Swinerton CEO Eric Foster will retire after 42 years with the company, effective Jan. 11. President David Callis will succeed him, the San Francisco-based builder announced in a press release sent to Construction Dive. The succession plan was first shared internally with employees in June, according to the firm.
Foster, who started with Swinerton as a project engineer in 1982 and became CEO in January, 2020, shortly before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, saw the company grow across different industries and verticals within the construction industry.
He led the additions of Timberlab, the firm’s mass timber subsidiary, SAK Builders and MDBuilders as they became a part of Swinerton’s service offerings.
Under Foster’s leadership, the company also added Facility Solutions, the full‐service building maintenance provider, and Perq, a pre‐designed and pre‐engineered parking solutions provider, along with Swinerton Energy, a separate entity specializing in engineering, procurement and construction services for industrial clients.
Callis joined Swinerton in 2001 as a senior project manager, and has served as the company’s president since Jan. 2020, according to his LinkedIn profile. While president, Callis developed and expanded the firm’s public-private partnership capabilities, with a portfolio of over $1 billion in projects, including the County of Orange Civic Center in Santa Ana, California, and McKinney Airport Hangar.
"David is the absolute perfect person to lead the firm,” Foster said in the release. “He is committed to our forward vision and growing our employee‐ownership model.”
As CEO, Callis will prioritize the company's growth strategy and foster innovation, Swinerton said.
