People News: Balfour Beatty, CSX

From Left to Right: Mark Johnnie, Balfour Beatty US Civils COO; Kelly Phariss, Balfour Beatty Civils Vice President of West Operations; and Diana Sorfleet, CSX EVP and Chief Administrative Officer.

Balfour Beatty appoints Mark Johnnie to COO and Kelly Phariss to Vice President of West operations. Also, CSX Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Diana Sorfleet has been named to Women We Admire’s Top 50 Women Leaders of Jacksonville for 2023.

Balfour Beatty, a provider of general contracting, at-risk construction management and design-build services for public and private sector clients, on Feb. 15 announced senior leadership changes within its US Civils business appointing Mark Johnnie to COO and Kelly Phariss to Vice President of West Operations.

According to Balfour Beatty, the appointments “support intentional and strategic planning of the company’s highways and bridges, rail and water businesses to expand Balfour Beatty’s Civils operations across the company’s chosen geographic footprint.”

As COO, Johnnie will lead the company’s commitment to operational excellence spanning across all vertical markets, including highway and bridges, rail, and water. He will work with leaders throughout the business to “ensure consistency in execution, high quality of standards and client experiences are delivered, and industry-leading operational processes are embedded across verticals.” In addition to his COO responsibilities, Johnnie will maintain his current role overseeing the highway and bridges work across the Southeast and will now expand to cover the Southwest. A Balfour Beatty teammate since 1998, Johnnie has “a track record of consistent delivery in the Southeast, deep knowledge of the market sector and strong commitment to fostering the company’s Civils construction capability to clients,” according to the company.

In his new role, Phariss will head the company’s operations in the West, managing its diverse project portfolio within the rail, highways and bridges, and water sectors in California, Oregon and Washington. Phariss is a long-time Balfour Beatty Civils teammate and critical leader on Los Angeles World Airport’s (LAX) Automated People Mover (APM) project. He will remain Deputy Director on the LAX APM project in addition to his new role where he will also support and pursue opportunities that blend scopes of work involving the company’s expert Buildings and Civils construction services.

“Our Civils business continues to experience significant progress with excellent opportunities on the horizon,” said Balfour Beatty Civils President and US Rail Managing Director Mark Konchar. “Mark and Kelly’s appointments will not only strengthen, grow and sustain our operations but support intentional strategies that focus on engaging select market sectors across the nation.

“At the same time, these leadership changes are a key investment in preserving the fabric of our people-first culture and values which is vital to our teammates’ development and business success.

“I’m excited to work alongside Mark and Kelly in maintaining momentum that promotes Balfour Beatty’s US Civils business as a thriving and bright place to work as well as executing strategies that offer outstanding capability to clients.”

CSX announced on Feb. 15 via a Twitter post that EVP and Chief Administrative Officer Diana Sorfleet has been named to Women We Admire’s Top 50 Women Leaders of Jacksonville for 2023.

“Diana is an integral part of our leadership team and has delivered effective workforce strategies,” the Class I said.

According to the Women We Admire write-up: “Sorfleet was named EVP and Chief Administrative Officer in 2018. Her responsibilities include aviation, HR, labor relations, people systems and analytics, and total rewards. Previously, as CHRO, she played a key role in managing the company’s workforce strategies during the Scheduled Railroading transformation.

“Sorfleet joined CSX in 2011 after many years in HR with Exelon, where she rose to VP for diversity and development. She is a member of the Conference Board’s Chief Human Resources Officers Council and has participated in several additional professional organizations during her career. In 2016, Sorfleet was recognized by Black Enterprise as one of the most influential, highest-ranking executives leading diversity initiatives among the nation’s largest companies. She was also recognized by Diversity MBA in 2012 as a Top 100 under 50 Diverse Executives.

“Sorfleet is a graduate of Loyola University of Chicago, where she earned an undergraduate degree in communications. Subsequently she earned a master’s degree in management and HR from National Louis University, as well as a master’s degree in business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.”