KANSAS CITY — CRB’s board of directors named Ryan Schroeder, currently president of the company, as chief executive officer. He succeeds CEO and CRB co-founder Jeff Biskup, who will remain on the board as executive chairman.

Additionally, the company has formed CRB Operations, a group uniting the company’s regional operations and technical operations teams into a single structure led by Sam Kitchell, the company’s new chief operating officer.

Mr. Schroeder joined CRB in 1987 as an architectural engineer, progressing in the company’s operations before becoming leader of CRB’s Midwest region in 2010. He was named president in 2017 and has led the company through unprecedented growth including its first $1 billion-plus revenue years in 2021 and 2022.

While growing the company’s bottom line, Mr. Schroeder has overseen CRB’s physical expansion. With an employee count nearing 1,800 – a roughly three-fold increase under Mr. Schroeder’s leadership – CRB now has 21 offices in North America and Europe, with additional openings planned in the coming years.

“There is no one better positioned to further raise CRB’s leadership position in the marketplace while simultaneously nurturing and advancing our coveted culture,” said Jeff Biskup, one of the company’s original three founders who mentored Mr. Schroeder during his rise through the company ranks.

“Following in Jeff’s footsteps as CEO carries extra meaning for me,” Mr. Schroeder said. “He’s been an incredible mentor from the day I arrived at CRB, and his devotion to successful client outcomes is unmatched. I will continue to lean on his leadership, experience and instincts as we guide CRB well into the future.”

Combining CRB’s regional and technical teams into a single reporting structure under Mr. Kitchell advances the company’s integration efforts and how CRB serves clients. His expertise and experience as both a CRB leader and former client position Mr. Kitchell to deliver on the company’s promise to clients: successful, innovative project delivery that consistently meets their business objectives, Mr. Schroeder said.

“Creating an integrated CRB Operations group continues our journey toward becoming a truly united, global organization driven by technical excellence, continuous learning and innovation, with an exciting work environment that keeps employee experience at the heart of everything we do,” Mr. Schroeder said.

Before his promotion, Mr. Kitchell led CRB’s emerging business operations (EBO) team, which worked closely with the company’s growth incubator, the Growth Catalyst Program, to identify new initiatives and bring them to market. Chief strategy officer Bart Schubert, who created and managed the GCP from its inception in 2019, will assume Mr. Kitchell’s previous responsibilities. 

“When I arrived at CRB in 2021, I was thrilled by the opportunity to design an EBO group that would develop our most promising business initiatives and prepare them for the marketplace,” Mr. Kitchell said. “Over more than two decades, as a client and now an employee, I’ve seen CRB’s entrepreneurial spirit and technical excellence unleashed on some of the world’s most urgent challenges. I’m humbled and honored to take this next step and continue working alongside Ryan and our talented corps of professionals in their critical work.”