BENTON HARBOR — A local firm is growing with the addition of four new hires based in its Benton Harbor and Allegan offices.

Wightman is a full-service consulting firm that services many southwest Michigan communities, including doing work for Dowagiac, Niles, Cassopolis and Ontwa Township. The Wightman team consists of over 120 professionals that work to analyze, advise, design and deliver successful projects in partnership with governments, business and institutions in local communities, according to Wightman representatives. Services offered include architecture, civil engineering, environmental and surveying. Additional specialty services offered include planning, GIS, landscape architecture and interior design. Wightman’s firm is located in Allegan, Benton Harbor and Kalamazoo.

New hires include:

• Marianne Groth, of St. Joseph, joins Wightman’s Benton Harbor office as an administrative support professional. With more than 15 years of background in project management, administrative support and operations coordination, she is specifically assisting the engineering and architecture teams. Groth holds a Bachelor of Science degree in organizational management from Bethel College.

• Michelle Rush, of St. Joseph, has been hired as an administrative support professional in the Wightman Benton Harbor office. She has eight years of experience in human resource recruitment and employee relations, secondary education, and career coaching. Rush earned a Bachelor of Science degree in family and consumer sciences and school health from Central Michigan University

• Derk Walkotten of Holland, has joined the Wightman architecture team and is based in the Benton Harbor and Allegan offices. His background includes more than 20 years of architectural design and supervisory experience, most recently as a project manager and in-house architect for Lakewood Construction, Inc. in Holland. Walkotten holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science degree, both from the School of Architecture at the University of Michigan. His focus includes doing business development efforts for the Allegan office.

• Michael Wicker returns to Michigan from Durango, Colorado, to join the Wightman environmental services division as an environmental specialist based in the company’s Benton Harbor office. He is a geologist and brings six and half years of environmental and management experience to the position with expertise in groundwater remediation, environmental drilling, and risk-based site closure. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Grand Valley State University, as well as certifications in several environmental-related areas.

To learn more or to contact one of these professionals, call Wightman at (269) 927-0100 or visit Wightman online at gowightman.com.