Jim Francois promoted to Project Director at McCarthy Building Companies

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has promoted Jim Francois to the position of Project Director, based in the company’s Omaha office. 

In his new role, Francois leads onsite construction teams on a wide range of McCarthy building projects spanning the healthcare, education and science & technology sectors. 

Since joining McCarthy as a project manager in 2018, Francois has overseen numerous building expansion and renovation assignments across the region. His recent project leadership experience includes the Elliott Equipment Company headquarters and manufacturing facility, the new Buena Vista High School and Beveridge Middle School for Omaha Public Schools, the CHI Health Infusion Lab and Nebraska Medical Center’s Olson Center for Women’s Health renovation. 

Francois’ current projects include the Durham Science Center and Roskens Hall STEM TRAIL Center renovation at the University of Nebraska Omaha, and the new Administration Tower and parking garage at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

“Jim is a highly skilled project leader with a strong track record of building trusting relationships with team members while delivering exceptional construction outcomes,” said McCarthy senior vice president and business unit leader Ryan Sawall.

Francois earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Construction Engineering Technology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

An active community supporter, his recent volunteer activities include leading a blood drive in McCarthy’s Omaha office for the American Heart Association and participating in the “Pedal the Cause” event to support cancer research.

McCarthy promotes Felton and Montgomery

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has promoted Ryan Felton to vice president of operations and Kris Montgomery to project director in the company’s Omaha office. 

Felton will manage the operational aspects of McCarthy project work throughout Nebraska and western Iowa and join the leadership team that oversees McCarthy’s 28-state Central Region. 

Since joining McCarthy’s Omaha office as project manager in 2007, Felton has led and managed more than 50 active and completed projects, with a total construction value of more than $1 billion. He led the construction team on the $350 million Mercy Joplin Replacement Hospital after an EF-5 tornado demolished the original facility.

Other career highlights included serving as a project leader on the $250 million Generation Patient program, which encompassed all five campuses of Alegent Health (now CHI Health). Felton has also been instrumental in helping to expand the breadth of McCarthy’s project work across Nebraska and western Iowa.

A Nebraska native, Felton earned a bachelor’s degree in construction management from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He is a LEED Green Associate and an active member in the American Society of Healthcare Engineers (ASHE), Nebraska Society of Health Care Engineering (NSHE) and Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA). 

Montgomery, who has been promoted to project director, will assume project leadership responsibilities on several Nebraska projects. 

He joined McCarthy as a project engineer in 2007 and has overseen more than $1.38 billion of healthcare construction projects. Most recently, he managed construction of the Omaha VA Ambulatory Care Center, which opened ahead of schedule and under budget in summer 2020. He previously served as a project superintendent on the New Orleans VA Medical Center, a nine-building new campus that replaced critical medical infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Montgomery earned a construction management degree from Illinois State University in Normal, Ill. His volunteer activities include the ACE Mentor Program of Greater Omaha, Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce REACH Beyond Mentoring program, the Construction Advisory Committee at Metropolitan Community College and the Wayne State Center for Applied Technology Advisory Board. He also serves as an adjunct professor for the Construction Management program at Wayne State College.

“Both Ryan and Kris are exceptional project leaders and have been key contributors to McCarthy’s growing success in Nebraska,” said Ryan Sawall, senior vice president and business unit leader at McCarthy Building Companies. 

Marking its 20th anniversary in Nebraska in 2021, McCarthy’s Omaha team has completed more than $1 billion in construction projects across Nebraska and western Iowa. The company has expertise in building the most complex facilities across diverse markets, including healthcare, K-12, higher education, advanced technology and manufacturing, and commercial.

Having recently completed the $86 million, 57,000-sq-ft. Omaha VA Ambulatory Care Center, McCarthy’s current local projects include a $70 million new high school and $48 million new middle school for Omaha Public Schools, $23.7 million developer-led Marriott Tribute Hotel (Scarlet Hotel) on the Nebraska Innovation Campus, $25.6 million University of Nebraska Omaha Durham Science Center renovation and several advanced technology and manufacturing projects.

McCarthy moves into new Nebraska headquarters

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has moved into its newly constructed office building and warehouse that serves as the national construction company’s new Nebraska headquarters.

The 15,000 SF industrial-flex office development includes a single-story office building, warehouse and adjacent construction yard. It was developed by McCarthy and Tetrad Property Group, LLC and designed by DLR Group.

“We’re exceptionally pleased with the new office, which not only supports McCarthy’s local growth and expansion, it also underscores our company’s long-term commitment to Omaha,” said Ryan Sawall, vice president of McCarthy Building Companies and a resident of Omaha.

Located at 4201 S 130th Street, at the intersection of 132nd Street and I Street in west Omaha, distinctive features of McCarthy’s new Nebraska headquarters include high-tech conference capabilities, as well as flexible gathering spaces to encourage collaborative work among employees, clients and industry partners. 

The adjacent climate-controlled warehouse can accommodate the delivery and short-term onsite storage of construction materials and support offsite production, also known as prefabrication. This construction technique, which has become increasingly important during the COVID-19 pandemic, involves fabricating and assembling building components in a remote shop environment instead of at the jobsite. The process not only ensures quality and creates schedule certainty, it also gives teams the flexibility to add shifts or modify schedules to support social distancing because fewer workers and visitors are involved. 

The new high-tech conference facility is designed to support McCarthy’s state-of-the-art Virtual Design & Construction (VDC) technologies, which helps clients maximize budget and schedule efficiencies throughout the design and construction process. For example, at the VA Omaha Ambulatory Care Center, Building Information Modeling (BIM) enabled the McCarthy team to continuously review and compare design updates while laser scanning helped confirm as-built conditions with 3D coordination to increase layout precision and ensure project controls.

Since entering the Omaha market in 2001 as a builder of choice for local healthcare providers, the Omaha team has completed more than $1 billion in construction projects and grown into the fourth largest contractor in Nebraska according to ENR Midwest. 

McCarthy continues to expand its regional footprint by successfully delivering complex, challenging projects across a wide variety of market sectors and project types. Its core markets include healthcare, education, laboratories, pharmaceutical manufacturing, commercial, arts and entertainment, and industrial projects. 

In Nebraska, McCarthy is currently overseeing more than $200 million in construction work including the new Marriott Tribute Portfolio Hotel on the Nebraska Innovation Campus in Lincoln, the recently completed VA Omaha Ambulatory Care Center and a new high school and middle school for Omaha Public Schools.