With historic roots reaching back to the 1930s, MSA has steadily grown to be one of the top engineering firms in the Upper Midwest .  With a multi-disciplined staff of professionals, we provide municipal, industrial, and private clients with innovative, customer-focused solutions for a wide variety of engineering and consulting needs.

MSA was founded in Baraboo, Wisconsin and began operation in the early 1930's as a surveying and engineering partnership between H. E. French and H. C. Amundson.  This original partnership changed twice over the next 20 years.  In the mid-1940's French & Amundson became Amundson & Platt, and in 1956 the firm became Platt & Schultz.

The company was reorganized in 1958 to form Mid-State Engineering Company.  In 1962, the company was incorporated as Mid-State Associates, Inc.  Identifying the firm as simply “MSA” began in the mid 1980s, and in January 1997 this abbreviation became the root of the firm’s present name - MSA Professional Services, Inc.

MSA has grown and changed considerably during the past 50 years.  Because of expansion and changing needs, the Baraboo-based offices have physically moved on several occasions.  In 1970, MSA moved to a building at 1111 Eighth Street (corner of Eighth & Washington), which it enlarged in 1978.  In May of 1983, MSA moved to its present facilities at 1230 South Boulevard, in the Baraboo Industrial Park . Originally 15,000 square feet, this office building was expanded by 10,000 square feet in 1992.  Today the Baraboo office continues to serve as the Corporate Headquarters, while providing a full range of services to area clients.

In 1980, an office providing surveying services was opened in the Village of Friendship , Wisconsin .  In April 1987, Nelson Surveying LTD was acquired and a surveying office was opened in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin .  In 1989, an office was opened in Rhinelander, Wisconsin .  Today, both the Beaver Dam and Rhinelander offices offer municipal and private clients a wide range of services including land and recreational development, municipal, transportation, and environmental services.  In 1985, an MSA project office located in Galena, Illinois was upgraded to offer a full array of land and recreational development and municipal services.  In January of 2008, the Galena office moved to its new building located just north of downtown on Highway 20. 

In July 1996, MSA opened an office in Madison, Wisconsin to better serve municipal and transportation clients in south central Wisconsin .  In February 1998, MSA acquired RREM Engineering in Duluth, Minnesota, expanding its service area into northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin .  In April 2000, the eighth MSA office was opened in Dubuque, Iowa to offer municipal engineering, environmental, and planning services to clients in northeastern Iowa .  MSA’s ninth location opened in September 2000 when MSA acquired Level One Engineering in Rice Lake, Wisconsin . This office in Rice Lake further established MSA’s municipal and planning presence in northwestern Wisconsin .

 In December 2003, MSA expanded deep into the heart of Iowa when it acquired Gjersvik Consulting, Inc. in Pleasant Hill, Iowa in the Des Moines metropolitan area.  Due to the growth of this office, we relocated to Ankeny in November 2008.  MSA now provides a full array of engineering and planning services to central Iowa clients from our metropolitan Des Moines location. The establishment of MSA’s eleventh office in August 2004 was the result of a strategic partnership with Perry Carrington, Inc. of Marshfield, Wisconsin .  The Marshfield office provides municipal, transportation/airport, and planning services.  In October of 2005, our St. Paul office opened in nearby Oakdale, Minnesota .  This office provides municipal and environmental services to clients in the Twin Cities area.  In March 2007, we opened our office in Davenport, Iowa , to provide a full range of municipal services to our clients in the Quad Cities.  And last but not least, our newest office, number fourteen, opened in Hiawatha, Iowa in November 2008.  This office provides municipal engineering services to our clients in the metropolitan Cedar Rapids area.

 As a full service consulting firm, MSA Professional Services is all about “creating communities that work.”  Our team of specialists focuses on meeting the needs of our clients and achieving their goals.  We strive to provide superior client service, building long-term relationships with our clients and serving as their trusted partner.  We help our clients solve today’s complex and multi-faceted challenges by providing the right expertise at the right time.  We are proud of our heritage and our role in helping the many fine communities throughout our four-state region to be consistently rated among the best places in to live, learn, work, and play.