Ingram’s January 2023

2023 • Executive of the Year

C utting grass. That’s what comes to mind when Ray Kowalik re flects on making the move from project-level engineering work to taking on the mantle of executive leadership. That’s something he experienced in 2007. After 20 years of successful proj ect management in the energy group of engineering giant Burns & McDonnell, he took a big step up in his career. That’s where the lesson in lawn maintenance came in. “The transition that was tough for me was moving from a project manager to a leadership role in our energy busi ness,” Kowalik says. “I heard an exec utive describe it as ‘my job never feels complete.’ That’s why that executive still mowed his own lawn. He needs to feel like he finished a task and had a start and a stop.” Kowalik knows a thing or two about taking on new tasks. Six years into his tenure as the chief executive officer and chairman of Burns & McDonnell, he has led the company through dramatic growth, even as the firm itself—like the rest of the world—has had to shake off the effects of a global pandemic for the better part of three years. During that stretch, he has overseen multiple expansions at the south Kansas City headquarters campus, with a com bined value of more than $125 million. He’s dealt with an unprecedented crash in the energy sector that at one point brought all of the firm’s oil and gas work to a standstill at the pandemic’s onset. Burns & Mac has launched new service lines, and on his watch, the company’s employ ment has doubled. All while demonstrat ing the highest levels of engagement as a corporate citizen and strengthening the firm’s ties to the community. Based on that record of success, Ray Kowalik is Ingram’s 2023 Chief Execu tive of the year, headlining our C-Suite Executive Awards that include Tammy Peterman of the University of Kansas Health System as President, Jeff Poe of Mariner Wealth Advisors as Chief Fi nancial Officer, Steve Levy of McCown Gordon Construction as Chief Oper ating Officer, Beth Wade of VMLY&R as Chief Marketing Officer, Stephanie Price of Terracon as Chief People Officer and Blake Rooney of Husch Blackwell as Chief Information Officer.

Room to Grow: As the company has doubled its employee head count on CEO Ray Kowalik’s watch, it has dedicated more than $125 million to new construction on the Burns & McDonnell campus in south Kansas City.

A Powerful Influence Ray Kowalik was born in Chicago to Polish immigrants whomoved to the Blue Springs area when he was four. It didn’t take him long to develop an appreciation for what his parents had fled as the Com munist curtain descended on the family’s homeland after World War II. “The last time I was in Poland was 1972, and I was 8,” he says. “But I still have vivid memories about all the cars being white, waiting in line to get any thing, police watching your every move and lots of resentment by the Polish people to be under Communist rule. There’s a reason the last time I went, I was 8.” Blue Springs back then was a burg of 2,500 people—a far cry from its sub urban buildout to 60,000 today—and Kowalik thrived with the freedom that semi-rural lifestyle provided. “I think growing up in this country and learning how to do things on your own really helped build my curiosity to build and try new things,” he says. “Whether it was toy planes and cars, building rabbit cages, raising chicken, and selling eggs to make some money, you had to fend for yourself.” And in doing so, he began to dis- cover a purpose behind his interests.

“I didn’t know what engineering was when I was kid, but looking back, those experiences were building blo- cks,” Kowalik says. “A lot of engineers come from a farming background be cause they had to learn to figure out how things work so they could fix them.” When it came time for college, he headed to the University of Missouri, already fixed on engineering studies. That’s a broad field—civil, mechanical, electrical, aerospace, and more—but his penchant for creating things won out: Civil engineering it would be. “The curriculum for engineering is all very similar for the first two years,” he says, “so you get a broad perspective on all the engineering fields. I liked civ il/structural engineering because I like to see the things I designed being built. There are many similarities in all the disciplines, but civil/structural really appealed to me.” He immediately followed his bache lor’s degree with Mizzou’s master’s pro gram. Wrapping that up, he landed with the only company he’s ever worked for: Burns & McDonnell. The company had a lot going for it, but one special attrac tion helped seal the deal when he came on board in 1987.

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Ingrams.com

January 2023