Thirty-one years ago, Ohio-based Armco Steel prepared to sell its Burns & McDonnell unit. But before a corporate buyer could step in, a group of employees put together financing and bought the engineering, architecture and construction firm.
Since then, Burns & McDonnell has been owned by its workers, and that ownership and the sense of sharing in the company's future have helped the company make the Chronicle's Top Workplaces list every year since the survey began seven years ago. This year, company came in at No. 5.
"All employees have a stake in the company; they have a vested interest in the success of our projects," said Leslie Duke, senior vice president and general manager in Burns & McDonnell's Houston office. "It's part of who we are, and it drives everything we do, and how we do it."
Burns & McDonnell is headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., but it has more than 500 employees in its Houston operation, which specializes in engineering and construction for the energy industry. In the Top Workplaces survey, employees cited the employee stock ownership program as a key advantage of working for Burns & McDonnell.
At the end of each year, the company provides a cash contribution to its employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, accounts, in proportion with each worker's compensation. Employees use the cash to buy stock. New employees automatically are enrolled in the program.
"We own the place," one employee said in the survey. "You can see it in the faces and actions of the individuals that make up the company."
Several employees noted that the company's work offers a chance to expand technical skills across different fields. Workers get up to 25 paid days off, and last year, the company started a flextime program "to encourage work-life balance."
The flextime program, the company says, means employees can arrange schedules to fit with the demands of their personal lives. For example, they can compress the workweek into fewer days so they can take every other Friday off.
There is "flexibility in nearly everything I need," another employees said, and "opportunity in everything I'm interested in. I feel important here."
Burns & McDonnell was founded in Kansas City 118 years ago. It was acquired by Armco Steel in 1971, then sold in the employee-led buyout in 1985.
The company employs 5,700 workers across the United States and has another 200 employees in other countries. It helps industrial clients with everything from engineering, procurement and construction to environmental permitting. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Natural gas power plant wins zoning approval in Bridgeport
BRIDGEPORT — A plan to build a $550 million natural gas-fired power plant in the city cleared a local hurdle this week when it was approved by zoning officials.
PSEG Power Connecticut, which operates the coal-fired power plant known for its signature red-and-white smokestack, received permission from the Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday night to construct a roughly 48,000-square-foot main turbine building and several other structures at the end of Atlantic Street.
The 485-megawatt facility has also received approvals by the Connecticut Siting Council and the Federal Aviation Administration for the stack. But PSEG is still awaiting a decision on an air permit from environmental protection officials, which is expected in the first quarter of 2017.
“This week’s approval of the coastal site plan is a significant milestone for the project as we prepare to begin construction,” Michael Stagliola, PSEG project director, said in a statement. “We appreciate the timely review by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.”
Environmental groups have had mixed feelings about the plans for the new facility, with some groups arguing natural gas isn’t the cleanest energy alternative to the coal plant.
PSEG officials have said the two-year construction phase would create approximately 350 jobs and the facility would have about 20 permanent jobs once completed.
City officials have estimated the company would pay about $5 million in annual tax revenue for the new facility.
SOUTHINGTON — A portion of Loper Street will be closed Friday as utilities are brought from the road to a 72-lot subdivision under construction by AA Denorfia Building and Development.
Although area residents and school buses are being let through, police are diverting other traffic via Flanders Street and Annelise Avenue from Queen Street.
Rather than leave one lane open for traffic for a week while water and sewer connections are made, the police department and D’Amico Construction decided to close the entire road Thursday and Friday to complete the work more quickly.
“By doing it this way, it’ll only disrupt traffic for two days versus four or five,” said Anthony Denorfia, owner of the building company.
According to police, the work was scheduled to take place between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.
Clearing of the Loper Street land once owned by Ann Griffin Egan began in August. Building crews are now marking roads within the subdivision and will be laying pipes for utilities.
Denorfia said five homes of the subdivision are under contract while three or four more are under deposit. The first phase will involve the construction of 28 homes.
“We build them as we go along,” he said.
