The firm’s broad local portfolio is a result of employees who have held municipal roles as well as thanks to a corporate philosophy that “service” means contributing technical skills and volunteered time to communities. For the second year in a row, PS&S is sponsoring Green Empowerment, a nonprofit that supports local communities around the world as they build water and renewable power infrastructure. The firm was ranked No. 61 on the ENR East’s Top Design Firms list with $61.8 million in regional 2025 revenue, a 9.8% increase from the $56.24 million posted in the previous year. For its growth and commitment to local initiatives, PS&S has been named the 2026 ENR New York Design Firm of the Year.

John Sartor, PS&S president and CEO, discussed with ENR the firm’s local relationships, employee retention and approach to expansion. This Q&A has been edited and condensed.

How did local experts come to be a feature of your business?

I’m a second-generation owner. Paulus Sokolowski started the firm in 1962, and then my dad, Anthony Sartor, joined in 1974. It took two generations to strengthen those local relationships. We have a number of employees who have been involved in their communities for many years. They may have participated on planning boards in their towns or [been] members of economic development authorities. I think that for the type of firm we are—which really does focus on local projects in New York and New Jersey—it makes a difference for our employee base that we live, work and play in these areas where we’re providing service.

There is also a conscious effort as a firm to be part of our communities. At least once each quarter, we want to do a socially oriented event, so we ask our regional offices what they want to sponsor. In southern New Jersey, there has been a cancer walk for years that is very well attended by our local folks. We participate in a lot of Chambers of Commerce events, and those are a great way to get to know your towns. Over the decades, you start to develop a reputation. That takes a lot of effort, and a lot of that time is not during normal business hours.

For a firm that has so many regional offices that touch on a variety of services and sectors, what does advancement look like?

It’s not necessarily going to a different office. It’s more about broadening your capabilities. We have a core belief that in our field, you have to excel in three areas: managerial excellence, technical excellence and business development excellence. Going after licensure prepares you well for the technical side. But when we talk about advancing your career, we look at how you want to build out and strengthen yourself as a consultant.

Once or twice a year, we sit down and understand what employees are looking for. Some people love the technical aspects of what they do and want to be the best technical expert they can be. We support that because at our core, we need to tackle technical excellence. But for those interested in becoming project managers, we spend a lot of time helping them understand the financials. If you want to be a supervisor and be responsible for other people, you must understand what’s expected of you. We want our employees to feel well rounded.

PS&S acquired a North Carolina-based firm several months ago. How did you know you were ready to make this purchase?

I would have loved to have done it even sooner, but it takes time. My undergraduate degree was from Duke University in North Carolina. I started to get more involved with my alma mater, and in 2019, I attended an event and was blown away at how much the Raleigh-Durham area had grown. A lot of tech is coming here because of the university systems and the cost of land is still much lower than at a lot of the big tech areas.

New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are still our foundation, but there’s an incredible opportunity for a firm like ours to grow at a faster pace. We felt the best way to do that was to do what we’ve done traditionally—not try to be the local expert, but acquire the local expertise.

How did you get involved with Green Empowerment?

It was also through my relationship with Duke. I am on the industry advisory board for the university’s masters in climate and sustainability engineering program, and one of my peers on the board is the executive director, Andrea Johnson. I've seen a lot of projects build infrastructure overseas. What is unique about Green Empowerment is how they galvanize the community to support the project. That’s what is going to make it more sustainable. A lot of the communities contribute, in lieu of money, their own time and efforts.

Green Empowerment also gives training on how to create governance around a utility organization has a good track record and success rate in not just deploying the capital to build the infrastructure, but for it to remain in place and in service for many years to follow.

I think the whole concept and what the nonprofit tries to do in terms of training and local support is where we end up aligning ourselves. Back here in the U.S., that's a lot of what we do at PS&S: We want folks to work in their community so that they feel part of that community.