After 45 years, Mike Faron will transition out of his role as chairman of W.E. O’Neil Construction Company’s Chicago office at the end of the year, the company says in an announcement. John Russell will continue to lead the firm as its president.
Faron has worked with the company, established in 1925, since 1973. He started as a superintendent and project manager and rose through the ranks until being named as president in 1989 and promoted to chairman of the Chicago office in 2008.
“I feel deeply fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from so many talented and dedicated colleagues during my long tenure at W.E. O’Neil,” Faron said in a statement. “I have watched this company and its leadership team grow tremendously over the past four decades, and I am confident that with John Russell at the helm, we are well positioned to continue on this same positive trajectory for years to come.”
Russell, who joined W.E. O’Neil in 1982 as a project engineer, was named president in 2008 as part of a multi-year transition plan. He has worked alongside Faron over the last several years to build out the firm’s current management team and led initiatives to invest in leading technologies that assure the firm keeps pace with top industry innovations and evolving customer needs, the company says.
“This is a bittersweet time for me and the team as Mike has been an enormous part of W.E. O’Neil. Because of Mike’s incredible leadership and service to our firm, we have enjoyed many years of success, and as a result, we expect to work from a position of strength as we look ahead into next year,” said Russell.
“W.E. O’Neil has been in business for 93 years. This transition marks the official kicking off for ‘The Next 93,’ to set the standard for our next generation of growth and opportunity for the company and our customers.”
Over the years, the firm has completed a multitude of projects including Millennium Park’s Crown Fountain, Block 37, and the LondonHouse luxury hotel.
Parent company O’Neil Industries is headquartered in Chicago with operating units in Chicago, Tucson, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Ontario, San Diego, Denver and Nashville.