Rick Howden joins Apex Engineering Group as a Lead Infrastructure Funding Specialist.  He brings more than 12 years of experience in economic development and project management. Rick has written, managed, and monitored grant and loan funds from Federal, State, and local agencies. In his new role, Rick will assist Apex clients across all sectors with all funding aspects of their projects. Previously, he was a project manager at the St. Paul Port Authority.

Apex hired Danika Montenegro as a BIM CADD Technician in the electrical group. Her work experience includes internships at Penhead Architectural Services and Conservation & Heritage Research Institute of Society and Its History. Danika is experienced in drafting, building information modeling, architectural planning and design, and 3D visualization. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of San Carlos.

We’re excited to share that Michael Quamme has been named Apex’s St. Cloud Operations Manager. Quamme is an environmental engineer with 13 years of experience in the water industry. He started his career as an Apex intern while finishing his master’s in environmental engineering at North Dakota State University. In 2022, he became an Apex shareholder. Michael was also a 2024 Prairie Business 40 Under 40 Award recipient.

John Paulson joins Apex Engineering Group’s water group as a Sr. Engineering Technician. He brings with him 23 years of experience that includes a background in both the municipal and water sectors. He most recently worked for the City of Hutchinson for 18 years as the Project/Environmental/Regulatory Manager. Before that, he worked at the Minnesota Valley Testing Laboratories, where he collected field samples and performed data collection for groundwater, wastewater, surface water, drinking water, soil, and gas monitoring. At Apex, he will be providing client services related to his prior experience in municipal services and project delivery.

We are pleased to announce that Tim Paustian, PE, has been named Water Sector Leader! He’s been with Apex since the beginning and has 27 years of experience in the Water industry. Paustian is currently a Senior Water Engineer and leads the Drinking Water Practice. As the Water Sector Leader, Paustian is responsible for the continued growth of the water markets through collaboration with Apex’s CEO, COO, Practice Leaders, Market Leaders, and Operations Staff through client interactions, water sector employee growth, and strategic planning implementation.

Ryan Moilanen started interning at Apex Engineering Group during the summer of 2024. Now that he has graduated from North Dakota State University with a degree in civil engineering, Moilanen joins Apex full-time. In his new role as a graduate engineer in the water group he will work with both drinking water and wastewater projects. His prior work experience includes an internship with Benton County Public Works Department.

The Apex Water Group and the City of Fargo won a 2025 ND ACEC Award in Engineering Excellence for Fargo’s newest water tower. The downtown Fargo, ND, water tower is the largest in the state at 2.5 million gallons, replacing three older towers—one 90 years old and two 70 years old. All three towers were due for major repairs. Replacing the three aging towers with a single high-capacity structure improved efficiency, lowered maintenance costs and enhanced water system reliability.

The project features Fargo’s first-ever water tower art mural. To bring the mural to life, Apex collaborated with the artist and the paint manufacturer to ensure the colors aligned with the design while maintaining durability and warranty standards.

Beyond its water storage function, this tower is critical to regional safety. It houses essential communications equipment for the Red River Regional Dispatch Center. Apex worked closely with the dispatch team to integrate specialized features such as climate control, backup power generation, and advanced lightning protection—enhancements not typically found in water tower infrastructure.

Apex provided the design and construction engineering services for this project, which was completed in Fall 2024.

Congrats to the City of Fargo and Apex team members involved in this project! Thank you to the ND ACEC for recognizing it. This project represents a significant milestone for the City of Fargo, and we are proud to have contributed to its success.

ND ACEC Engineering Excellence Awards recognize engineering firms for projects that demonstrate exceptional innovation, complexity, achievement, and value. Entries come from 12 project categories. Fargo’s 2.5 MG Water Tower won for the Water Resources category.

Congrats to Brent Muscha on taking on a new role as Fargo Operations Manager! As operations manager, he will oversee operations, growth, and efficiencies in our Fargo office. Brent has been with Apex for 11 years and is a Senior Engineer in our Transportation Group. In 2018, he was selected as an Apex associate owner.

Brent was also the 2021 Prairie Business 40 Under 40 recipient. Read more about this and his background.