KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Burns & McDonnell has selected Jamey Bertram to lead the Transmission & Distribution (T&D) Group, the largest business within the $7 billion firm. Bertram succeeds John Olander, who will now serve in his chief operating officer role full time, with a focus on companywide transformation and initiatives during this time of rapid growth. The 100% employee-owned engineering, construction and architecture firm nearly doubled its revenue in 2022.

Bertram

Olander

Olander grew the T&D Group tremendously during his 28 years in T&D and 11 as general manager. When he took over T&D leadership in 2011, it was a group of 500 employees with $376 million in revenue. In 2022, T&D had more than 3,000 employees globally and $1.6 billion in revenue.

“The electric power industry is quickly and constantly transforming and our firm would not be where we are today without John’s leadership,” says Ray Kowalik, Chairman and CEO, Burns & McDonnell. “As we look forward, knowing a great leader like Jamey will help steer our business and culture makes me excited about the future of our firm. Most importantly, Jamey will place a strong emphasis on continuing to care for and develop our greatest asset — our people — as we grow and innovate into the future.”

Bertram joined Burns & McDonnell in 2001, and in his most recent role, has led international project sales, development and delivery for the firm’s T&D Group. A civil engineer with 22 years of experience, Bertram has taken on progressively more complex engineering and project leadership assignments for many of the largest utilities in North America. In addition to his international role, he serves as the firm’s officer-in-charge for Pacific Gas and Electric. He is a professional engineer licensed in California and Kansas.

As general manager of the T&D Group, Bertram will lead the more than 3,000 engineering, construction and technical professionals and hundreds more employee-owners in the firm who support T&D projects. The T&D Group works with electric utilities globally on multibillion-dollar programs, EPC projects and more. Professionals in the T&D Group undertake a diverse range of projects, from transmission lines spanning vast distances to specialized gas-insulated substations delivering critical electric power where and when it is needed. Burns & McDonnell is perennially ranked as the industry’s No. 1 Power and Transmission and Distribution engineering design firm by Engineering News-Record magazine.

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies bringing together an unmatched team of more than 13,500 engineers, construction and craft 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. Founded in 1898 and working from 70 offices globally, Burns & McDonnell is 100% employee-owned. Learn how we are designed to build.