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The The largest contractor in the Midwest announced in big change of leadership Wednesday while also presenting a new business unit to accelerate data center construction efforts.
Russ Burns
Permission granted by Clayco
Russ Burns, Chicago CEO Claycohe stepped down from his post at the end of last year and has been replaced by Anthony Johnson, former executive vice president and head of the company’s industrial business unit. Johnson, 17 years old Clayco veteran, he grew the unit into a top-tier builder in each of its market segments, according to the announcement.
burns with helmet the design and construction company, which reported $5.3 billion in revenue by 2023, for more than 17 years. He will continue to serve as chairman of the advisory board.
“Russ Burns has been a transformational leader for Clayco,” Bob Clark, founder and executive chairman of Clayco, said in the statement. “During his time as CEO, Clayco has rapidly expanded to become one of the largest builders of technical and mission-critical projects in the United States, and we are beyond grateful for his contributions.”
The change in leadership coincides with the launch of Clayco Compute, an integrated data center delivery business unit focused on the exclusive construction of highly specialized advanced technology centers.
The expansion is designed to take advantage of growing demand for quantum computing and advanced data center construction projects, according to the release. Clayco claims to have completed or currently performed over $12.7 billion in advanced technology projects. In 2024, Clayco generated $3.6 billion in revenue from data center projects, accounting for half of the company’s total revenue, the firm said.
Clayco Compute is expected to continue this growth, according to the announcement, with hopes of reaching more than $4.5 billion by 2026.
Other changes
In addition to Burns’ retirement and Johnson’s promotion, the company announced other leadership changes. They include:
Anthony Johnson
Permission granted by Clayco
- Shawn Clark, CEO of CRG, Clayco’s real estate development arm, will take on the newly created role of Clayco’s Chief Strategy Officer.
- Steve Sieckhaus, a director of the company, has also assumed the role of president of the company.
- Kevin McKenna, the current president of construction, will also take on the newly created role of chief administrative officer of Clayco Enterprise.
- Bret Litton, senior vice president of finance, has been promoted to chief business officer.
- Mike Pierle has been promoted to COO, Construction.
- Jim Havel, CFO of Clayco Enterprise, is retiring after more than 40 years in the financial industry. He will continue to serve on Clayco’s board of advisors.
- Justin Lienemann has been promoted to succeed Havel as CFO of Clayco Enterprise.
First founded in 1984 in St. Louis, Clayco has grown substantially over the past 40 years. The contractor moved its headquarters to Chicago in 2013 and today has more than 3,500 full-time employees.
