Who We Are
Why Choose AE2S Nexus?
AE2S Nexus is dedicated to providing best in class financial services. Over the 30 plus years AE2S has been delivering services, we’ve recognized that engineering doesn’t just start and stop with technical planning or building, but it all revolves around a “nexus” of finances.
As a result, we grew a dedicated team of financial and engineering professionals to assist our clients with delivering top-tier financial planning projects. This experience includes:
- Project Development and Administration
- Utility Rate and Long-Term Financial Planning
- Utility and Asset Management
- Support with Project Funding and Financing Programs
AE2S Nexus is committed to serving as a financial resource in the region.
Together with AE2S, we work as an integrated team, providing our clients with the perfect marriage of financial and engineering expertise that enables us to truly understand your organization and bolster your financial stability.
Jacob Strombeck, PE
Jacob has experience with a variety of projects in the civil and environmental engineering field. He has provided planning, study and design, and construction administration services on water, wastewater, and stormwater related projects as well as financial planning and project development services.
Jacob has an extensive background with project concept development, city-wide planning and policy establishment, and utility regionalization, and project financial planning and funding.
Miranda Kleven, PE
Miranda has over two decades of experience in providing support to utilities in cost of service-based rate-setting and budgetary, reserve, and capital planning efforts designed to promote financial sustainability. Miranda has collected data for the AE2S Annual Rate Survey for since 2002, and with that has broad knowledge of rate-setting practices and financial benchmarking statistics for rural and municipal water and wastewater systems throughout the Upper Midwest.
Miranda is a graduate of the University of North Dakota with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, is a Series 50 Qualified Municipal Financial Advisor Representative, and is a Professional Engineer registered in the State of North Dakota.
Ryan Graf, MBA
Ryan is a dedicated financial management consultant with experience in utility financial policies, utility rate studies and cost of service, financial impacts of asset management, funding programs, and regulatory considerations. He has years of experience providing financial analysis and guidance for utility management, funding development, and regulatory compliance.
Ryan has worked with municipal water, wastewater, stormwater, and solid waste utilities, city administrations of sizes as few as 500 people to as many as 180,000 people, as well as rural water systems.
Tyler Akerman, CPA
Tyler is a CPA who has extensive experience providing financial services for water, wastewater, stormwater, and electrical utilities. This includes analysis and guidance for utility management, long-term planning and budgeting, rate and cost of service studies, revenue requirements, capital asset planning and funding, and regulatory accounting.
He has worked on small- and large-scale financial modeling. His experience includes providing financial analysis and guidance for utility management, long-term planning, and regulatory compliance. He has worked in city government, as well as in the investor-owned utility space.
Abby Ritz
Abby’s current focus is on funding development and supporting Nexus’s rate study efforts. She has played an integral role on several rate studies applying cost of service and revenue adequacy methodology.
Abby’s work in funding development spans a variety of state and Federal programs including: USDA Rural Development, Drinking Water & Clean Water State Revolving Fund, ND State Water Commission Water Supply Program, Bank of North Dakota Infrastructure Loans, Bank of North Dakota PACE/Flex PACE Funding, Community Development Block Grants, US Army Corp of Engineers, Opportunity Zone Incentive Program, New Markets Tax Credit, Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA), and Green Incentive Programs in states across the Midwest.
Karla Harmel
Karla has more than 30 years of municipal financial management experience and has served as a City Auditor for multiple cities. She has wide ranging knowledge of fund accounting and payroll practices.
Karla has worked on numerous municipal budgets and has an extensive understanding of mill levies and taxable valuation processes. She has broad knowledge of relevant Federal and State laws, local ordinances, and City rules and regulations.
Karla is well-versed in establishment and administration of special assessment funded improvement projects and has extensive experience in property tax assessments and community tax equalization procedures. She has assisted clients with fund accounting, payroll, job descriptions, personnel policies, open records and meetings laws, and records management.
Nikki Jacobi
Nikki has served an integral role as a Financial Analyst on multiple rate studies that included cost of service, rate design, and revenue adequacy analysis. She has extensive experience providing Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater utilities with financial analysis and guidance, including comprehensive financial model development to support long-term financial plans and rate recommendations. She is also a MSRB Series 50 Qualified Municipal Advisor Representative.
Dylan Walski
Dylan focuses on providing assistance for rate study efforts. He has experience creating complex models designed to help meet the needs of both small and large utility systems. He also provides analysis for revenue requirements, cost of service, funding programs, and the AE2S Annual Utility Rate Survey.
Kayla Meherens
Kayla brings a broad range of asset management, rate, and funding experience to the AE2S team. She helps clients solve an array of water, wastewater, and water resource infrastructure financial challenges, including the development and execution of diverse funding strategies.
Prior to AE2S, she worked for the City of Bozeman Public Works Division for nearly a decade, providing her valuable public-sector experience and a unique viewpoint to her current work.