Midwest People, November 2024
Photo courtesy Leopardo Construction
Photo courtesy Leopardo Construction
Chicago-based Leopardo Construction has announced new leadership promotions. Leigh McMillen is elevated to executive vice president for operations and Steve Smith is now executive vice president for markets. Jessica Sherwood is senior vice president for growth, and Ralph Barszcz is elevated to senior vice president, field operations. Todd Welch is promoted to chief financial officer, and Ryan Haase now is aviation vice president.
U.K.-based construction consulting firm Soben has elevated Chicago-based executive Joe Cusick to group chief operating officer, a newly created position. Since joining in 2021, he has led company expansion in the Americas, with operations now in the U.S., Chile, Brazil and Mexico.
William S. Haas has joined WSP as a Chicago-based senior vice president and national market leader for distributed energy and electrification. He had been a vice president of energy at AECOM focused on managing major decarbonization and electrification efforts. Haas was named to ENR’s national list of Top 40 Under 40 professionals in 2020.
Photo courtesy Mortenson
Derek Cunz, president of Mortenson, the Minneapolis-based construction, development and engineering services company, will gain the added role of CEO on Jan. 1, 2025. He will succeed Dan Johnson, who retires on Dec. 31 after a 38-year career at the company, including eight years as CEO. Cunz was promoted to president in 2022. He was a key team member on Mortenson’s Walt Disney Concert Hall project, completed in 2003, on which he helped pioneer its early use of virtual design and construction. Johnson will continue on Mortenson’s board of directors. The company, which has more than 7,000 employees, ranks at No. 27 on ENR’s list of the Top 400 Contractors, reporting about $5.5 billion in 2023 revenue. Mortenson also ranks at No. 16 on ENR’s Top 200 Environmental Firms list.
BKV Group, a multidisciplinary design firm in Minneapolis, has named Kyle Yardley managing partner in Chicago for its national government practice, which focuses on design of civic facilities that include city halls, justice complexes, law enforcement centers and civic and community spaces. Most recently, he was justice and civic client leader and lead designer for DLR Group in Denver.
Anees Rahman has joined design consultant RS&H in Chicago as a senior principal electrical engineer. In this role, he leads aviation electrical projects as a design leader and subject matter expert. Rahman was vice president and senior electrical engineering director at Primera Engineers.
Photo courtesy Woolpert
Consulting firm Woolpert has hired Jim Schlaman as vice president and market director for water and energy utilities, based in the Kansas City area. A 24-year veteran of Black & Veatch, he had been associate vice president and director of water resources and community planning. Schlaman also is a One Water Council member for the U.S. Water Alliance.
Photo courtesy Alberici-Flintco
Alberici-Flintco, St. Louis, has appointed George Franco as chief innovation officer to advance corporate innovation strategies to align technology implementation with operating efficiency and business needs. He was vice president of advanced technologies and innovation at Moss & Associates and also is founder and CEO of Triva Inc., a technology start-up firm. Franco is based in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area.
