Chicago-based Clayco announced the retirement of its CEO, Russ Burns. Anthony Johnson, Clayco’s executive vice president and president of its industrial business unit, will succeed Burns as CEO.

Burns retired in December but will become Chairman of the Board of Advisors for the firm. “In his time as CEO, Clayco has rapidly expanded to become one of the largest builders of technical, mission critical projects in the United States, and we are beyond grateful for his contributions,” said Bob Clark, Founder and Executive Chairman at Clayco. “I am confident that Anthony will build on Russ’ legacy and position Clayco for even greater growth as a leader in the design-build industry.”

As CEO, Johnson will lead Clayco’s continued evolution as the premier vertically integrated design-build and development company in the country. Clayco also announced the launch of Clayco Compute, an integrated data center delivery business unit focused exclusively on the highly specialized construction of advanced technology centers.