PM Environmental’s Co-founder and CEO sits down with us to provide a glimpse into his daily routine, as well as share his thoughts on the ever-evolving environmental industry. 

Q: Name, Title, Location

Mike Kulka, Founder & CEO – Berkley, MI

Q: Tell us a little about your role and what you do.

Long term vison and strategy development with our leadership teams. I am also heavily involved with business development and recruiting.

Q: How did you get started in the industry?

I graduated with a Civil Engineering degree from MSU with an emphasis on soil mechanics, water and wastewater treatment and hydraulics. I wasn’t really sure what area I would pursue, as Civil Engineering has a broad range of course work from highway design to structural. I worked for a larger civil engineering firm that was building their environmental services group as environmental was in its infancy. It was perfect timing, and my degree was highly relevant to this type of work.

Q: What does a normal day for you look like?

A normal day is anything from meeting with our C-Suite to fielding calls for a new opportunity. I dig deep with opportunities to understand what their end objective for a project to build the right service team around them. At any given day, I hold several lunch & learns either in person or online to educate the marketplace on the world of environmental from 100 to 400 level.

Q: What’s the best career advice you have ever heard?

You only get one chance to make your first impression, so it had better be good.

Q: What’s one thing you wish more people knew about the industry?

You can be a part of transformational redevelopments repurposing tired old properties. I always say it is always good to get a paycheck, but the feeling of attending the ribbon cutting and seeing firsthand how crucial we are to a project’s success is something you cannot put a price on.

Q: What does the future of this industry look like?

The future is bright as there is more government funding for legacy environmental issues. There are more state and federal sources available to fund these projects than we have ever had available in my entire career. This is critical for filling gaps in financing complex redevelopment projects.

Q: What are your favorite aspects of what you’ve built here?

I like to see the pride in our staff working on a project whether it be on-site conducting environmental work, attending a ground breaking or ribbon cutting, HR recruiting, marketing, accounting, IT and all of the service lines doing their thing.  It takes every member of every team to do great things…..and we do.  People can develop a great career here, and as a result, we have several long-term employees.

Learn how you can become a part of the exciting redevelopments happening at PM by visiting our careers page.