Burns & McDonnell named top design firm in Southwest

“We are honored to be named ENR’s Southwest Design Firm of the Year,” says Patrick Edwards, vice president and general manager for Burns & McDonnell in Arizona. “Whether it’s supporting our regional utility clients in power generation, delivery and storage or designing critical infrastructure for our cities, universities and businesses, our focus begins with two key things: providing exceptional service to our clients and hiring the very best talent.”

With continued strength in renewable energy services, manufacturing and large program management, Burns & McDonnell’s revenue in the Southwest region was $49 million in 2018, rising 25% from 2016. The firm, which also offers services for power generation, transmission infrastructure, environmental remediation, manufacturing, industrial, aviation and higher education facility projects, supports clients including Arizona Public Service, Salt River Project, Southwest Airlines, ASARCO, Arizona State University, University of Arizona and Tucson Electric Power.

The 121-year-old firm opened its first Arizona office in Phoenix in 1999. Over the past decade, Burns & McDonnell has become known in power and renewable energy for projects such as the 23-MW Big Bend Power Station for Tampa Electric Co., which is the single-largest source of solar power in the Tampa, Florida, area and features more than 202,000 solar panels. The Phoenix team also worked on the Ivanpah Solar Thermal Power facility in California, the largest of its kind in the world.

In 2018, Burns & McDonnell grew its Arizona footprint, opening an office in Tucson. Today, the 7,000-employee international firm has grown its team to more than 100 full-time associates in Phoenix and Tucson, with plans to continue hiring engineers, scientists, construction professionals and consultants. The growth in Arizona reflects the firm’s growth overall, now more than 1,000 professionals annually.