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Mt. Lebanon resident takes over as Gateway Engineers president

By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 3 min read
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For someone on his first job out of college, working closely with the company president can be intimidating.

Not so for Daniel Deiseroth, who went to work for The Gateway Engineers Inc. in 1985 and found a welcoming mentor in the late Fred Omer, who co-founded the firm three decades before.

“I thought, man, I love this guy. I could work here the rest of my life,” Deiseroth recalled. “And it’s come true.”

The Mt. Lebanon resident took over at the start of the year as president of Gateway, which moved its headquarters to Robinson Township last year. He succeeds Fred’s daughter, Ruthann Omer of Upper St. Clair, who has retired.

“The Omers are great people,” Deiseroth said. “Fred gave me every opportunity in the world to succeed, and I can only thank him. And I’m sure if he were around, he’d be comfortable that I’m the president now.”

Gateway has grown significantly since Omer joined fellow University of Pittsburgh graduates Carl Gaus and Alvin Handlesman to launch the firm in the 1950s, specializing in municipal civil engineering. Six decades later, Gateway is perennially among Engineering News-Record’s Top 500 Design Firms, and its array of services offered includes landscape architecture, land development, inspection and material testing, surveying, and structural and traffic engineering.

“We do that all in-house, so that has been a growth for us over the past several years,” Deiseroth explained. “That helps the municipalities, because it’s like one-stop shopping. They come to us and if they have a problem, we can pretty much solve any of their problems in-house.”

Gateway now has 20 shareholders, Deiseroth among them, who own part of the company.

“It’s a part of the reason we are growing, by giving opportunities to a lot of deserving and hard-working people in the company,” he said. “We’re in very capable hands. The company is as strong as it’s ever been.

Deiseroth had served as executive vice president since 1992, when Fred Omer retired and passed the presidency to Ruthann. Paul Gaus, Carl’s son, was secretary-treasurer until his retirement.

Serving as chief executive officer on the current leadership team is Jason Jesso, who joined Gateway in 2000.

“Somebody has to make sure that everything is working, so that other people can do their work. Jason is responsible for that, and he does a great job,” Deiseroth said. “When he’s taking care of the business, then I can get out and be involved with the clients, and do what we need to do.”

Deiseroth and his wife, Dianne, have a daughter, Danielle, a senior at Columbia University studying chemical engineering. A Carrick native, he graduated from Bucknell University in 1985 with a degree in civil engineering.

Regarding his career with Gateway, he also credits surveyor Don Hannegan, who was part of the staff from the beginning, with helping the firm advance while also serving as a mentor to Deiseroth.

“I always like to get a plug in for Don,” he said.

For more information about the company, visit www.gatewayengineers.com.

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