Every five to six years, the oil, gas and chemical industry is put to the test with a unique market downturn. Each time, I am reminded of the value of being a diversified, employee-owned company. Our clients continue to see the same consistent and committed teams, through the good times and bad.

As we work from home and attempt to digest nonstop updates on the coronavirus pandemic, the economic crisis and the oil supply wars, it would be easy to hunker down and wait out the storm. Our teams across the globe are doing the exact opposite.

With safety as our top priority, our teams immediately saw the need to follow governmental guidance measures and mobilize to their homes, while continuing to work on our clients’ projects. Each employee-owner has been provided with what they need to work remotely and continue driving client success.

Burns-McDonnell-India-team-work-from-homeSome of our Burns & Mac India team working from home.

All Burns & Mac employees, from Illinois to India, have the software, hardware and training to maximize their performance from home for their clients. Even before the pandemic, when our workforce was in the office and in the field, we collaborated virtually with team members from across the globe. This experience using virtual technologies and cloud-based tools, coupled with a strong IT infrastructure, has made our entire company’s transition to working from home seamless. We are continuing to hold highly productive meetings using virtual collaboration tools for interactive project planning, design reviews, status updates and even interviews.

For our operations in India, we expanded portable computing and VPN services to provide remote connectivity for all employees. We’re also making sure everyone has internet access at home that meets bandwidth requirements, including storage resources necessary to deliver client results.

These efforts keep project work at our high-value engineering centers moving forward without delay and allow our clients to feel as confident as ever in the same high-quality deliverables at competitive prices.

We thank each client who has put their trust in Burns & McDonnell through good times and bad. We understand how this major global disruption can stress business plans. No matter the market conditions, we stand committed and ready to be there when you need us, especially in challenging times. Our goal to make our clients successful is unwavering.

by
Robert (Bob) Reymond is a member of the board of directors and president of Burns & McDonnell, where he leads the Oil, Gas & Chemical Group. He oversees projects for the refining, midstream, chemicals, and terminals and pipelines industries. He has led some of the largest energy projects in the firm’s history, as well as successfully led engineer-procure-construct (EPC) projects. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Missouri.