Robert D. McGill, Jesse L. Smith, and Ronald L. RoatJ O I N I N G W I T H M C G I L L A N D S M I T H To diversify and expand its services, the Thomas B. Punshon Engineering Company merged with McGill and Smith, an architecture and planning firm located in Amelia, Ohio, on June 30, 1984. This merger combined the surveying and civil engineering expertise of Thomas B. Punshon with the multi-disciplined capabilities of McGill and Smith, providing every specialty need for residential, commercial, and industrial clients. 141Shortly after the merger, Albert Wilson, the president of the Thomas B. Punshon Engineering Company, retired and Ron Roat was named president, bringing with him twenty-five years of professional survey experience. Roat had been with the company since 1955. In 1966, he became treasurer and secretary, positions that he held until becoming president after the merger. Prior to merging with the Thomas B. Punshon Engineering Company, McGill and Smith was already a successful planning and surveying firm, established in 1956 by Jesse L. Smith and Robert D. McGill. 142Jesse Smith, who served with the 19th and 457th Bomber Groups during World War II, incorporated his consulting engineering business during the summer of 1955 after discovering his selection of a career was land oriented. 143McGill and Smith had both worked for the H.C. Nutting Company, a full-service professional consulting and engineering firm, where they became close friends. Prior to this position, McGill worked in a variety of government offices and played a key part in the development of many Cincinnati attractions, including the supervision of the construction of the Union Terminal, a WPA project. 144In 1976, Steve Smith, the son of Jesse Smith, became a registered architect with the state of Ohio to allow McGill and Smith to more fully develop its architectural department and establish another discipline where McGill and Smith could serve its clients needs. 145Specialization within departments of the multidisciplinary company continued two years later with the establishment of construction, architecture, civil engineering, planning, and sales departments. 14651