Dive Brief:

• Granite Construction announced today that president and CEO James H. Roberts is retiring and that Chief Operations Officer Kyle T. Larkin has been appointed to take over as the company's president and principal executive officer.
• Larkin, 49, joined the Watsonville, California-based company in 1996, and since February has been responsible for day-to-day operations as executive vice president and chief operating officer. His promotion to president was effective Sept. 22.
• Roberts is expected to remain with the company for a period of time as chief executive officer emeritus, reporting directly to Larkin, to aid in a seamless transition, according to a company statement. As required by the firm's corporate governance guidelines, Roberts has also retired from the Granite board of directors.

Dive Insight:

Prior to his role as executive vice president and chief operating officer, Larkin held a variety of positions at Granite, including:

• Senior vice president and manager of construction and materials operations from October 2019 to February 2020.
• Senior vice president and group manager from 2017 to 2019.
• Vice president and regional manager in Nevada from January 2014 to September 2017.
• President of Granite’s wholly owned subsidiary, Intermountain Slurry Seal, from 2011 to 2014.
• Manager of Construction for the Reno area office from 2008 to 2011.
• Chief estimator from 2004 to 2008.
• Project manager, project engineer and estimator at Granite’s Nevada Branch between 1996 and 2003.

Larkin holds a Bachelor's degree in construction management from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Roberts served as president and chief executive officer since September 2010 and as a member of Granite’s Board of Directors since 2011. Roberts joined Granite in 1981 and has served in various capacities including executive vice president and chief operating officer, senior vice president, Granite West manager, branch division manager, vice president and assistant branch division manager and regional manager of Nevada and Utah operations.

Larkin takes the reins of the company at a time when it has not filed its 2019 annual report, due to an internal investigation into prior-period accounting in its heavy civil division. It recently received an extension from the New York Stock Exchange until March 18, 2021, to file its 2019 annual report and subsequent quarterly reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Granite's board will also get a new leader this year, with incoming chairman Mike McNally, former president and CEO of Skanska USA. Appointed to the Granite board in 2016, McNally has more than 35 years of construction experience and an extensive background in large, complex projects in a variety of market sectors, according to a Granite press release. Before joining Skanska in 1998, McNally served as vice president of construction for Fluor Daniel’s Global Industrial Group. 

He is replacing Granite chairman Claes G. Bjork, also a retired Skanska executive.