Creating a new environment.Arthur Darrow, new CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Dames & Moore, believes in acquisitions and change as key to the environmental/engineering consultancy's future Arthur C. Darrow seems more like a head coach in the National Football League than the college professor he used to be. But then, maybe it's appropriate to the style he is bringing to his new job as chief executive officer of downtown L.A.based Dames & Moore after working at the company for 21 years. A big, physical man, with a strong presence, he works out five to seven hours a week at the gym, rowing, biking and running. He surfs and water-skis. In college, Darrow was a guard on the UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX basketball team that won the national championship in 1964. And he talks like a coach. "I am really pumped about where we are right now," says Darrow, referring to the newly rebuilt Dames & Moore, one of nation's largest environmental consulting Environmental consulting is often a form of compliance consulting, in which the consultant ensures that the client maintains an appropriate measure of compliance with environmental regulations. and engineering consulting firms. "Now we have to go out there and win," Darrow says. "We have to go out there and take away business from our competition." Since Darrow took over as CEO on Jan. 1, he has completed two acquisitions which are expected to increase Dames & Moore's annual revenues by about 40 percent. Dames & Moore had $270 million in revenues and about 3,300 employees last year. The company then posted profits of $17.9 million. The first was an acquisition of San Francisco-based O'Brien-Krietzberg, with $107 million in revenues and 800 employees, which was completed on April 3. O'Brien-Kreitzberg, which is ranked by the trade publication Engineering News Record as the largest "pure construction management firm" in the U.S., focuses on public works public works pl.n. Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public. Noun 1. projects, such as transportation systems, wastewater treatment plants Wastewater treatment plant also called wastewater treatment works
It is currently serving as the project manager for several major airport modernizations through the U.S., including John F. Kennedy "John Kennedy" and "JFK" redirect here. For other uses, see John Kennedy (disambiguation) and JFK (disambiguation). John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in Airport in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , San Francisco International Airport “SFO” redirects here. For other uses, see SFO (disambiguation). For the television series, see . and Logan Airport in Boston. In the other acquisition, completed April 7, Dames & Moore bought New Orleans-based Walk, Haydel & Associates Inc. with annual revenues of $44 million and 600 employees. That firm specializes in the design and construction management of industrial facilities for petroleum, chemical, pulp and paper companies. Darrow says those two acquisitions are the two main building blocks to taking Dames & Moore into the next century. "Our goal is to take this company into the $1 billion (in annual revenues) range by the end of this decade," he says. "We are embarked on a long-term strategy to build the strongest overall engineering company in the world." After experiencing "dramatic growth" in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, the environmental industry's growth rate has slowed down considerably in the last several years, Darrow said. His plan will allow Dames & Moore to expand "independent of whether the environmental market grows or not," he says. Darrow has been planning the two acquisitions since 1992, when he was in charge of Dames & Moore's Western division. His view of Dames & Moore - that it needed to acquire other companies in order to grow, and that it needed to change to grow - is why Darrow was named CEO, he says. "What happened was we went through a very lengthy management succession process which went on for about two years," he says. At the beginning, there were 12 candidates - all employees at the company - to succeed George Leal LEAL. Loyal; that which belongs to the law. as CEO of Dames & Moore. Leal announced two years ago that he would step down as the chief executive officer and the board of directors began looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a successor. "A committee (made up of members of the board of directors and senior executives) decided that I would be the best one to lead the company into the 21st century," he says. Darrow says he believes he was chosen because he convinced the committee that he is not afraid of change. He originally planned to be a college professor. He was working at UC-Santa Barbara as an assistant professor of geology when he started performing some consulting work for Dames & Moore in 1974. He soon found planning a nuclear power plant around earthquake faults in Iran to be more exciting than working in a laboratory at a university. Today, Darrow is constantly on the move. A typical work week means traveling to at least two different cities. For example, the week of May 8, he was in L.A. on Monday and Tuesday, in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden on Wednesday and Thursday and in Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. on Friday. Then, during the week of May 15, Darrow was in L.A. on Monday, Chicago on Tuesday and Wednesday and New York on Thursday and Friday. "I don't enjoy it (traveling)," he says. Darrow lives in a house on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara on the weekends. He is home "about 40 weekends a year," he says. When he is in L.A., he lives in the Omni Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Hotel & Center or at the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles, both of which are in downtown. He stays at the Omni because "it's right across the street" from Dames & Moore on Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for H. Gaylord Wilshire (1861-1927), an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. . He stays at the Hyatt because "the windows open and I like to get fresh air," he adds. But, Darrow says, Santa Barbara will always be his home. However, he says, he may eventually get a house in L.A. - when he slows down enough to find one. RELATED ARTICLE: Snapshot Arthur C. Darrow Residence: Santa Barbara Native of: St. Louis Age: 51 Education: B.A. and M.A., both in geology from University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). At Santa Barbara Spouse: Darlene |
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