Pusich Joins Austin Aecom Newspaper and Media Group

By: Jim Rosenberg Michael M. Pusich has joined Austin Aecom as a vice president of its Newspaper and Media Group.

Led by Senior Vice President Don Mills in consulting, the team also includes Valorie Hargett in workplace design and Juan Moreno in facility design. Based in Chicago, Pusich will lead development of new production facilities and equipment-selection projects.

Mills said in a statement that Pusich "enhances our ability to offer our clients innovative, custom-designed solutions for every one of their business, process and operational needs."

Pusich's experience in the newspaper and media industry spans two decades. He served as Newspaper Group vice president at The Austin Co., which is now a part of the U.S. operations of international construction company Kajima. Pusich earlier was with the Blevins Harding Group, McClier Corp., and SAE Carlson.

Before joining Austin Aecom, Pusich was briefly with the newly formed Media Facilities Group at Burns & McDonnell, a Kansas City-based engineering, construction, environmental, and consulting services firm.

Mills told E&P the Newspaper and Media Group was just awarded a contract for production expansion at The Macomb Daily, Journal Register Co.'s paper in Mount Clemens, Mich., which will install a MAN Roland press, has a project of undisclosed scope for in the works for The News-Press, Gannett's Fort Myers, Fla., daily, and in Illinois "we were awarded the design for The (Champaign) News Gazette" last month."

"There's a tremendous amount of proposal activity," Mills said, adding that he remains "bullish" about newspaper industry projects.

The group also is wrapping up work at Detroit Newspapers (begun under Aecom's McClier Corp.) and continuing work with The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La., to support its distribution overhaul (complementing the paper's new headquarters and production plant), the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Chicago Tribune (where it "redesigned and program managed three floors" for advertising and the call center).

Austin Aecom combines design-build expertise with architecture, engineering, and construction-management services. It is a part of Aecom, a design and management company with 24,000 employees working on transportation, environmental, and facilities projects in more than 60 countries.

Austin Aecom resulted from the joining of Aecom's McClier and the Houston and Schaumburg, Ill., operations acquired in 1994 from The Austin Co. Kajima bought Austin out of bankruptcy late last year with a last-minute bid that exceeded Aecom's by a "significant" amount, according to Mills. Aecom had sought in 1994 to acquire all of Austin, forming the Austin Media Group "marketing alliance" between its Austin Aecom and The Austin Co., which ended with the bankruptcy and sale of Austin.