The biggest construction companies continually look for leaders that can either revitalize operations or lead them in new areas of growth. Sometimes they draw from outside firms, but many also groom existing employees to take over. In 2019, executive leadership changes represented both strategies.
Jean J. Abiassi
Tutor Perini
President and CEO, Building and Specialty Contractors Group
In August, general contractor Tutor Perini named Jean J. Abiassi, former president and COO of Zachry Construction Corp., as the new president and CEO of its Building and Specialty Contractors Groups, effective September 2019.
Abiassi has a 40-year history in the engineering and construction industries and spent 16 years with Zachry, where he also led the company’s heavy civil and building divisions.
Prior to his time at Zachry, Abiassi was employed at Brown & Root and Kiewit Corp.
Mark Schiller
Lane Industries, The Lane Construction Corp.
President and CEO
Mark Schiller was named president and CEO of Lane Industries and its subsidiary The Lane Construction Corp. In July.
Schiller had been with Lane for 30 years, leading operations for the last 20 years. As part of his new role, Schiller will continue to fulfill the duties of his previous position as executive vice president and Chief Operating Officer of Lane’s construction business.
Lane, a subsidiary of Italian company Salini Impregilo, said Schiller will lead the next phase of its U.S. expansion.
Ian L. Edwards
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.
President and CEO
Canadian design-build company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. named Ian L. Edwards its interim president and CEO in June and made the position permanent in October. Edwards made the move after a six-month stint as COO at SNC-Lavalin. Prior to that, he was president of the company’s infrastructure division.
Before joining SNC-Lavalin in 2014, Edwards was an executive with Leighton Group, where, as managing director of Leighton Asia, India and Offshore, he ran the company’s global construction, infrastructure, oil and gas and mining businesses.
Michael J. Choutka
Hensel Phelps
President and CEO
In January, Colorado-based general contractor Hensel Phelps named Michael J. Choutka its new president and CEO.
Choutka has spent his entire construction career at Hensel Phelps, where he most recently served as president as COO.
Choutka has also held the positions of field engineer, office engineer, project engineer, project manager, operations manager, district manager, vice president and executive vice president at the company.
Lea Stendahl
Suffolk Construction Co.
Chief Marketing Officer
Suffolk Construction Co., based in Boston, appointed Lea Stendahl as its new CMO this past January.
Stendahl, formerly CMO with ETrade, will be in charge of the company’s marketing strategy, including all branding, media, communications, digital marketing and promotions in order to support the company’s plans for growth.
Prior to her CMO role at ETrade, Stendahl was the managing director of brand and marketing communications for TD Ameritrade and senior vice president of marketing at ETrade.
Puneet Mahajan
Suffolk Construction Co.
Chief Financial Officer
In January, Suffolk also announced that it had brought on a new CFO as well, Puneet Mahajan, former vice president of financial planning and analysis at GE. Mahajan’s duties as Suffolk CFO include implementing new accounting and technology systems, directing the company’s everyday financial and administrative functions and setting overall financial and information technology goals.
Prior to his most recent position at GE, Mahajan was GE’s chief risk officer, CFO of GE India, CFO of GE Capital Asia and CFO of GE Consumer Finance Japan.
Carlos M. Hernandez
Fluor Corp.
CEO
Fluor Corp. Named Carlos M. Hernandez its interim CEO on May 1 and made the appointment permanent later that same month. Hernandez holds a degree in civil engineering and a Juris Doctor degree in law and has spent 12 years in leadership positions at Fluor.
Hernandez started his career in the construction industry as a civil engineer at HNTB, after which he served as assistant general counsel for Pittsburgh steel company Armco Inc.; executive vice president, general counsel and secretary for Fleming Companies Inc. in Dallas; general counsel and secretary of International Steel Group Inc.; and general counsel for steel producer ArcelorMittal Americas, part of the ArcelorMittal steel group.
Raymond J. Sedey
McCarthy Building Cos.
CEO
McCarthy Building Cos. has chosen Raymond J. Sedey, the company’s current regional president for its Southern operations, as the new CEO effective Jan. 1, 2020.
Sedey started as a project engineer with the company in 2000 and held several other positions — superintendent, project manager and director — before he was promoted to vice president of operations at McCarthy’s Las Vegas office in 2009.
In 2012, Sedey was named executive vice president responsible for the company’s operations in Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado, where he helped raise McCarthy’s profile in the infrastructure, aviation, commercial, healthcare and entertainment sectors.
