, skilled tradesmen. With this policy, more Kentucky graduates can get KEES funds to pursue the path they’re passionate about – whether it’s in the skilled trades or in college – it’s up to them. That’s great for every project – in every Kentucky community.”

The Kleingers Group and its talented teams recognize the need for a strong and skilled workforce throughout our AEC sector. It is critical to support both university and skilled trade educational programs. For more information on Kentucky’s KEES Fundin

Program, click here.

The Kleingers Group has received one of The American Council of Engineering Companies of Ohio‘s (ACEC) 2022 Outstanding Awards for the Blue Ash Road Corridor Improvements project. This redesign and beautification project was developed by transportation engineers Nick Yeretzian, Sarah Fraser, Mark Nolt, and Travis Hunt. The ACEC Ohio Engineering Excellence Awards will take place on March 10, 2022, in Columbus, Ohio.

The Kleingers Group identified the safety shortcomings of the corridor and was instrumental in securing funding the city needed for improvements. Some primary causes of unsafe conditions and other deficits included on-street parking, lack of adequate lighting, inadequate traffic signals, and deficient railroad preemption equipment. Design challenges were addressed and resolved through input and coordination with the community and other stakeholders, including utility providers. The design team, working with The City of Deer Park, conjoined the needed safety improvement elements with aesthetic enhancements to promote economic growth for the benefit of the surrounding community. The transformation includes reverse angled parking, a road diet, curb bump-outs, and site amenities, including bike racks, benches, and planters. Growth and viability are now inevitable due to proper planning, community engagement, and utilizing existing engineering technologies and techniques. This project proves that it is possible to provide sustained value to the communities we serve.

Read more about the Blue Ash Road Corridor Improvements project here.

An $840 million contract to Walsh-Turner Joint Venture II has been approved to build the medical center, according to a release from the Robley Rex VA Medical Center, the veterans’ hospital that the new facility will replace. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District will work with the Department of Veterans Affairs on the project, slated to be built at 4906 Brownsboro Road.

Groundbreaking should occur as early as this fall, and construction is expected to be finished in 2025.

Read more in the Courier-Journal

Happy 20th anniversary to our very first branch, the Columbus office! Thank you to all who have contributed to its success and for the hard work you have dedicated to make it a strong influence in the communities it serves. We are proud of your accomplishments and can’t wait to see what else is in store. Let’s cheers to the years to come.

Watch our anniversary video below:

AIA Chicago recently presented the 2019 Design Excellence Awards, an annual awards program that honors the best work by Chicago architecture firms found worldwide; this includes Chicago-based projects by national and international firms. Kleingers is proud to be part of the winning team for the UC Health Gardner Neuroscience Institute project, which won a Design Detail Award and a Citation of Merit for a Distinguished Building Award. Click here to read more about this incredible project.

Jim had an interview over coffee with Juli Smith, President of Smith Consulting Group, LLC.

“Jim shares with us his journey of becoming an engineer, how embracing change and taking risks is a good thing, what being a servant leader means to him, and why he doesn’t have any professional regrets.”

Click this link to read more about Jim’s journey and see how awesome he is.

On Friday 9/13/19, at our all-employee annual meeting, we took a break from talking strategy, finances, and branding to build 60 cabinets for Adopt A Book to donate to the community. Depending on which employee you talk to, it was either the best or worst thing we’ve done in a while (hint: the cabinets were from IKEA). Definitely one or the other. A special thank you also goes out to the employees who collected over 1,000 books. Way to go!

The Cincinnati Preschool Promise, Cheviot Academy, LEAP Academy, Riverview East Academy, Cincinnati Early Learning Centers, Inc. – CELC, First Step Home, Butler County Educational Service Center, The HealthCare Connection, Good Samaritan Hospital – we hope you enjoy your cabinets. We may or may not have an employee uprising on our hands if we ask our people to build any more IKEA furniture.

#GoodatMathSurprisinglyHuman

The Kleingers Group donated 122 items over the course of 9 months to Cincinnati Computers Cooperative. We love to support local businesses and help the community! Click here http://www.cincinnaticomputercooperative.org/donate-your-c…/ to find out how YOU can make a difference too.

Congratulations to Jim Kleingers for winning C-Suite’s 2019 CEO of the Year award! The C-Suite Awards Program honors C-level executives from companies across the greater Cincinnati region for their contribution and commitment to the community and their outstanding professional performance.

Jim is consistently humbled by the support he’s received and giving back is almost imperative. The list of organizations he supports is impressive, but what is more impressive is the amount of time and genuine interest he has in each one. Despite serving in so many places, he continues to accept additional responsibility when asked. From fundraisers to one-on-one time with individual scouts, Jim gives of his time freely and willfully.

Jim Kleingers, PE, PS
President / CEO

Thank you, Jim, for leading and living by example!

The Kleingers Group has moved to a brand new headquarters in West Chester, Ohio. Check out the story and details on the wonderful location.

Yesterday, The Kleingers Group attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Kacie Jane Park in Springboro that pays tribute to the memory of Kacie Jane and her father Tom. Our team provided the master planning and construction documentation for this 4,000 SF splash park. This is our first big splash pad and features 15 different spray group activities. The Mayor, City Council members, Clearcreek Township officials, Springboro Chamber, and the Hausfeld Family celebrated the dedication of the park to the City. This project is building a better community by providing a space for other families to have fun and laugh together. Phase 2 of incorporating playgrounds will be constructed next year.