Gomes to replace Franceschini as Stantec’s president and CEO

Stantec, one of Canada’s largest consulting engineering companies, has announced that a new president and chief executive officer will take over from Tony Franceschini, P.Eng.

Ron Triffo, chair of Stantec’s board of directors, announced that Bob Gomes, a 20-year veteran employee of Stantec, will succeed Franceschini in May next year.

Gomes has a degree in civil engineering from the University of Alberta.  He joined Stantec in 1988 and three years later was appointed principal engineer in charge of the Edmonton office.

Gomes has held a number of positions with the consulting firm since then, most recently as senior vice president of its industrial and project management group. In two years, by 2007, he more than doubled the revenues of the group and made it one of Stantec’s fastest growing practice areas.

Tony Franceschini will continue as a member of Stantec’s board of directors. Over the past decade of Franceschini’s tenure, the company has made many acquisitions of architectural firms and consulting engineering practices, both in Canada and the U.S. As Triffo noted in the press announcement: “When Tony became the President and CEO of Stantec in 1998 he told everyone he would take the $100 million firm and turn it into a billion dollar company. He has accomplished that and made Stantec one of the world’s top design firms.”

With its headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta, Stantec has 9,000 employees in 150 locations in North America.

Income Gomes said: “I am honored to be given the opportunity to lead Stantec. The challenge ahead is to build on the strong foundation that Tony has built in his 10years as president and CEO and I’m looking forward to leading the continued evolution of Stantec.”