Ayres Associates Leadership

Since Jan Zander joined Ayres in 1990, he has progressed from a structural engineer position to serving as executive vice president. He began his career designing bridges in the Eau Claire, Wisconsin, headquarters and later held management positions in the Waukesha and Madison offices in southern Wisconsin.

In 2008 he was promoted to executive vice president. He oversees operations in the Southeast, as well as geospatial, telecommunications, architecture, and Midwest transportation and engineering services. He leads the firm's project management and group management training.

He has always taken pride in Ayres' ability to make a difference in the communities. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Council of Engineering Companies.

Richard Schoenthaler is Ayres' executive vice president and chief financial officer. He has direct control over all aspects of the finance and information technology departments, as well as our West region and development services operations. He oversees external and internal financial statements and controls, general ledger, payroll, risk management, cash management, collections, budgets, information technology, customer service, banking, regulatory and legal issues, and mergers and acquisitions.

He is a certified public accountant and has obtained vast experience in finance, treasury, taxes, information technology, and operational areas while working with a Fortune 500 corporation, multimillion-dollar manufacturing, and architectural/engineering corporations, and the fifth-largest international public accounting firm.

He is a Six Sigma Black Belt and lean manufacturing certified, with completed projects in plant layouts, document management solutions, enterprise resource planning, implementations, delivery time, inventory management, and the sales process. He has expertise in international, federal, and state tax laws; public and managerial finance; budgeting; cost and pricing standards; domestic and foreign investments; mergers and acquisitions; political lobbying; audit defense; project management; and strategic planning. He is skilled in new business development, market research, and cross-selling of diverse services.