KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Feb. 15, 2021) — The Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) has announced that Burns & McDonnell has been recognized in two awards categories at this year’s annual EBJ Business Achievement Awards: the Social Contribution category for philanthropy and the Technology Merit category for its complex site remediation work.

Giving back to the community is one of the cornerstones of Burns & McDonnell culture. Last year saw unique challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic, driving the firm to provide additional resources and services to communities, clients and its employee-owners throughout the United States. To bolster support for essential workers, the Burns & McDonnell Foundation donated $1.5 million to the United Way COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund, in addition to the $4 million donated to United Way in its 2020 annual employee-owner campaign.

Additionally, Burns & McDonnell has invested more than $8 million in support of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programming over the last decade.

“The demand for STEM jobs is simply larger than the number of STEM graduates we have in the U.S.,” says Julee Koncak, director of the Burns & McDonnell Foundation. “That’s why our Foundation commits 50% of its annual funding to STEM education. By investing in STEM initiatives and grant programs across the country, we’re investing in the next generation of STEM leaders.”

When it comes to technology, Burns & McDonnell has introduced a focused, next-generation approach to remediating contamination at complex sites. Progressive Remediation Strategies, known as PROGRESS, employs next-generation technologies and methods to deliver targeted remediation while addressing the inherent challenges and uncertainties of complex contaminated sites — including unseen subsurface conditions. With an emphasis on the site geologic model, PROGRESS quantifies the processes driving contaminant behavior and remediation performance to inform design decisions for cost-effective solutions that deliver predictable results.

In support of PROGRESS, Burns & McDonnell’s remediation team developed a Digital Site Management Tool (DSMT) that maximizes the value of complex remediation site data through a system of dynamic dashboards and visualization tools supported by a GIS platform.    

“Our firm’s culture drives us to support our communities and create new tools and solutions that give our clients the cost-effective efficiency they need to succeed in an ever-changing environmental landscape,” says Steve Nalefski, senior vice president and leader of the Environmental Services Group at Burns & McDonnell. “We’re delighted to be honored in these areas by The Environmental Business Journal.”

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies bringing together an unmatched team of 7,600 engineers, construction professionals, architects, planners, technologists and scientists to design and build our critical infrastructure. With an integrated construction and design mindset, we offer full-service capabilities with more than 55 offices, globally. Founded in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is a 100% employee-owned company and proud to be on Fortune’s 2020 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. Learn how we are on call through it all.