Charles E. Craddock, PE

Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President

Mr. Craddock leads our operations, providing leadership and guidance in the areas of project, business, and financial management. Through his grassroots approach, he seeks to optimize operational efficiencies to continually improve our organization’s financial health and ability to best serve our clients. Charles “Chip” joined Clark Dietz in 1994. He is a professional registered engineer and master electrician with over 30 years of experience in the construction and consulting engineering industry. Over the years, Chip’s role has evolved from staff engineer to Chief Electrical Engineer, to serving on our Board of Directors, to his current capacity as President and Chief Operations Officer. He is currently serving as the National Director of ACEC – Illinois.

Jerald T. Payonk, PE

Executive Vice President and Director of Engineering

Mr. Payonk has a long and rooted history with Clark Dietz, joining our firm in 1990. As Director of Engineering, his goal is to sustain high performing engineering teams. He provides the resources, information, and motivation to allow every individual to continually increase their knowledge, performance, and value to our client base. Mr. Payonk is a registered professional engineer with 25 years in consulting engineering. Specializing in Transportation and Construction operations, Jerry brings a high level of technical expertise in every aspect of transportation engineering. He currently serves on our Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Jerry actively supports his local Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Risk Management Committee for ACEC-Illinois.

Wes Christmas, PE, ENV SP

Executive Vice President, Indiana Regional Director, Director of Business Development

Mr. Christmas is an experienced civil engineer whose role has included both client service and firm operations for Clark Dietz since 2000. He currently serves as Executive Vice President, Indiana/Kentucky Regional Director, and Director of Business Development and has maintained a seat on the Board of Directors since 2012. Mr. Christmas’ position is important to the maintenance of our client experience provided across all offices in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. Specific to his role as Indiana/Kentucky Regional Director, he oversees the work of a team of 40+ engineers, technicians, business development and administrative staff. Mr. Christmas is responsible for monitoring and managing regional workload, financial planning and performance including profitability, accounts receivable, staff utilization, contract development and staff recruitment. As a Project and Client Manager for multiple large or complex projects for Indiana and Kentucky communities he maintains close working relationships with his clients to identify infrastructure needs, solutions and funding mechanisms while being engaged and active in the communities we serve.

Mustafa Emir, PhD, PE

Wisconsin Regional Director, Secretary

Mr. Emir is a highly-respected Infrastructure Design and Water Resource Planning Professional with over 20 years of hands-on engineering experience. He currently serves as Secretary and Wisconsin Regional Director for Clark Dietz. He brings decades of diverse experience as a civil engineer and Senior Project Manager serving municipal clients in southeastern Wisconsin. Mr. Emir’s background is in water resources, stormwater management and municipal infrastructure planning for the long term. He has successfully created multi-year comprehensive sewer rehabilitation programs for Bayside and Whitefish Bay, and has recently completed a comprehensive plan for Shorewood. Mustafa was instrumental in flood response projects in several Milwaukee metropolitan suburbs following the heavy rains in 1998, 2000, and 2010. In the months and years since the July 2010 rains, Mustafa prepared and led dozens of public information meetings that steadily moved from confrontational to peaceful and collaborative. He has a keen ability to simply present complex ideas and foster constructive discussion with the public.

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