Featured, News • December 12, 2021
A Letter From Our Chairman/CEO
On December 12, 2001, from the basement of my home on Chicago’s southwest side, I launched a startup business called Milhouse Engineering and Construction, Inc. (Milhouse). I had a vision to create a better engineering firm, one driven by a desire for greatness—for our clients and our communities. A place where people would be excited to come to work, where they would feel a sense of security and pride. An organization that valued active diversity, constant quality and fierce integrity. A culture that advocated for improving the world around us.
I am proud to say that my vision has come true.
Sitting at my desk in our downtown Chicago office, I can look out the window and see Milhouse’s impact, from restoring Buckingham Fountain to designing Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Red Line stations to extend further south. I can see many of the more than 270,000 street and alley light fixtures that our team has replaced and upgraded through the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) Smart Lighting Program. When I fly out of O’Hare International Airport, I smile knowing our teams helped reconfigure runways, taxiways and air traffic control towers that impact the 190,000 people that travel through O’Hare every day. When I drive around Chicagoland, I drive on roads that our teams have helped to both design and build. When I flip on a light switch, it’s our team that’s hard at work to improve the safe, reliable and efficient delivery of power to millions of ComEd customers. And I know that the system improvements our teams have made for Peoples Gas and Nicor have positively impacted the hundreds of thousands of people that rely on gas to heat their homes. The Milhouse presence is fully intertwined with the community in which we were founded, and I couldn’t be prouder.
Over the past two decades, our reach has expanded far past Chicago. Today, our family of companies has grown to nearly 400 team members across 11 offices and 3 countries to serve 12 industries. Earlier this year, we partnered with Southern Company to launch Milhouse Forestry; an Atlanta-based vegetation management company that provides crucial line clearing services to the utility industry. On the international stage, we are developing a 60MW thermal power plant in Nigeria that is expandable to 300MW, which is enough power to supply the needs of millions of citizens in the Southeastern quadrant of Nigeria. In Bermuda, Milhouse is providing program management and engineering services to update the failing water infrastructure for the Parish of St. George. Through our work, we live our mission of delivering superior solutions to complex challenges around the globe.
On December 12, 2021, Milhouse celebrated its 20th anniversary. As I reflect on the first 20 years, I am grateful for every Milhouse team member, client and community partner for their investment in Milhouse. Through you, we are able to fulfill our vision of positively impacting the world around us. Thank you for being a part of our journey.
I can’t wait to see what the next 20 years have in store!
Wilbur C. Milhouse III, P.E.
Chairman/CEO