By Howard Fine
Monday, January 6, 2020
Downtown-based construction consulting firm Cumming has named a new chief operating officer and a new president.
Cumming said in a Jan. 6 announcement that David Baird, who joined the firm in 2004 and was most recently an executive vice president, took over as chief operating officer on Jan. 1. He replaced longtime COO Mike Jensen, who stepped down from the post at the end of last year.
Derek Hutchison, who joined the firm in 1999 and was most recently an executive vice president, was promoted to president as of Jan. 1. He is overseeing regional operations and strategic initiatives, including potential future acquisitions.
Finlay Cumming, a founder of the company in Orange County in 1996, remains as chief executive.
“These latest organizational changes will enable us to continue to foster an environment of continuous improvement and innovation and help to fuel our continued growth across the U.S. and U.K.,” Cumming said in the announcement.
Cumming employs more than 800 professionals in 29 offices in the United States and three offices in the United Kingdom.
It provides construction management and cost consulting for clients in the health care, education, commercial, hospitality, retail, entertainment and high-end residential sectors.
The company has consulted on more than $300 billion worth of projects.
Cumming’s clients in Los Angeles County include the Los Angeles and Long Beach Unified school districts, Kaiser Permanente, the Music Center of L.A. County and Marriott International.
The company, which moved its headquarters to downtown Los Angeles in 2016, said it had about $200 million in billings last year, up from about $150 million in 2018.