Timothy Barnard
Chief Executive Officer
Barnard Construction Company, Inc.
Barnard of Nevada, Inc.
Barcon, Inc.
Barnard Environmental, Inc.
Barnard of Canada, Inc.
In 1975, Tim Barnard moved to Montana with an idea that he could start his own construction company. He had $1,000, two shovels, a pick, and all of his worldly possessions in the cab of his pick-up. His grandmother loaned him the $3,500 to cover his first bond on a $17,000 project. Since then, he’s never looked back. His knowledge of the heavy civil industry has been gained through first-hand experience in the field and the boardroom.
Today, he continues to be involved with all major decisions in an organization that has always focused on remote, difficult, and unique projects. These remain the mainstay of our business today. Tim’s first job in construction had him working in a ditch job at age 15 with the family-owned business. It was there that he learned to respect hard-working men and women. This respect permeates all aspects of the Barnard Companies. He has always insisted on a corporate culture that treats all with dignity and respect, and builds all projects with safe, quality work, a culture in which the company as a whole is committed to doing what we say we’ll do.
He attended Villanova University, Gonzaga University in Florence, Italy, and Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan.
Mr. Barnard has served on numerous boards. Currently, he serves on the Gonzaga University Board of Trustees. He and his wife, Mary, support numerous charitable and educational organizations.
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Paul A. Franzen
President
As President, Paul Franzen is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Barnard Companies. Mr. Franzen has 32 years of experience in the heavy civil construction industry. He joined Barnard in 1990 and was promoted to President of Barnard Construction in 2000. He interned with Barnard while earning a degree in Construction Engineering Technology from Montana State University, where he graduated with highest honors. His career has taken him from working as a laborer, carpenter and equipment operator to overseeing safety, quality, value engineering, scheduling and personnel. His areas of expertise first encompassed water and wastewater pipelines, and pumping facilities and later expanded into dam construction and rehabilitation, oil and gas pipelines, environmental, and tunneling work.
Mr. Franzen oversees the management and development of Barnard Construction, from negotiating new contracts and developing and implementing long-range plans, to routinely visiting project sites, participating in partnering meetings, constructability reviews, interviewing potential new employees, and contributing to annual reviews of our in-house talent. Paul is very involved in the partnering process and our relationships with project owners. His experience in alternative contracting methods ensures that from the outset we embark on projects that will meet the owner’s needs. The Barnard Companies have experienced steady growth and expansion into new areas under his leadership.
Mr. Franzen likes to spend his spare time with his wife and two sons. They have traveled extensively throughout the western U.S. and Canada, participating in ice hockey and baseball tournaments. Paul also enjoys golf, snow skiing, and ice hockey, where he plays defense for the over-40 “Flying Zambonis.”
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Joseph P. Nelson
Vice President/Operations Manager
Joe Nelson has 36 years of experience in the heavy civil industry. He worked his way up the ladder, from driving trucks, to work in the field, to estimating, to managing all of these details and the personnel who currently tackle them. Mr. Nelson joined Barnard more than 24 years ago and has been instrumental in developing the firm we are today. He has extensive training in the technical and management aspects of the industry in addition to the degree in Construction Engineering Technology he earned with honors from Montana State University. His trademarks within the company and the industry are his abilities to innovate, and to build a team, and his contagious enthusiasm. MSU’s College of Engineering recently honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mr. Nelson has worked on projects throughout the U.S., from sewer rehabilitation in Los Angeles to lake-source cooling at Cornell University in New York. He has overseen large-scale projects, including the $400 million Owens Lake Program for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. From the beginning, Joe has been known a team player and a team-builder. He believes in partnering; in the last 10 years, his teams/projects have earned four Marvin M. Black Excellence in Partnering Awards from the Associated General Contractors of America, an unparalleled feat. In fact, Joe was a pioneer of the Partnering process long before it was adopted by most organizations.
Joe enjoys fishing, camping, and golfing in his free time.
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Jeff L. Higgins
Vice President/Operations Manager
Mr. Higgins is a highly qualified Operations Manager with more than 20 years of experience in the construction industry, 19 of them at Barnard. Jeff Higgins began estimating for Barnard Construction while completing his degree in Construction Engineering Technology from Montana State University.
