KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Burns & McDonnell has promoted 35 employee-owners across the U.S. to the Principal Group after their contribution to a record year of sales and growth in 2021 for the 100% employee-owned engineering, construction and architecture firm.

Last year, Burns & McDonnell supported 17,000 projects, grew by nearly 650 employees and reached a record-breaking $5.7 billion in sales. Burns & McDonnell is predicting another 13% increase in overall growth for 2022.

“Our powerful and unique culture — built on employee ownership — drives our success, guides our business decisions and is the engine of our growth,” says Ray Kowalik, chairman and CEO, Burns & McDonnell. “As we look to continue growing, I am confident these leaders will help us embrace our principles and continue to serve our clients in the rapidly changing industries we serve.”

Principals are selected based on demonstrated exceptional performance and technical excellence, as well as recognition and anticipation of future leadership roles contributing to the success of Burns & McDonnell.

Members of the Burns & McDonnell 2022 class of Principals include the following employee-owners:

Andrew Becker, PE
Process Technology Manager

Becker has been with Burns & McDonnell for 15 years. Becker’s technical, strategic and market knowledge provides unique insight across all oil, gas and chemical market sectors, bringing innovation to many significant projects and clients. He has been at the forefront of new and novel technology application development including the recently granted patented process to fractionate natural gas liquids.  

Lauren Bertram
Talent Acquisition Director

Bertram leads the team responsible for bringing in new hires across multiple locations, industries and experience levels. She creates alignment across the business to forecast future talent needs and identify the strongest and most diverse additions for the company. Her team has continued to advance the recruitment space by implementing new branding tactics, gaining efficiencies in technology and enhancing programs such as diversity outreach and the company’s global intern program. With over 19 years of recruitment experience in various industries, Bertram has been instrumental in driving the talent attraction that has contributed to the firm’s explosive growth over the last decade.

Jeff Buckley, PE
Department Manager

Buckley is a department manager in the Construction Group in the Northeast. He has over 20 years of program management experience focused on large-scale utility projects. He has supported the entry of Burns & McDonnell into the U.S. offshore wind market, overseeing execution of several projects and developing new opportunities to expand the firm’s engineering and construction services.

Heath Catt
Construction Director

Catt serves as the national construction director for the firm’s manufacturing business. He is responsible for developing design-build teams within the food and beverage, consumer products, life sciences, aerospace and industrial markets. Prior to his current role, Catt spent over half of his 20 years at Burns & McDonnell in the field on projects for multiple businesses within the firm, then progressing to serving as an engineer-procure-construct (EPC) project manager for the Oil, Gas & Chemical Group and then a construction director for the Food & Consumer Products Group.

Sarah Cisper
Managing Operations Director, 1898 & Co.

Cisper brings almost 20 years of experience to her role. Starting her career in structural engineering for overhead transmission lines, she gained an appreciation for the business models behind Burns & McDonnell and found her passion in running strategic change initiatives for the company. In her current role, she leads the uniquely blended team of 1898 & Co. practices in management consulting, cybersecurity consulting, energy consulting and digital consulting that support strategic initiatives for critical infrastructure clients.

Willie Clark
Federal Strategy Director

Clark is responsible for strategy, business opportunity development, capture management and team development for design and construction services in the federal market. Clark has over 35 years of experience and has been with Burns & McDonnell for almost a decade. He is proficient at implementing successful strategies, marketing plans, policies and procedures for line operations, business development, and project portfolio management.

Steve Cline, PE
Operations Director

Cline serves as operations director for the Burns & McDonnell Aviation & Federal Group. In his 18 years with Burns & McDonnell, he served as a structural engineer before moving into project management. Most recently, Cline served as projects director for work at several installations with the Department of Energy, supporting and overseeing the design and construction of more than a dozen projects totaling more than $500 million. Cline focuses on innovation and technical excellence in delivery of design and construction projects across all offices nationwide in the aviation and federal markets. 

Jon Conway, PE
Project Director

Conway serves as project execution director of the Telecomm Group. With over 19 years of diverse telecommunications engineering and construction experience, Conway leads over 20 project managers who execute the engineering design, installation, commissioning and construction of primarily utility telecommunications projects that span five core competencies: networks, automation, wireless, fiber and infrastructure.

Jennifer Dodson, PE
Department Manager 

Dodson serves as an EPC project manager and has been involved in the construction of manufacturing plants, substations and more. She brings more than 19 years of experience, and her current responsibilities include coordination with clients, engineers and designers, management of procurement of equipment and materials as well as subcontractors and field construction activities. She also focuses on mentorship and development in addition to leading a group of construction project managers in Denver, Colorado, and Vancouver, Washington.

