Team Member Spotlight: Isaac Vehmeier, P.E.

Project Engineer Isaac Vehmeier grew up in Nichols, New York, about an hour northwest of Montrose, PA. He went to elementary school in Owego, NY and high school at the Ross Corners Christian Academy in Vestal, NY.

Isaac’s love for music started early. “I started taking guitar lessons about in third grade and played all through high school, took lessons through high school. I worship led a little bit in high school. I actually have an associate’s degree in music performance education and led worship at a church while I was going to college.” But as he neared the completion of his music degree, Isaac faced a pivotal decision: “I decided that I wanted to get married, so I needed to do something that would make me some money. I decided to go back to school for civil engineering. I did that at Broome Community College, now it’s SUNY Broome.”

After earning his Associates Degree in Civil Engineering Technology, Isaac worked for Fox Engineering in New Milford, PA, which was eventually acquired by JHA. “Joe offered me a job, so I kind of came along with some of the projects. At JHA, I’m doing Bluestone permitting, which is what I was doing at Fox too. Bluestone permitting, a lot of the time, I’m helping guys stay out of trouble with DEP. I’m kind of the middleman, but mostly, I’m helping them define their boundaries of their mines, helping them mark those out, figure out how deep they can go, where they can go, and just helping them deal with all the rules that DEP has about Bluestone Mining.”

Outside of work, Isaac enjoys life with his wife Emily—his high school sweetheart—whom he has been married to for nearly 11 years. “We’ve got two little cavemen children, two boys, four and five. We live about ten minutes outside of Montrose here. We own 30 acres. We’ve got a dog. We’ve got chickens and turkeys and goats. A couple years ago, we bought a house that we’ve been working on to finish.” As a family, they love spending time outdoors—backpacking, hiking, “just hanging out with the kids and doing stuff outside.”

What does Isaac like about working at JHA? “The people here are great. They’re fun to work with and fun to be around.” He also appreciates Owner/Founder Joe Hunt’s commitment to his employees: “Joe really strives to take care of his people, that’s important. And I think it’s hard to come by these days.”

Isaac has grown both professionally and personally at JHA, crediting much of his development to the company’s investment in leadership training and its commitment to fostering individual strengths. “Joe has put a large precedent on building leaders and pouring into us with leadership training. I think I’ve grown a lot in that area, and they also work hard to not push people into boxes. They want to know what you want to do, and they want to help you succeed in what you want to do.”

He particularly appreciates the company’s Core Value Empowered With Process, which encourages employees to voice ideas for efficiency and improvement. “In a lot of places, it can be hard to speak up. If you think there’s a way to make things more efficient or improve things, that can kind of be stepped on. The way that JHA wants people to bring forward new ideas, I think, is really good.”

Isaac’s story is a testament to hard work, adaptability, and a strong sense of community—both at work and at home. We are grateful to have him as part of the JHA team!