Meet The Team

Steve Durko is a seasoned construction executive with a proven record of leading and scaling high-performing construction operations. He has grown the organization to more than 150 employees through strategic growth and mergers, establishing a fully integrated company with in-house capabilities across major trades.

Under his leadership, Essex Construction / Fountain Pools has delivered more than 8,000 residential and commercial projects, with annual revenues exceeding $50 million. His work includes commercial pools, resort-style amenities, clubhouses, multifamily development support, hospitality projects, and large-scale outdoor environments.

Greg Durko serves as Chief Financial Officer of Essex Construction, providing financial leadership that supports the company's construction operations and continued growth.

He works closely with executive and operational leaders to strengthen budgeting, cash-flow planning, reporting, internal controls, and financial visibility across the organization.

Greg's disciplined approach helps Essex evaluate risk, allocate resources responsibly, and make well-informed decisions while maintaining the flexibility required in a fast-moving construction environment.

Yana Osmakova brings a commercial-first mindset to amenity and outdoor environment design. Her work supports commercial properties, resort-style amenity centers, hotel environments, multifamily developments, and HOA communities where aesthetics, code compliance, operations, and constructability must work together.

Yana focuses on designing for constructability and efficient execution. She supports value engineering, budget alignment, discipline coordination, and commercial code awareness while maintaining the design intent that helps enhance property value and user experience.

Paul Schmidt is the Business Development Manager for Essex Construction, bringing more than two decades of construction, purchasing, operations, project management, and business development experience across Southwest Florida and beyond.

Before joining Essex Construction, Paul held senior leadership roles  where he helped establish and grow purchasing departments for fast-moving homebuilding operations. He also brings commercial construction experience  where he managed apartment, commercial, and retail build-out projects.

At Essex Construction, Paul leverages his diverse background in homebuilding, commercial construction, purchasing, sales, and operations to develop new relationships, identify opportunities, and support clients with a practical, solutions-focused approach.

Kim Trapp brings broad construction coordination, purchasing, permitting, and operational experience to Essex Construction. Her background spans commercial build-outs, commercial new construction, high-end residential new construction, renovations, production homebuilding, hurricane protection, and business operations across Southwest Florida.

Before joining Essex, Kim held project coordination, project management, office management, purchasing, and permitting roles.

Her responsibilities have included plan redline coordination, bid solicitation, vendor follow-up, purchase orders, budgeting, job release documentation, trade scheduling, permitting packages, NOCs, change orders, client selections, pre-bid meetings, field coordination, and closeout support.

Paul Kaufmann serves as Senior Estimator for Essex Construction, bringing more than 40 years of experience across commercial and residential estimating, project management, field supervision, contract development, and purchasing.

His career includes commercial estimating and sales coordination; leadership roles; and 14 years as Commercial and Residential Project Manager and Lead Estimator. 

Paul is skilled in reviewing architectural, structural, and civil plans; establishing project budgets; preparing contracts and subcontracts; coordinating engineering and permitting; and translating field realities into clear, constructable estimates. He holds an Associate in Arts degree focused on Construction and Business Administration, completed additional study in construction techniques and engineering principles, and is fluent in Spanish.

Norm Mahanke is a Senior Construction Manager at Essex Construction with more than 30 years of industry experience. Norm has built his career around practical field leadership, clear communication, and consistent follow-through.

His broad construction background supports planning, scheduling, trade coordination, quality control, safety, inspections, issue resolution, and closeout. He understands how to turn project requirements into organized field action while keeping stakeholders informed.

Norm's experience and hands-on management style help project teams identify risks early, resolve challenges efficiently, and maintain forward momentum from mobilization through final completion.

John Haun brings more than a decade of progressive construction management experience across residential and commercial projects. His background includes senior construction management  and field leadership roles across Southwest Florida.

His experience includes project management, budgeting, cost control, vendor and subcontractor coordination, quality control, inspections, safety enforcement, and MEP coordination across HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection scopes.

John is OSHA 10-Hour Certified and SWPPP Certified, with studies in Business Management at Youngstown State University. He brings strong operational discipline, field communication, and client-focused execution to each project.

Rob Bisel is a Construction Manager at Essex Construction with more than 25 years of industry experience. He brings a seasoned understanding of 

field operations and the day-to-day coordination required to move projects forward.

His responsibilities support scheduling, subcontractor coordination, site logistics, inspections, quality control, safety, and resolution of field conditions. Rob works to keep expectations clear, trades aligned, and work progressing according to the project plan.

With a practical and accountable approach, Rob helps project teams anticipate challenges, protect quality, and deliver a professional experience for owners, design partners, subcontractors, and end users.

BIO Coming Soon!

BIO Coming Soon!

BIO Coming Soon!