Team Member Spotlight: Jey R

For many young professionals, launching a successful career often means moving away from the place where they grew up. But for JHA Survey Technician Jey Rusek, home is exactly where his professional journey began—and where he’s proud to stay.

“I grew up in Lenox, Pennsylvania. That’s where I’ve always lived,” Jey shares. “I went to Mountain View High School. I ended up being outside a lot with my dad—yard work, hunting, and fishing. I played baseball growing up. I just really liked anything outside.”

In high school, Jey discovered a passion for design and mapping through CAD and drafting classes. He pursued that interest at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, earning a degree in surveying/engineering. During college, Jey interned with JHA Companies—and never looked back. “I’ve been working here ever since,” he says. “I really liked what JHA had to offer.”

As a Survey Technician, Jey’s work takes him from gas pads and construction sites to private boundary surveys and drone flights. He holds a Part 107 drone license, which allows him to capture aerial data that makes large projects more efficient. “Flying the drone helps us get a lot more work accomplished, especially in really big areas where it would take a long time to do that manually,” he explains.

“JHA has helped me in my professional career by gaining experience, whether it be in the field or in the office, and also working towards licensure to become a licensed surveyor in Pennsylvania,” he says. “Being outdoors is definitely one of the highlights of my job here, but I have been getting more office time as of recent. In the office, I will draft up plans, do  field preps for us to get out in the field, write legal descriptions, anything along the lines of that.”

When he’s not surveying, Jey can be found outside—gardening, tending the family farm, or making maple syrup with his dad. “I spend a lot of time up at our cabin, cutting down trees or brush hogging or just tending to the land,” he says.

For Jey, success doesn’t mean moving away, it means building a meaningful career where his roots are. “I appreciate being able to live at home in the area that I grew up in, that I’m familiar with, surrounded by like-minded people,” he reflects. “That’s one of the reasons why I’m so fortunate to have the position I do at JHA.”