Matthew Domeier
Director, Energy Storage for EPC Projects

Domeier brings 20 years of experience to this role. He oversees a team responsible for the development and construction of safe, reliable and cost-effective energy storage solutions. His team recently executed the largest battery storage facility in the U.S. He is responsible for seeing that projects are successfully completed on time and in compliance with contractual obligations in this growing market.

Steve Dresie
Managing Director, 1898 & Co.

Dresie serves as managing director of technology consulting at 1898 & Co., part of Burns & McDonnell. He brings more than 20 years of experience leading teams that partner with clients to leverage technology to address key business challenges. Dresie and his team work closely with customers across multiple industries to build and implement innovative digital solutions that help businesses operate more effectively and efficiently.

James Duehning, PE
Program Management Director

Duehning serves as the program management director in the firm’s Transmission & Distribution Group in Kansas City. Throughout his nearly 20 years of experience, Duehning has managed several multibillion-dollar programs with cross-functional teams across North America for some of our largest program management engagements within the electric utility industry. He has led his teams to the successful completion of our clients’ projects from development to energization.

Bryan Floth, AIA
Mission Critical Projects Director

Floth has more than 25 years of experience focused on facility A/E project design in mission critical and science/technology. Current duties include principal oversight of a multicountry client rollout of mission-critical facilities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He has a proven track record of building client relationships that drive repeat work and revenue growth.

Chris Freeman
Business Development Manager

Freeman leads the development team for the national manufacturing business of Burns & McDonnell. He has a strong background in the food ingredients industry and more than 20 years of diversified experience, both on the manufacturing side and the engineering-consulting side. Freeman has a track record of enhancing operational efficiency, driving revenue growth, leading organizations through critical transitions and implementing cost control initiatives.

Kerrie Greenfelder, PE, DBIA, BCEE
Engineering Director

Engineering director for our Water Group, Greenfelder has more than two decades of experience in the water sector, including water/wastewater treatment, water reclamation, project management, design, reporting, bidding, purchasing, construction management/oversight, scheduling and startup for a variety of public, private and federal clients. A licensed engineer in seven states, Greenfelder is also an active leader in the Society of Women Engineers, as well as the Water Environment Federation and the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers.

Shawn Hickey
IT Director

Hickey has 20 years of experience and a passion for utilizing technology to drive successful business results. He has extensive experience in managing complex projects, successfully coordinating cross-functional teams and working with a diverse customer base. As a leader on the IT team, Hickey oversees a variety of enterprisewide business applications and integration capabilities.

RJ Hope, CPP
Facility Security Director

Hope serves as the director of corporate security and travel. His teams globally support the firm's security needs involving investigations, business continuity, crisis management, travel and facilities. He has over 20 years of experience in the security industry to include 10 years leading the Burns & McDonnell security consulting practice, specifically supporting the critical infrastructure clients serviced by Burns & McDonnell.   

Matthew Kapusta, PE
Regional Global Practice Manager

Kapusta oversees our Transmission & Distribution Group across Florida. He coordinates and oversees proposal development, project execution, scope and risk management, and overall business strategy within Florida. With 14 years of industry experience, he specializes in power systems engineering, project development, engineering management ranging and cost-effective solutions for projects ranging from distribution voltage through EHV systems. 

Allen King
Project Development Vice President, AZCO

King is the vice president of project development at AZCO, where he oversees the planning and coordination of the company’s estimating and business development department. He has nearly twenty years of experience in construction management, leadership and customer interfacing, with integrity and a strong emphasis in the power generation, oil and gas, pulp and paper, water, federal, and transportation industries.

Mike Lehrburger, PE
Regional Global Practice Manager

Lehrburger leads the Water Group in California. Throughout his career spanning more than 20 years, he has supported, managed and led a diverse portfolio of water infrastructure projects including: pipelines, trenchless and tunneling work, rehabilitations/renewals/cleanups, storage tanks, pump stations, well rehabilitations, and treatment systems and facilities. He is responsible for growth of the regional group with a focus on clients and unique needs of the Golden State.

Amy Lewis
Senior Finance & Administration Vice President, AZCO

Lewis is currently senior vice president of finance and administration for AZCO. In this role she oversees human resources, procurement, IT and other admin functions for AZCO, in addition to the accounting and finance functions. Lewis provides financial oversight for all aspects of the business.

Thomas Maples, PE
Section Manager

Maples serves as EPC section manager for the Transmission & Distribution Group in Houston. He is an electrical engineer with nearly 15 years of experience leading all aspects of substation, transmission and distribution projects, from proposal through project closeout and including EPC and commissioning.

Adam Matthiesen, PE
Regional Global Practice Manager

Matthiesen leads the Transmission & Distribution Group in St. Louis, Missouri serving clients throughout the Upper Midwest. He has been with Burns & McDonnell for 13 years, with most of his career focused on EPC project execution in all T&D markets. In his current role, he is responsible for the overall business strategy, managerial direction, and leadership of a group with more than 185 professionals, and growing, across in St. Louis; O'Fallon, Illinois; and Columbus and Akron, Ohio.