His range of expertise in the field covers all methods of dam and reservoir construction and rehabilitation, including roller-compacted concrete (RCC) and earthfill dams. One of his recent projects, the Saluda Dam Rehabilitation Project, earned three national awards, not only because it was completed safely, on time and on budget, but also because it encompassed finding creative solutions to unusual challenges through value engineering. Mr. Higgins recently oversaw construction of $400 million of work on efforts to restore the Everglades. In addition to dams and reservoirs, Jeff’s experience includes large-diameter pipelines and concrete structures. He has worked in all types of conditions across the U.S.
Jeff has experience in alternative contracts, including Construction Manager at Risk. He is committed to the partnering process.
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Daniel S. Schall
Vice President/Operations Manager
Dan Schall has built his 20+-year career in the heavy civil construction industry specializing in tunnels and shafts, concrete, hydropower, earthwork, water and wastewater treatment plants, marine work, and turbine/generator equipment installation. Mr. Schall has been with the Barnard Companies 16 of those years, having spent a number of years early in his career with M.A. Mortenson after earning a degree in Construction Management from North Dakota State University.
As Operations Manager since 2001, Mr. Schall has had oversight and direct involvement in a broad range of successful projects throughout the U.S., a number of which have encompassed alternative contracting methods. He recently oversaw the successful, on-time, on-budget construction of the Ellis Ave. Trunk Sewer Tunneling Project for the Orange County (CA) Sanitation Department. His other recent work has included deep-water marine construction at Round Butte Dam and the emergency repair of the Fern Ridge Dam in Oregon, earning a Contractor of the Year Award from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the safety, efficiency, and partnering which made this ambitious project achievable. Mr. Schall was also part of a team that earned a Marvin M. Black Excellence in Partnering Award for the teamwork that made Cornell University’s Lake Water Cooling Project possible within the Ithaca, New York, community.
Dan is active in the Industry Advisory Council at North Dakota State University and in the Knights of Columbus, an international service organization. He enjoys spending time with his family and hunting, fly fishing, playing hockey, and skiing.
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Neil VanAmburg
, P.E.
Vice President/Operations Manager
Neil VanAmburg was promoted to Vice President/Operations Manager for Barnard Construction Company, Inc. in late 2008. Neil moved to the Home Office in early 2009 after having spent the last two years in South Florida as the Project Manager for our EAA A-1 Reservoir Project.
Mr. VanAmburg grew up in Cody, Wyoming, and as a youth worked for his father’s construction company. He earned a B.S. in Construction Engineering Technology from Montana State University in 1995 and then went to work for Martin K. Eby Construction on a precast segmental bridge project in Austin, Texas. In 1996, he joined Barnard as a Project Engineer, first assigned to the Bonneau Dam Project on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in Montana. From there, he worked on a string of dam projects while also being promoted to Project Manager – Wirtz Dam, Dulce Lake Dam and Lower Mundo Lake Dam, Casitas Dam, Saluda Dam Test Cells, and then the $188 million Saluda Dam Remediation Project.
Neil’s leadership on the complex Saluda Dam Project helped build a team that produced a world-class project at which his team for a time held the record for the most roller-compacted concrete (RCC) placed in a 24-hour period. This project earned three national industry awards.
Mr. VanAmburg became a licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.) in 2002. When he’s not at work, he enjoys most sports and outdoor activities and spending time with his family.
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Robert A. Reseigh
Vice President
Tunnel Group
Bob Reseigh’s expertise in underground construction developed from a career that spans more than 40 years. His role at the Barnard Companies is to oversee the expansion of our work in tunnel and shaft construction and rehabilitation. Following graduation from the Colorado School of Mines in 1968 with a Masters degree in Mining Engineering, and service in the U.S. Army, Bob joined Peter Kiewit Sons and worked his way up through the field ranks of Project Engineer, Superintendent, Project Manager, and Estimator before being promoted to District Manager, Vice President, and Area Manager. Bob retired from Kiewit after 18 years, and decided to join Atkinson Construction in the capacity of Executive Vice President where he ran the Underground Group for 15 years prior to joining Barnard Construction.
Mr. Reseigh built his career specializing in underground construction, both domestically and overseas. He is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable individuals in the country in deep shaft and drill and blast tunnel work, having been responsible for in excess of 6 miles of shaft sinking and 55 miles of tunnel/horizontal mine development in his career. In addition, his work has involved both mine development and heavy civil projects, including subways, outfalls, railroads, dams, pump storage, water and sewer, marine construction, and municipal work. At Barnard, Bob has proven invaluable in our strategic planning, new business development, estimating, field operations, and client contact. He also provides leadership and training to our team of experienced and new engineers.
