We are excited to announce a transition in our leadership structure! Long-time Seattle President Jeff Cleator has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer. In his place, Lewis has promoted former Senior Vice President Jay Sorensen. In Portland, we welcomed Tony Stewart as the President of our Oregon Division—a 30-year veteran in the A/E/C market.
“This strategic repositioning of our executive leadership team will help us continue to deliver exceptional construction projects, develop the next generation of builders and stay laser-focused on our purpose—in service of our clients and community,” said Chief Executive Officer Bart Ricketts.
Jeff joined the company in 1987 as an intern and has progressively advanced in his career at Lewis, serving in roles including Commercial Division Manager, Vice President and, since 2016, Washington Division President.
“We have been working with Jeff and other leaders to develop the COO role for the better part of the last two years,” said Chief Executive Officer Bart Ricketts. “Jeff leading operations in this new role will help us continue to innovate—drawing from the talent and ingenuity of all our people—and ensure consistent, exceptional performance on our construction projects throughout the Pacific Northwest.”
In his new role, Jeff will provide operations leadership at an enterprise level—partnering with Jay, Tony and other leaders to ensure operational continuity and a consistent experience for our clients across the region. He will lead our business strategy, establishing construction delivery procedures and ensuring our teams continue to perform optimally.
Washington Division President Jay Sorensen joined Lewis in 1997 as a Project Manager before rising to Senior Project Manager, Special Projects Division Manager, and most recently, Senior Vice President. In his tenure at Lewis, his focus has been on workforce development and recruitment of top talent in our industry. He is passionate about mentoring and supporting our employees in their career progression as he focuses on developing the next generation of leaders.
Jay has played an important role in advancing our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. He is a passionate advocate for DEI in our industry. He has spent considerable time over the last three years building relationships with small and WMBE-owned businesses to remove barriers and support their successful participation in our projects.
Oregon Division President Tony Stewart brings a wealth of experience leading teams in the construction, architecture, real estate and specialty contracting markets. Tony comes to us from Skanska, where he served as Vice President and led the firm’s design and construction integration practice. Previously, Tony led teams as Vice President at Howard S. Wright and McKinstry and worked as a licensed architect at NBBJ.
As Divisional Presidents, Tony and Jay will champion Lewis’ Purpose and culture, work with our executive team to establish and implement our strategic plan and develop the next generation of high-performing leaders.
Please join us in congratulating Jeff and Jay on their promotions and help us welcome Tony to Lewis and the Oregon community!