Team Member Spotlight: Jessica Meahl

JHA Survey Technician and Ohio native Jessica Meahl had some adventures before returning to Southeast Ohio, where she grew up. She served in the U.S. military, “so I did a bit of hopping back and forth between different bases with that,” lived in Wadsworth, OH (near Akron and Cleveland), and also spent some time in Florida. Jessica graduated with a Bachelor of Surveying from the University of Akron in 2015 and has been at JHA’s St. Clairsville, OH location just over two years.

The outdoors is a big part of life for Jessica and her husband Scott.  “We like to go fishing, camping, take the dogs out. We’ve got two dogs that we take to the parks to run and walk, all the fun things they enjoy. We like to go hunting. We tend to just go out, walk, hike, explore nature. A bit of kayaking. Motorcycle riding is something else I enjoy; currently trying to get my husband into that.”

The push to utilize technology was a big reason why Jessica came to JHA, as was the fact that our Ohio location is close to where she grew up. “I wanted something different, that embraced some of the newer technology, and wasn’t held back by doing things traditionally–being able to use GPS. We also do a lot of drone flights, which is something I was always interested in but didn’t really have that opportunity where I was. And that’s been a huge enjoyment as well as just another tool in my belt.”

Why has Jessica stayed at JHA? “I’ve stayed because the opportunities I get here are like none I have had. I’ve been able to see different aspects of processing, not just going out in the field but also being able to see how it looks on the inside of the office, drafting, setting up, some of the post processing, creating the maps that go out to the clients. By seeing how everything comes together, both the start and the finish, it has helped me be more mindful in the field about what needs to be collected and what methods would work best for where ae are trying to accomplish.”

Another draw for her is JHA’s culture of independence and creativity, a culture that encourages team members to constantly refine process. “With JHA, if we see a better way and it works, and still maintains what we need to accomplish, we’re able to do so. It empowers us to bring our knowledge and experience into what we are doing.”

From day one Jessica was attracted to the JHA philosophy. “I really like the JHA core values, even through the interview process– finding out what they were. It made a huge difference to me seeing that they are open, that ‘this is what we believe, this is our goal, this is where we are focused, this is how we handle things’. Most places I have been it’s more ‘this is how we do things’ and then everything else is kept to the owner or a few people that are higher up in the company. JHA is open. Joe [JHA Owner/Founder Joe Hunt] is open with everybody. Everybody knows what’s going on, and I really enjoy that about the company.”