KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Burns & McDonnell Chair and CEO Leslie M. Duke announces two new board members for the 100% employee-owned engineering, construction and architecture firm: Chris Baxter, chief risk officer, and Jamey Bertram, senior vice president and general manager of the Transmission & Distribution (T&D) Group. These promotions will be effective at the beginning of 2025.

Baxter and Bertram will join Duke and board members (Paul Fischer, Steve Gross, Renita Mollman and Alissa Schuessler). John Olander, COO, and Bob Reymond, COO of Energy, are current board members and will retire at the end of 2024.

“As CEO, one of my most critical responsibilities is consistently identifying and cultivating visionary leaders who will drive our company's success well into the future,” Duke says. “Chris and Jamey have a distinguished track record of success and embody our ownership culture. I'm confident their leadership and vision will propel the future success of our clients, communities and employee-owners.”

Chris Baxter

Baxter is the firm’s first chief risk officer, focusing on acquiring the right projects to add the most value to clients and communities by overseeing the risk management evaluation process, among many other areas of significant contribution.

Baxter joined the firm in 1988 and has worked as a design engineer, construction manager, project manager, and program manager on various design and construction projects for industrial, government, municipal, and commercial clients. He is a licensed attorney and professional mechanical engineer.

“Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and tenacity to our firm,” Duke says. “His extensive hands-on project experience through risk assessment aptitude, competent legal background, client development skills, and awareness of facility operations have allowed him to harness an understanding in all areas of engineering, architecture, construction and consulting.”

Jamey Bertram

Bertram provides leadership and strategy for the over 3,500 professionals who support T&D projects within the firm.

A licensed civil engineer, Bertram has taken on progressively more complex engineering and leadership assignments for many of the largest utilities in North America. Prior to his current role, he led international project sales, development and delivery for T&D.

“Jamey is building an incredible career and portfolio of work,” Duke says. “His leadership strengthened partnerships within T&D and globally, and helped us maintain our No. 1 industry rankings among power and T&D design firms."

Retirements

“Burns & McDonnell would not be what it is today without John and Bob’s strategic vision,” Duke says. “Their leadership and impact have been critical to our company’s growth and they have shown unwavering integrity and a steadfast commitment.”

John Olander

As the firm's first COO, Olander added more robust management support during a time of rapid company growth and increasingly complex business operations.

Olander joined Burns & McDonnell in 1991. By 1998, he had been promoted to a project management role, leading a challenging engineer-procure-construct (EPC) project in Texas that soon led to other similar roles on progressively larger EPC projects, including one in 2005 that was then the largest in the industry. He served as general manager of the T&D Group from 2012 to 2023, and has been the firm's COO since 2018.

Bob Reymond

Reymond was the firm’s first COO of energy, overseeing the firm’s Power Group and the Oil, Gas & Chemical (OGC) Group. Prior to his current role, Reymond was president and general manager of the OGC Global Practice from 2015-2023. He also held various roles of increasing responsibility, which included managing the largest project in the firm’s history and founding the nuclear business.

A former officer in the U.S. Navy’s nuclear power program, he joined Burns & McDonnell in 2001 as a project engineer.

About Burns & McDonnell

Working from more than 75 offices around the world, Burns & McDonnell designs and builds critical infrastructure. Our family of companies — driven by engineers, construction professionals, architects, planners, technologists and scientists — delivers projects grounded in safety and a desire to make a difference as we make our clients successful. Founded in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is 100% employee-owned. Learn more.