Tampa Tribune: PBS&J to find new CEO

By SHANNON BEHNKEN

sbehnken@tampatrib.com
John Zumwalt, CEO of a large Tampa-based engineering and architectural firm, is stepping down.

Zumwalt made the announcement in a letter sent to PBS&J employees last week. The company plans to find a replacement by Sept. 30, and Zumwalt will stay onboard until then.

"After a decade of my executive leadership through the best of times and through difficult times, it is now time to plan an orderly transition to a new chief executive officer (CEO) and to pass the challenges of that position to a successor," Zumwalt says in his letter.

The move was part of a strategic plan introduced last year, said C.L. Conroy, a company spokeswoman, and was announced now because the company's annual shareholders meeting is next week. Zumwalt appears on the company's proxy as a candidate for the board of directors and serves as chairman.

Zumwalt has been with the company since 1973 and has been at the helm for 10 years.

PBS&J is an employee-owned company that moved to Tampa from Miami in 2007. A large portion of its work involves providing services to government agencies. It has 80 offices and 3,900 employees worldwide.

Conroy said Zumwalt's departure is unrelated to any probe the company has faced.

In recent years, the company has been in the spotlight for legal problems.

The company revealed in a regulatory filing in December that it is investigating possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by its subsidiary, PBS&J International Inc.

Also, a former chief financial officer and two other company employees were found to have embezzled more than $36 million from the company from the late 1990s until 2005. The scheme caused the company to overcharge its clients.

The company paid millions of dollars to settle with Florida, Texas and the federal government and underwent a Federal Election Commission investigation. The commission found PBS&J hid campaign contributions.

PBS&J did design work on the Interstate 4-Selmon Crosstown Expressway project, which will connect the roadways. Construction is slated to begin this month.