History
OHM Advisors began with a simple premise: to create extraordinary relationships with our clients.
Since our beginnings, we've understood that meeting the advisory needs of our clients starts with building their trust. For more than 60 years, our goal has been to create honest client partnerships for today's challenges that last well into the future.
Relationships, Not Clients
In 1962, engineering veteran John E. Hiltz joined Melvin “Ernie” Orchard to form John E. Hiltz & Associates in Detroit, Michigan, with 15 employees. Their vision was a firm built on extraordinary relationships with municipal clients, providing insightful engineering counsel, and delivering on a promise to Advance Communities.
Purposeful Growth
Over the years, John E. Hiltz & Associates became Orchard, Papke, Hiltz and McCliment, Inc., Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc., and then OHM Advisors; while continually growing and diversifying our team and offerings to become a full-service consulting firm.
Some of our growth has been through strategic mergers and acquisitions and some has been organic, but the driving force has always been to create an exceptional team of people committed to best serving our clients.
Trusted Advisors
More than 60 years later—with a talented 750+ team in multiple states—we’re still living our mission of Advancing Communities through our work with municipalities, state and regional agencies, schools, corporations, developers and local entities. We’ve grown our extraordinary relationships to become our clients’ trusted advisors, and continue to nurture those partnerships to endure for tomorrow's challenges.
Historic Highlights
1962 - 1971
Founded as a municipal engineering firm, partners John E. Hiltz, Melvin "Ernie" Orchard, Frank Papke and Dick Toal launched John E. Hiltz & Associates, Inc. in Detroit, Michigan with 15 employees. The new firm began serving as the consulting engineer and community advisor for the City of Livonia—a relationship that continues today.
1972 - 1981
With the retirement of John E. Hiltz, the renamed Orchard, Papke, Hiltz and McCliment, Inc. moved to new headquarters and continued growing its culture as trusted advisors to its Michigan community clients, including the cities of Livonia, Ypsilanti, and Farmington and the townships of Superior and Pontiac (now the City of Auburn Hills).
1982 - 1991
The firm expanded to provide services for county road agencies, and we completed our first projects for the Michigan Department of Transportation. We also delved into the new world of computer-aided drafting, launching a Structural Design Group focused on roadway infrastructure.
1992 - 2001
We continued our robust development of client services and expanded our Livonia headquarters to a second office location to house our growing Construction and Geographic Information Systems departments.
2002 - 2011
In the decade leading up to the firm’s 50th anniversary, impactful mergers with Hitch, Inc. and Bird Houk Collaborative, along with the opening of a Nashville office, helped expand the firm’s geographic footprint across Michigan, Tennessee, and Ohio. The firm’s growth under the leadership of President John J. Hiltz brought new architecture, planning, urban design, and mechanical and electrical engineering services to our clients, launching a new era for OHM Advisors as a full-service, multidisciplinary consulting firm dedicated to Advancing Communities.
2012 - 2021
OHM Advisors ended the decade, a period of historic growth for the firm, as a 500+-person multistate team with offices in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Tennessee.
- 2015: Opened the first office in Northeast Ohio through a merger with Krock Esser Engineering, integrating municipal engineering, construction management, and private sector development services.
- 2018: The OHM Advisors Scholarship is established to foster talent in critical areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
- 2020: Opened an office in Jeffersonville, Indiana, serving the Greater Louisville area communities.
- 2021: Jon Kramer, PE, assumed the role of President of OHM Advisors from John J. Hiltz, PE, who held the office for over a decade.
2022 - present
Achieving impressive rankings on ENR's Top 500 Design Firms and Gallup’s “Exceptional Workplaces,” OHM Advisors continues to build a world-class team and culture positioned for growth into new markets. Recent milestones include:
- 2022: Opened the first Kentucky office of OHM Advisors in Frankfort, between the Louisville and Lexington metro areas.
- 2024: Acquired Griner Engineering, Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida, and THY, Inc. in Memphis, Tennessee, expanding our services and client portfolio.