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Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a 100% employee-owned company made up of more than 7,500 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world. Only a small percentage of firms nationwide are 100% employee-owned, and even fewer have been for over 30 years. Our clients tell us our employee ownership translates into enhanced effort and extraordinary work. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employee-owners.

From water and wastewater treatment to improving energy reliability and efficiency, our Denver office serves communities in Colorado and the surrounding region by solving pressing infrastructure challenges. Our environmental efforts focus on landfills, remediation and military munitions support services. Since 2012, The Denver Post has recognized us as a Top Workplace. In 2019, Engineering News-Record (ENR) ranked us No. 1 in Top Design Firms in the Mountain States, No. 6 in Top 100 Design-Build Firms, No. 10 in Top 500 Design Firms and as a leader in 29 service categories.
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Purpose

Burns & McDonnell is about creating amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for every employee-owner.... Read more

Vision

Improving the quality of life... Read more

Mission

To make our clients successful... Read more

Additional Culture Details

Since 1898, people have associated words such as engineering, architecture, construction and consulting with our company. And while these words may describe some of the things we do, they don’t scratch the surface of what Burns & McDonnell is really all about.

You see, this isn’t about building a new smart substation. This is about creating a sustainable solution that can serve as a model for the world. This isn’t about a new design for a structure. It’s about creating a space that will improve the lives of those who occupy it. And this isn’t about winning a new project. This is about helping clients uncover a solution they never dreamed was possible.

Innovation matters here because what we do isn’t about what we design and build. What we do is about making Denver, the state of Colorado and the world a more amazing place.

And while most people take for granted the millions of details that go into making amazing happen, all of us at Burns & McDonnell know that it does not happen by chance. Behind every amazing act, there is an amazing person. Pouring over every nook and cranny of the plans one more time. Catching a red-eye flight to work through a challenge face-to-face. Taking a calculated risk on new talent. Because, in the end, amazing is a mindset. The kind of mindset shared by people with an ownership stake in the future of our company and the world.

Because we own the company and have a personal stake in our shared success, we approach our jobs a little differently. Employee ownership is the engine of our growth, moving us to embrace uncharted opportunities and foster lifelong relationships. Our hard work leads to client success, which leads to our company’s success. It’s a beneficial cycle that circles back around directly to each employee-owner financially now and in the future. Our turnover rate is one of the lowest in the industry at 5%, and that’s because we work hard to give our people opportunities to advance their careers within the company. And even though we’ve seen immense growth in Denver, we also work hard to maintain the tight-knit camaraderie that ties us together by hosting meet and greets after hours. By offering employee-owners a time to enjoy drinks and heavy hors d’oeuvres with one another on-site or at a nearby brewery, we preserve the small firm feel and family atmosphere we’ve developed over the years.

But while ownership stands at the epicenter of all we do, there are other pillars of our culture we strive to embody every day: our commitment to safety, client service, improving the quality of life, an entrepreneurial spirit, unity, investing for a better world and making this a remarkable place to build a career. Armed with the power of employee ownership and connected to each other through these ingredients of our culture, we solve the most complex and challenging problems our clients face.

And while on the surface some of the things we do may not seem glamorous or even all that easy for our families to understand, we are responsible for some pretty amazing things.

We build the cities of the future and make them come to life.
We bolster economies and connect people.
We find the answers to world-changing questions.
We inspire minds and provide work with lasting impact.

We’re about amazing our clients, our competition and, occasionally, even ourselves by taking on the industry’s toughest challenges with some of the world’s best thinkers. We’re about creating amazing opportunities for great people. And we’re about making our world a more amazing place, one project at a time. This is why we’ve been in business since 1898. This is why we have created lasting partnerships that are more personal than business. And it’s why we choose to come to work every day.
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Values

Safety Is First
We are all accountable for safety — accountable to our families, our co-workers, our clients and ourselves. A powerful commitment to safety — and health — is hardwired into each employee-owner. By striving for perfection in safety, we make it possible.

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