Mr. Reseigh enjoys fly fishing, skiing, squash, scuba diving, golf and overseas travel.
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Kirt J. Rierson
Chief Financial Officer
Kirt Rierson has been instrumental in building the Barnard Companies from a single-job firm to the multimillion dollar, multi-faceted firm we are today. Joining founder/CEO Timothy Barnard in his field work in 1976, Mr. Rierson worked in every aspect of the company, from laborer to field supervisor. He was our first onsite project manager on a major project before becoming Controller and then CFO in the 1990s. He holds a B.S. in Business with an Accounting Option and an emphasis in Computer Programming earned at Montana State University.
Mr. Rierson’s field experience encompassed pipelines, municipal water and sewer treatment systems, dam construction and rehabilitation, concrete work, and road and bridge construction. This experience has proven critical in his understanding of field operations, equipment purchasing and maintenance, and overall corporate cost control. His careful attention to detail has enabled the Barnard Companies to orchestrate and maintain a steady expansion that has led to our current bondable rate of nearly $1 billion. Kirt was responsible for setting up our integrated job costing and accounting functions, building useful, accessible, sophisticated project control and forecasting tools. He also handles our company-wide risk management and insurance matters.
Mr. Rierson enjoys motorcycling and is an impassioned scuba diver.
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Jim Tilleman, CPA
CFO/Controller
This year, Jim Tilleman expands his role from Controller to also include Chief Financial Officer of the Barnard Companies as Kirt Rierson phases out of the position.
Jim joined Barnard as Controller in 1991. He was born and raised in Chinook, Montana, and worked for his father’s construction company for several years. Jim continued to work in the construction industry every summer until he graduated from college. He first came to Bozeman to attend Montana State University, where he earned a B.S. in Business/Accounting in 1982. He became licensed as a certified public accountant (CPA) in 1983.
Prior to joining Barnard, Mr. Tilleman worked briefly for Gulf Oil Corp. in Wyoming, gaining experience in oil and gas job cost accounting and analysis, among other duties. He spent five years at Galusha, Higgins & Galusha CPAs in Helena and Bozeman, where he worked on tax planning and preparation, financial audits, budgeting, cost analysis, and cash flow forecasting for clients. He became Controller of United Tote in Shepherd, Montana, in 1988 where he was responsible for all financial accounting and reporting, SEC financial filings, income tax planning and preparation and overseeing a computer conversion.
Mr. Tilleman joined Barnard in 1991 in the midst of a significant Company growth spurt. His first major undertaking was to transfer the Company’s local “home-grown” accounting system to an early version of BidTek software. Since then, his responsibilities have grown along with the Company and he oversees accounting functions, financial reporting, income tax planning and reporting, various special projects and other related duties. Annual revenues have increased almost 10-fold since he joined Barnard, salaried employees have expanded to about 160, and individual projects employ as many as 300 at their peaks.
In his free time, Jim enjoys the outdoors, various sports and spending time with family and friends.
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Scott Brady
Vice President of Finance and Accounting
Scott Brady has been promoted to Vice President of Finance and Accounting for the Barnard Companies. Scott is gradually taking over various duties from Kirt Rierson, CFO and Director of Finance, as Kirt approaches his retirement.
Scott grew up in Great Falls, Montana, and became interested in construction in Junior High School. He earned a B.S. in Construction Engineering Technology from Montana State University in 1985 and immediately entered the construction industry, first working for Neal & Co. in Alaska, Guam and Hawaii, followed by seven years with Kiewit. When he first joined Barnard in 1995 as a Project Manager, Mr. Brady worked on a sewer and tunnel projects in Phoenix and Los Angeles. For most of the past 10 years, he has focused on dust mitigation at Owens Lake, managing five projects for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power totaling over $400 million by the time this current project has been completed.
Through his leadership and attention to detail, these projects have been awarded numerous regional, state, and national awards for partnering, environmental, design/ build, and community development. For this new position, Mr. Brady will move to Barnard’s Home Office in Bozeman, Montana.
When not at work, Scott enjoys whatever his kids want to do, traveling, driving and skiing.
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