Neel-Schaffer, Inc., is pleased to announce that Mauricka McKenzie, PE, was recently honored by the Mississippi Business Journal by being selected to the magazine’s prestigious list of Mississippi’s Top 50 Under 40. Top 50 Under 40 recognizes the state’s 50 up-and-coming business leaders under the age of 40. McKenzie and the others in this year’s Top 50 Under 40 class were honored during a luncheon on April 24 at the Hilton Hotel in Jackson.

McKenzie, who works in the Water Resources Department of Neel-Schaffer’s Jackson (MS) office, is also an ordained Baptist minister and serves as the bi-vocational pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in McComb. A recipient of the Neel-Schaffer Minority Scholarship while attending Mississippi State University, McKenzie joined Neel-Schaffer in 2003 and has 16 years of experience.

“I am grateful to have been included in this honor,” said McKenzie. “I am thankful for the quality people that I have surrounded myself with who have helped shape my career and inspire greatness. It shows that the hard work and many hats that I often wear have not gone unnoticed.”

Mauricka has served as project design engineer on many major projects with Neel-Schaffer, including the project to build a water tower for Baptist Hospital in Jackson. He helped oversee the three-year, $6 million Baptist Hospital project. The project helped the hospital save approximately $200,000 per year in water utility charges, and provides it with its own source of dependable, high-quality water to support this important critical care facility.