Chris McCall, PE, P.Eng, PMP
Regional Global Practice Manager

McCall leads the Transmission & Distribution Group in California. He has been with Burns & McDonnell for 17 years and serves the group as the managerial team leader and execution director for projects in the region. He coordinates and oversees execution planning, scope management, proposal development, subcontractor and purchase order management, procurement management, and construction management. He has developed clients, projects and execution strategies, all with the end goal of expanding clients’ portfolios within their territories.

Allen Moe
Section Manager

Moe leads a wide array of construction services, including management of project and craft supervision, project controls, and estimating. With 17 years of experience in project management, Moe has extensive technical knowledge of cost control and cost forecasting, commodity progress tracking, schedule development, and estimating for self-perform work, as well as subcontract management, project procurement and owner/engineer interface.

Amanda (Mandy) Olson
Engineering Director

Olson is the engineering director for the Transmission & Distribution Group. Olson is an electrical engineer with a background in substation design and project management. She supports consistency in engineering practices and the growth of technical experience across the organization. Outside of Burns & McDonnell, Olson leads the CIGRE Women in Energy group for the U.S., is the chair of the CIGRE ELECTRA Editorial board globally, and is the United States representative for CIGRE’s Power System Environmental Performance Study Committee.

Agnes Otto, LEED AP
Transportation Director

Otto is responsible for client development, people development, strategic direction and project execution for the transportation business in the Midwest. She brings over 35 years of experience in engineering management, operations, business development, communications and applied technology. She has served as principal, project director and project manager for numerous projects.

Bhavesh (Bob) Patel, PE
Regional Global Practice Manager

Patel has been with Burns and McDonnell for almost 15 years. In his current role, he is responsible for the managerial direction and leadership of the Transmission and Distribution Group in the Southwest, with offices in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. He coordinates and oversees business development, client management, proposal development, project execution, scope and risk management, and overall business strategy in the Southwest.

Brad Schilhab
Field Operations Director

Schilhab has been with Burns & McDonnell for seven years and has 27 years of EPC experience. Throughout his career, Schilhab has worked on a variety of projects including refining, LNG, gas processing and combined-cycle power. His experience includes international assignments in Angola, Venezuela and Colombia. As field operations director he is responsible for talent acquisition, personnel development, staffing, training and construction execution across the firm.

Tony Schoenecker, PE, CET, LEED AP
Project Manager Fire Protection

Schoenecker has over 25 years of experience in the fire protection industry, including 15 years at Burns & McDonnell. His main responsibility is the successful implementation of strategic and technical ventures to support the growth of the fire protection engineering business nationwide. This includes nationwide recruiting, educational events, fire protection branding and expanding the fire protection business.

Jeffrey Smith
Regional Global Practice Manager

Smith leads the firm’s Oil, Gas & Chemical Group in Canada. Based in Calgary, Alberta, his responsibilities cover all aspects of the OGC Canadian business, including engineering, construction, project execution and business development. Smith has a strong background in process engineering and project management, and in previous roles he served as EPC project manager on some of the largest projects in the firm’s history. He has been with Burns & McDonnell for 15 years. 

Dan Sorensen
Project Manager

Sorensen serves as an EPC project manager and enterprise account manager at Burns & McDonnell and has been with the firm for 15 years. Sorensen has played an integral role in the success of many design-build projects and has demonstrated an intimate understanding of the execution of EPC projects, particularly in the firm’s Food & Consumer Products Group. He has a wealth of experience in executing design and construction projects.

Crystal Spoor, CPA
Executive Vice President, Ref-Chem

Spoor has nearly 20 years of experience in financial management and serves as CFO for Ref-Chem. Spoor oversees accounting, procurement, human resources and information technology operations and manages capital to deliver innovative construction solutions to our clients and achieve operational excellence and profitable growth. 

Kevin Syphard
Managing Director

Syphard serves as managing director of chemicals in the Oil, Gas & Chemical Group. He drives our strategy for growing the firm’s footprint in the broad chemicals and petrochemicals markets. With a strong background in process engineering, Syphard has over 25 years of experience leading large teams in delivering projects around the world in the petrochemical, specialty chemical, refining and renewables markets.

Andy Wozniak, PE
Regional Global Practice Manager

Wozniak leads the Global Facilities Group in Chicago, Illinois — a region that includes Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan — as it designs, constructs and commissions complex facilities for clients in life sciences and technology, specialty chemicals, foods and beverages, consumer products, mission-critical and distribution/warehouse systems and facilities. With more than 15 years of experience, he focuses on business growth and execution of large capital programs for clients across the United States.

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies bringing together an unmatched team of 10,000 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 more than 60 offices globally, Burns & McDonnell is 100% employee-owned. Learn how we are designed to build.