75 Years of Progress

History in the Making

This year H2M celebrates its 75th anniversary. This page will relive its early beginnings, bring you through the years, past today, and into the future.

H2M was established in 1933 by founder Henry “Gus” Holzmacher. In the midst of the Great Depression, Gus Holzmacher courageously started a civil engineering and land surveying practice out of his Bethpage home. The nascent Grumman Aviation was his primary client. Robert (Bob) Holzmacher came to work for his father in 1953, bringing the staff size up to five. By 1955 work was growing and with a little convincing, Bob’s college classmate, Norman Murrell joined the firm. One year later, Bob’s former boss at Long Island Water Corp., Samuel McLendon, came on board bringing along his background in sanitary engineering and water analysis. Staff count was 10. Within months, Sam set up a modest water analysis laboratory in the kitchen of H2M’s first “formal” office in Hicksville on West Marie Street. Thus began H2M’s laboratory division.

H2M: A Timeline of Successes

In December 1960, H2M celebrated the opening of its first official office building on 110. This was just months before Gus’ sudden passing in early 1961. “This was the culmination of a long time dream for my father. He and my mother were very proud that day. …His great satisfaction, seeing his engineering firm well established and in a prestigious office building, was short lived. But the firm continued to prosper through the years. I know that my father, in his wildest dreams, could not ever imagine the firm growing to its present size and importance.”

During the succeeding decades, the firm grew to the 50 employee level in the 70’s and to the 100 employee level in the 80’s and 90’s. All along the way the firm continued to diversify its professional services, responding to growing communities and environmental concerns. And it still does!

Bob ran H2M until retiring in 1991, along with Senior Vice Presidents Norm Murrell and Sam McLendon. Harold Dombeck then took over the helm as President and CEO. Starting in 1965 as a sanitary engineer, Harold graduated into an executive position overseeing H2M’s fiscal health and growth. After Harold retired in 1995, the Board of Directors elected John Molloy, H2M’s current President and CEO.

H2M Hicksville Office circa 1946.“I started at H2M in 1974 driving in from Brooklyn and dropping coins into the toll on the Southern State. The firm has meant everything to me and my family and is integral to our lives. I have been honored to lead this outstanding organization for the past 13 years. We are now 260 people strong and still growing. The thing that comes to mind first and foremost is ‘thank you’. Through the years, our employees and clients have made the firm the success it is today. This firm remains vibrant and is positioned with an excellent staff, experienced and seasoned principals and long standing clients to drive our success for decades ahead.” —John Molloy

From Our Clients

“We have been ecstatic with H2M,” says Chip Cleary, the president and founder of Splish Splash Water Park in Riverhead. Cleary began working with H2M in 1989, when he was in the initial planning stages for the park. Since then, he has turned to H2M for its architectural, engineering, surveying, and laboratory services, finding the one-stop shop a true asset, given the complexities of running a water park and planning for its future. “They are very detail-oriented people. They understand and translate our dreams and thoughts into workable drawings and permits, helping to get the project done.”

“They’ve been excellent,” says Nancy Buzzetta, vice president and dealer principle of the Mercedes Benz of Smithtown and the new Smart Car dealership, which H2M recently completed. “They were very helpful with project management, keeping us on budget, and coordinating contractors and permitting. They were very responsive. They’ve done everything we’ve asked and more.”

Suffolk County Department of Works’ Chief Engineer Ben Wright, P.E. “We think very highly of them,” says Wright, adding that several multimillion dollar contracts have been awarded to H2M because it consistently demonstrates a high level of technical expertise. H2M projects in Suffolk County include a $75-million expansion of the Hauppauge wastewater collection system—a project that also involved construction of one new wastewater treatment facility and closure of two existing treatment facilities—as well as a nearly completed $21-million wastewater treatment facility project in Port Jefferson.

“That they have it all under one roof is a plus,” says William Schuckmann, the superintendent of the Hicksville Water District, where H2M serves as engineer of record, upgrading and rehabilitating water plant facilities as needed. “H2M’s services complement each other in a timely manner. You don’t have to go out and investigate” other firms, says Shuckmann, in the event that architectural, engineering, or surveying is needed when, for example, a water treatment plant is being rehabilitated or constructed. “They work with your best interest in mind in getting the job done, serving the water district as a whole,” he says.

From Our Clients quotes taken from “Building for the Future; After 75 years H2M Group continues to expand its services and grow” Building Long Island, Volume 3, No.2, March 2008, by Adina Genn.

• • About Us

• • Core Disciplines
    • Engineering
    • Architecture
    • Environmental
    • Planning
    • Survey
    • Laboratory

• • Careers

• • News

• • Contact Us

H2M’s Heritage

Visit H2M’s Heritage

All Services Architecture Civil/Site Engineering Construction Administration Electrical Engineering Engineering Environmental Services GIS Laboratory Services Landscape Architecture Mechanical/HVAC Engineering Planning Plumbing Engineering Sanitary Engineering Structural Engineering Survey and Mapping Sustainable Design Transportation Engineering Wastewater Engineering Water Resources Engineering Water Supply

H2M’s Heritage

Visit H2M’s Heritage

©2007 H2M Group. All Rights Reserved.