Burns & McDonnell is a Kansas City–headquartered engineering, architecture, construction and consulting firm founded in 1898 by Clinton Sumner Burns and Robert Emmett McDonnell. It began by designing waterworks and electric light plants for small Midwestern towns, spent the 1970s and early 1980s as a subsidiary of Armco Steel, and returned to independence through an employee buyout in the mid-1980s. It has been 100% employee-owned since 1986 and reported $7.2 billion in revenue for 2024. Its World Headquarters campus is on Ward Parkway in south Kansas City.

Summary

Burns & McDonnell was established in 1898 by two Stanford University–trained engineers, Clinton Sumner Burns and Robert Emmett McDonnell, who had worked together in Palo Alto before choosing Kansas City as a base. 1 The firm’s early business was municipal engineering — waterworks, sewers, sewage disposal and electric light plants for the hundreds of Midwestern towns then building their first utilities. McDonnell handled client relations and business development; Burns led the technical work. 1

The firm was acquired by Armco Steel in 1971, and when Armco moved to divest in the early 1980s, employees bought it back in a 1985 leveraged buyout financed by United Missouri Bank. 1 Burns & McDonnell dates its 100% employee ownership to 1986, the structure it still operates under through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). 23

As of April 2025 the firm reported $7.2 billion in revenue for 2024, work on more than 24,000 projects, and 75-plus offices worldwide. 24

Founding and early municipal work

Burns and McDonnell opened for business in Kansas City in 1898. 14 Their practice was built on the infrastructure gap of the era: towns across Missouri, Kansas and the surrounding states lacked safe water supply, sewage disposal and electric lighting, and few had engineers of their own. The partnership designed and supervised those systems on a town-by-town basis, and by the 1920s had extended the same waterworks, sewer, electric-lighting and public-utility appraisal services back into California. 4

Armco ownership and the employee buyout

Burns & McDonnell was purchased by Armco Steel in 1971, operating as a subsidiary through the 1970s. 1 When Armco decided to shed the business in the early 1980s, the firm’s managers and employees arranged a leveraged buyout completed in 1985, financed by United Missouri Bank, and converted ownership to an employee stock ownership plan. 1 The company’s own materials date its 100% employee ownership to 1986. 3

Employee ownership has since become the firm’s central identifying feature, and it is routinely cited as one of the larger 100%-ESOP companies in the United States. 13

Headquarters and campus

The World Headquarters is at 9400 Ward Parkway, at Ward Parkway and Wornall Road in south Kansas City, Missouri. 56 The campus grew through successive expansions rather than a single build. Phase 2, developed with VanTrust Real Estate, added a 142,000-square-foot, four-story office building with 776 seats — a 22% increase in headquarters capacity — plus 42 conference rooms, two large training spaces, and a 550-stall parking garage. 76

The company accelerated the Phase 2 timeline by roughly two years amid a hiring surge, targeting 1,200 new hires by the end of 2018 and about 1,000 hires annually thereafter, against a campus capacity of roughly 4,200 employees after the expansion. Then-CEO Ray Kowalik described the site as “a small city now here on this corner.” 6

Notable projects and Kansas City involvement

  • Kansas City International Airport single terminal (2017) — Burns & McDonnell assembled a 20-partner coalition it called the “KCI Hometown Team” in July 2017 to design, build and privately finance a new single terminal. On September 6, 2017, a six-person city selection committee chose Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate instead. The firm publicly contested its elimination and twice asked the city to restart the selection. 8 The terminal was ultimately delivered by Edgemoor.
  • Kansas City Chiefs Olathe headquarters and practice facility — On July 17, 2026, the Chiefs named Burns & McDonnell owner’s representative, alongside sports development firm CAA ICON, for a $300 million headquarters and practice facility at College Boulevard and Ridgeview Road in Olathe, targeted to be operational for the 2031 NFL season. 9
  • Kansas interstate bridge raising (2020) — the firm raised 21 bridges over interstates I-35 and I-335 in Kansas using hydraulic jacking. 1

Nationally, Burns & McDonnell’s largest practice is power: it ranked No. 1 in the Power category on Engineering News-Record’s Top 500 Design Firms list for a tenth consecutive year in 2025, and No. 7 overall, its eighth consecutive year in the top ten. It also placed No. 2 in Telecommunications and No. 5 in Industrial Process/Oil & Gas. 2

Leadership and recent developments

Leslie Duke succeeded retiring chief executive Ray Kowalik at the end of 2023. 1 The firm reported $7.2 billion in revenue for 2024 across more than 24,000 projects. 2

Sources

Footnotes

  1. “Burns & McDonnell,” Wikipedia. Founding 1898 by Clinton Sumner Burns and Robert Emmett McDonnell; Stanford background; municipal waterworks and sewer focus; Armco Steel acquisition 1971; 1985 employee leveraged buyout financed by United Missouri Bank; ESOP structure; 2020 raising of 21 bridges over I-35 and I-335; Leslie Duke succeeding Ray Kowalik at year-end 2023 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  2. “Burns & McDonnell in ENR Top 10 for Eighth Consecutive Year,” Burns & McDonnell news release, April 24, 2025. 2024 revenue of $7.2 billion; more than 24,000 projects; ENR Top 500 Design Firms No. 7 overall, No. 1 Power (tenth consecutive year), No. 2 Telecommunications, No. 5 Industrial Process/Oil & Gas ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. “Three Ways Clients Benefit from Employee-Owned Companies,” Burns & McDonnell blog. States directly: “Our company, Burns & McDonnell, has been 100% employee-owned since 1986.” ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. “About,” Burns & McDonnell. Founded 1898; 100% employee-owned; 75+ offices; 1920s expansion into California with waterworks, sewer, sewage disposal, electric lighting and public utility appraisal services ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. “Kansas City, Missouri,” Burns & McDonnell locations. World headquarters address 9400 Ward Parkway, Kansas City, MO 64114 ↩

  6. “Burns & Mac moves up expansion plans,” KSHB 41 Kansas City. Ward Parkway and Wornall Road location; 142,000 sq ft building; 780 added workstations; 550-space garage; 22% campus increase; 1,200 hires targeted by end of 2018; ~1,000 hires per year thereafter; ~4,200 campus capacity; Ray Kowalik quote ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. “World Headquarters Expansion Phase 2,” Burns & McDonnell projects. 142,000-square-foot office building, 776 seats, 22% capacity increase, 42 conference rooms, 550-stall precast garage, VanTrust Real Estate partnership ↩

  8. “Burns & McDonnell Calls On Kansas City To Reconsider All Four KCI Proposals,” KCUR, September 18, 2017. KCI Hometown Team of 20 partners formed July 2017; September 6, 2017 selection of Edgemoor by a six-person committee; the firm’s challenge and requests to restart the process ↩

  9. “Chiefs to partner with Burns & McDonnell for Olathe HQ project,” Johnson County Post, July 17, 2026. $300 million facility at College Boulevard and Ridgeview Road, Olathe; Burns & McDonnell as owner’s representative with CAA ICON; operational for the 2031 NFL season ↩

See also

Categories
  • Concept
  • Industry
  • Gilded Age
  • Postwar
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On the record — ks.city/wiki/industrial-history/burns-and-mcdonnell · last revised 2026-08-13