Every city in the world faces the same question: How do we build foundations strong enough to carry us into the future? The answer begins with infrastructure – clean water, reliable power, safe streets and more – and extends to how we invest in the communities depending on it.

Burns & McDonnell designs and builds the essential systems that make cities thrive. In Kansas City, Missouri, hometown of the company’s headquarters, that work has meant partnering with the City of Kansas City on key infrastructure projects, including the US$4.5 billion Smart Sewer program – the largest capital initiative in the region’s history. But behind the robust scale and technical scope to reduce and prevent overflows from Kansas City’s sewer system is a simple truth: This program is about people, and about giving future generations a stronger, healthier city to call home.

The work the City and Burns & McDonnell have done together, most of it underground and out of sight, goes far beyond compliance with regulations. Every new pipe, every upgraded pump station and every green infrastructure solution is part of a bigger story about resilience – a city building its future from the ground up.

Water systems, energy grids, transit networks — these are the quiet yet critical connections that shape how safe, sound and vibrant a city can be. For more than 125 years, Burns & McDonnell – a 100 percent employee-owned company – has been part of designing and building these foundations.

As aging infrastructure creates urgent needs for faster, smarter solutions, communities can’t wait on traditional delivery approaches. Across the Midwest and in cities around the world, there are examples of progressive design-build project delivery shortening schedules, reducing costs and mitigating surprises. Burns & McDonnell is proud to be working to deliver Kansas City’s first progressive design-build project, the Westport Stormwater Improvements.

But the real innovation isn’t just technical. It’s also cultural. It’s about working side by side with community leaders, city staff and residents to see that infrastructure decisions meet the goals and reflect the values of the people who rely on them every day.

Building stronger communities also means investing directly in people, not just projects. That’s why the Burns & McDonnell Foundation has contributed more than US$11 million annually since 1988 to STEM education and resources to spark curiosity and create opportunity. It’s why the company has invested in STEM grants that help teachers prepare students for future careers, partnered with Project Lead the Way and given countless hours of mentoring and volunteering by its employee-owners who genuinely care.

The company also invests in science centers, beginning in its hometown, where the lasting impact of hands-on learning is still evident. At Science City at Union Station in Kansas City, Burns & McDonnell has designed and built eight large-scale, student-inspired exhibits –reimagining more than half of the center’s 100,000 square feet of interactive learning space. Today, this support extends to science centers across the United States, carrying forward the same belief that inspired the company’s start.

So how do can companies continue to design and build in ways that make life better? That question matters now more than ever. As Kansas City prepares to welcome its largest event yet — the 2026 FIFA World Cup — the world’s eyes will be on us. Visitors will see the stadiums, event venues and fan festivals, but the real story lies below, in the investments in roads, utilities and water systems that make everything run flawlessly.

Burns & McDonnell is proud to play a key role in preparing Kansas City to host the World Cup as part of the team delivering the KC2026 Mobility Plan, which includes a transit system to move fans efficiently to the stadium on match days and to help an estimated 650,000 visitors travel across the region, despite limited existing public transportation.

Infrastructure rarely makes headlines. But when it works, it feels effortless. Those quiet victories of city-building drive us as designers, builders, neighbors and partners to keep pushing forward.

Infrastructure is more than concrete and steel. For us, it’s about trust, resilience and opportunity – the framework of daily life. By investing in communities, we’re creating foundations that help cities and communities thrive.