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Burns & McDonnell
Company typePrivate
Industry
Founded1898; 126 years ago (1898)
Headquarters
Kansas City, Missouri
,
United States
Number of locations
75 offices
Area served
Worldwide
RevenueIncrease US$6.9 billion (2023)
Number of employees
13,500 (2023)
Websitewww.burnsmcd.com

Burns & McDonnell is an American multinational construction, architecture and engineering firm based in Kansas City, Missouri, and has 100% employee stock ownership. It was established in 1898 by engineers Clinton Sumner Burns and Robert Emmett McDonnell. The company is one of the largest design firms in the world,[1] its global revenues reached US$$6.9 billion and employed over 13,500 professionals worldwide.[2] [3]

In April 2023, it was announced that CEO Ray Kowalik would retire at the end of 2023 and be succeeded by Leslie Duke.[4][5]

History

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Early history

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Burns & McDonnell was founded by two Stanford University graduates that had experienced successful teamwork while working in Palo Alto. They chose Kansas as it was deemed to provide work for the two engineers. Robert E. McDonnell became the firm's promoter towards the region's municipalities, while Clinton S. Burns focused on the technical aspect.[6] They offered solutions for sewer systems and waterworks.[6]

Armco Steel

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In 1971, the firm was bought by Armco Steel, based in Ohio.[7] As Armco prepared to sell Burns & McDonnell in the early 1980s, its employees opted to buy the company themselves and took on a loan to finance a buyout in 1985.[7] The loan was provided by the United Missouri Bank.[8]

Employee ownership

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Its employee ownership status is considered a factor in producing higher workforce efficiency.[8][6] The Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) owns 98% of Burns & McDonnell and management has 2%.[8] All employees have the right to join the ESOP and are provided shares according to their contribution to the company with a cap of up to $265,000.[8] Its workforce grew from 600 in 1985, to 5,600 in 2016 while its annual revenue rose from $41 million to $2.5 billion in the same timespan.[8] By 2021, it had 7,600 employee-owners[9] and the revenue rose to $5.7 billion in 2022.[10] In 2016, the Houston office introduced a flexibility plan, which allowed the employees to shape their workplans in a way that they could take off every second Friday.[7]

Acquisitions

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Originally an engineering company, it has expanded its focus into several areas throughout its history. In 1983, it acquired the C.W. Nofsinger Company, part of the chemical industry, and rebranded it as the Process & Industrial Group (P&I).[11] In 2010, it purchased the specialist in bridge construction Harrington & Cortelyou[12] and in 2016 it purchased AZCO from Wisconsin.[13] AZCO has collaborated with Burns & McDonnell for decades in construction projects and was also 100% owned by its employees.[13] In 2018, Ref-Chem from Baton Rouge, Louisiana was also acquired by Burns & McDonnell.[14]

Industry

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Burns & McDonnell is among the largest Engineering/Architecture companies in the US[15] and a prominent contributor to US market for electrical designs.[16] It is active in the construction of military facilities, wind and solar energy installations,[16] aviation, health care,[17] and is active in the oil and chemical industry.[15] In 2020,[18] it was involved in raising the levels of twenty-one bridges over the highways I-35 and I-335 in Sumner and Sedgwick counties in Kansas.[19]

Locations

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The company is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri and mainly active in the US, but also internationally.[20] It is represented in over 50 cities across the US, and has branches in Dubai, Canada, the United Kingdom, and India.[20]

Awards

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Burns & McDonnell has received numerous accolades from the American Councils of the Engineering industry[21][22] and is considered good to work for in the US by Fortune.[23] In 2012, it received the ESOP of the year Award.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "ENR 2023 Top 150 Global Design Firms | Engineering News-Record". www.enr.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  2. ^ "Burns & McDonnell Moves Up to No. 7 on Annual Industry List of Top 500 Design Firms". www.burnsmcd.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  3. ^ "The Employee Ownership 100: America's Largest Majority Employee-Owned Companies | NCEO". www.nceo.org. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  4. ^ "Burns & McDonnell Senior Executive Leslie Duke Named New CEO of 100% Employee-Owned Firm". Construction Dive. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  5. ^ "Meet Our People | Who We Are". www.burnsmcd.com. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  6. ^ a b c "Meet Burns & McDonnell: engineering, architecture & construction firm". Greater Phoenix Economic Council. 2021-04-08. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
  7. ^ a b c Eaton, Collin (2016-11-04). "At Burns & McDonnell, employees feel like owners -- because they are". Chron. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  8. ^ a b c d e Dahl, Darren. "How Do You Build Companies That Last Hundreds Of Years? Make Them Employee-Owned". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  9. ^ "The Employee Ownership 100: America's Largest Majority Employee-Owned Companies | NCEO". National Center of Employee Ownership. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  10. ^ "Burns & McDonnell Promotes Five Senior Executives, Expands Officer Group After Best Year in Firm History Reaching $5.7 Billion in Sales". Utility Dive. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  11. ^ "Nofsinger retires from Burns & McDonnell, Process Industrial Group | EthanolProducer.com". ethanolproducer.com. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  12. ^ Torline, Jennifer (1 August 2010). "Burns & Mac acquires Harrington & Cortelyou to better span bridge market". Bizjournals. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  13. ^ a b Roberts, Rob (9 December 2016). "Burns & McDonnell acquires leading industrial contractor". Bizjournals. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  14. ^ Graves, Greg (2021-04-27). Create Amazing: Turning Your Employees into Owners for Explosive Growth. BenBella Books. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-953295-23-1.
  15. ^ a b "Burns & McDonnell embarks on aggressive growth path". www.bdcnetwork.com. 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  16. ^ a b "Employee ownership is secret sauce at rapidly growing Burns & McDonnell". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  17. ^ a b "Midwest Roots And Employee Ownership Yield Global Success". The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel. 2012. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  18. ^ DeBacker, Mike (6 February 2020). "Contractor raises Kansas bridges using hydraulic jacking approach". www.roadsbridges.com. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  19. ^ Adams, John (9 May 2022). "Burns & McDonnell Adapts to Thrive | Engineering News-Record". www.enr.com. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  20. ^ a b "Locations | Burns & McDonnell". www.burnsmcd.com. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  21. ^ "Industry Awards | About Us | Burns & McDonnell". www.burnsmcd.com. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  22. ^ "Burns & McDonnell Projects Across the U.S. Earn Excellence Awards". www.finanzen.ch (in German). Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  23. ^ "Burns & McDonnell". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
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