Crews will likely begin pouring the foundation for the first house at the end of next week, according to Denorfia.
Erika Legnani, a Loper Street resident who lives across from the development, said she was let through the work on Thursday but otherwise wasn’t too disturbed by it.
She did miss the view of woods across from her house. Legnani didn’t attend any town meetings on the development and only learned about them after Denorfia received approval.
“I was upset, I would have gone,” she said.
He bought the 44-acre, partially wooded former farmland from Egan’s family for nearly $6 million. The town made an offer for the land to preserve as open space, but it was rejected by the property owners.
Denorfia applied and received Planning and Zoning Commission approval for an open space subdivision. That allows him to build more homes closer together on the site in exchange for preserving 15 acres on the edges of the property as open space that’ll be deeded to the town.
Although the development faced opposition from neighbors, some who initially spoke against the project said they did prefer the open space subdivision to the conventional design which had larger individual lots but few open areas. Some residents who opposed the plan also raised traffic concerns.
BERLIN — Residents in the Orchard Road and Norton Lane areas of town will be experiencing construction activity this weekend as part of the ongoing rail work.
John Bernick, assistant rail administrator at the state Department of Transportation, said crews will be drilling foundation for retaining walls in order to make room for a second track.
The work is part of the upgrades to the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield commuter rail line, branded as CTrail Hartford Line. Bernick said the current line will be shut down in the North of Hartford over the weekend. It affords us to do the work in one weekend,” Bernick said.
Residents in the surrounding neighborhoods will be notified of the noise possibility and overnight lighting during construction.
Roads are not expected to be closed. Bernick said they are trying to create as little disruption to residents as possible.
Construction is expected to start Friday, Nov. 4, through Saturday, Nov. 6, until 6 p.m.
Stonington — The $67 million elementary school renovation and expansion project already may be $1 million under budget.
On Wednesday night, Board of Finance member June Struck, who is the board’s liaison to the K-12 School Building Committee, reported that the replacement of the Pawcatuck Middle School roof, which is part of the project, is almost complete and cost about $220,000 less than expected.
She said preliminary costs estimates for work at Deans Mill and West Vine Street schools are a total of $700,000 less than budgeted, although formal bids will not go out until early next year.
“So we’re doing OK. We have almost $1 million in savings,” she told finance board members.
And last month the town learned it had been successful in its effort to obtain waivers that will increase state reimbursement for the project from 25 percent to 32 percent, or about $20 million.
In addition, she said the building committee is looking at installing geothermal heating and cooling systems at both schools at an estimated cost of $500,000 per school. She said a more detailed economic analysis still has to be done but it appears the project would pay for itself in eight years.
The design of the project, which was approved overwhelmingly by voters last year, will be completed by the end of the year, with construction manager Gilbane Building Co. bidding the various aspects of the project in February. The groundbreaking is slated for April and the 18-month construction period at each school will end in the fall of 2018 in time for the start of school.
On Wednesday night, Board of Finance member June Struck, who is the board’s liaison to the K-12 School Building Committee, reported that the replacement of the Pawcatuck Middle School roof, which is part of the project, is almost complete and cost about $220,000 less than expected.
She said preliminary costs estimates for work at Deans Mill and West Vine Street schools are a total of $700,000 less than budgeted, although formal bids will not go out until early next year.
“So we’re doing OK. We have almost $1 million in savings,” she told finance board members.
And last month the town learned it had been successful in its effort to obtain waivers that will increase state reimbursement for the project from 25 percent to 32 percent, or about $20 million.
In addition, she said the building committee is looking at installing geothermal heating and cooling systems at both schools at an estimated cost of $500,000 per school. She said a more detailed economic analysis still has to be done but it appears the project would pay for itself in eight years.
The design of the project, which was approved overwhelmingly by voters last year, will be completed by the end of the year, with construction manager Gilbane Building Co. bidding the various aspects of the project in February. The groundbreaking is slated for April and the 18-month construction period at each school will end in the fall of 2018 in time for the start of school.