Executive News
Granite, STV Leaders Shift; Buyouts Change Titles for American Bridge, LTK CEOs
Engineers Without Borders, the nonprofit group of more than 9,500 construction sector students and professionals that channels technical talent to pro bono sustainable infrastructure projects in underdeveloped countries and to global emergency relief, and also boosts volunteers’ project management skills, named Jackie O’Brien as CEO.
A degreed engineer, she was vice president of business development and strategy at Vigor Industrial and is a former Alcoa vice president. Also an EWB board member since 2018, O’Brien succeeds Cathy Leslie, who has been in the role since the group began in 2002. Leslie was key in growing EWB from a University of Colorado-Boulder start-up into a global force that has been involved in 2.3 million projects in 56 countries.
Milo Riverso, president and CEO of design and construction management firm STV Group Inc., New York City, leaves those roles and the company on Sept. 30 “for personal and family reasons,” the company said. No further details were provided, and the firm did not name an interim replacement. STV said it expects to announce a successor “shortly from within the industry.”
Riverso was in the positions since 2011 and is a 15-year firm veteran. He also steps down as chairman of the Design Professionals Coalition, a 60-member advocacy group of U.S. design firm senior executives, and as chair of the New York Building Foundation, a unit of the New York Building Congress. Riverso is a fellow of the Construction Management Association of America.
STV ranks at No. 32 on ENR’s Top 500 Design Firms list, reporting $582.5 million in 2019 revenue. The firm was recapitalized in December by The Pritzker Organization, in a transaction in which it purchased shares owned by the its Employee Stock Ownership Plan to "partner with current management to leverage STV's existing strength to drive future growth." The firm did not disclose the amount of the investment or other financial details.
Tim Creson, president and CEO of bridge constructor American Bridge Co, Coraopolis, Pa., now becomes president following the firm's completed acquisition by Southland Holdings, the Grapevine, Texas construction firm, in a deal announced Sept. 30. Southland did not disclose financials of the purchase from the firm's previous Taiwan-based owner Continental Engineering Corp., which bought it in 1988.
Bridge and heavy civil project builder American Bridge now is an independent subsidiary of Southland Holdings, which is a $1-billion contractor ranked at No. 89 on the ENR Top 400 Contractors list, with other units Johnson Bros. Corp., Oscar Renda Contracting, Southland Contracting, Mole Constructors and Heritage Materials. American Bridge, originally the steel fabrication and erection arm of U.S. Steel that pioneered steel construction on numerous iconic U.S. bridges and buildings, ranks at No. 260 on the same list, reporting $371 million in 2019 revenue. About 435 employees are joining Southland.
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The McShane Cos., a Rosemont, Ill., construction firm and developer, has elevated Molly McShane to CEO. Formerly chief operating officer, she joined the firm in 2002 and also had been chief investment officer. McShane succeeds her father, company founder Jim McShane, who now is chairman. The company ranks at No. 64 on ENR’s list of the Top 400 Contractors, reporting $1.3 billion in 2019 building-sector revenue.
Granite Construction elevated Kyle T. Larkin, previously executive vice president and chief operating officer, to president and principal executive officer, the company said Sept. 28. He succeeds President and CEO James H. Roberts, who stepped down from the roles but will remain with the Watsonville, Calif., contractor for an unspecified period of time as CEO emeritus, Granite said.
Roberts also leaves the company’s board of directors. It elevated to board chairman Mike McNally, former president and CEO of Skanska USA and a Granite director since 2016. He replaces Claes G. Bjork, also a former Skanska executive.
The leadership changes come as the contractor conducts an internal review of several recent years of delayed and restated financial reports linked to cost accounting on heavy civil projects, the publicly held firm said in recent federal filings. Granite ranked at No. 24 on ENR’s 2019 Top 400 Contractors list with $3.32 billion in construction revenue reported for 2018.
Dominic DiBrito has joined engineering firm Hatch Ltd., Mississauga, Ontario, as USA infrastructure managing director, following its Oct.1-announced acquisition of Pittsburgh-based designer LTK, of which he was president. The deal adds 450 employees from LTK, a rail and transit specialist, to what Hatch says is a 9,000-person staff focused on transportation and logistics, urban solutions and water. The firm ranks at No. 34 on ENR's list of The Top 150 Global Design Firms, reporting $1.18 billion in 2019 worldwide design revenue, about 56% in industrial/energy work.
Houston-based Pure Safety Group, a leading global provider of fall protection equipment, has promoted to CEO Jeff Ward, formerly its president of international operations. Before he joined the firm, Ward was CEO of Centurion Safety Products and director of the British Safety Industry Federation.
NCCER, a not-for-profit entity based in Alachua, Fla., that develops standardized training programs for skilled craft professionals and provides them portable certifications, named Boyd Worsham president and CEO. A former vice president at The Haskell Co., he succeeds Don Whyte, who had the roles since 2003 and remains NCCER senior adviser until year-end.
