Jerry Shaw began his career at the original Affholder, Inc. in 1979 and, as its President, helped grow the company into a nationally known tunneling contractor. Today, Jerry leads SAK's operations, and his commitment to operational excellence and focus on putting the customer first is evident throughout the company.

 

Bob Affholder started the predecessor to SAK in 1968, a tunnel and boring company named Affholder, Inc. In 1982, Bob had the foresight to purchase the first mid-American license of the Insituform process. Bob took the company public as Insituform Mid-America in 1987. The company rapidly expanded, acquiring additional territories to become the largest Insituform licensee in North America. Insituform Mid-America later merged with Insituform Technologies (now Aegion), where Bob served for ten years as Vice-Chairman and on the Board of Directors. Today, Bob's values are ingrained in every aspect of SAK's culture - solve customers' problems with skill, honesty, and hard work by hiring individuals that strictly adhere to those values. 

Tom Kalishman literally grew up in the trenchless industry and joined Insituform in 1991 after a successful career in consulting. Tom’s strategic vision inspires SAK to deliver world-class solutions to pipeline infrastructure issues. Tom co-led the US business for Insituform and served for eight years on the Board of Directors.

Under these leaders’ expert guidance, Insituform grew into the largest pipeline rehabilitation contractor in the world. Today, Shaw, Affholder, and Kalishman are joined together as SAK Construction. The company marks a return to the roots of our founders’ success — hire the best talent, create an environment where people are valued, deliver world-class services, and put customers first.