Tim Barfield has been named president of CSRS, six months after joining the local design and management firm as executive vice president. He will succeed Michael Songy, one of the firm’s founding members and principals. The change becomes effective July 1.
Barfield has varied experience in the public and private sectors and held several positions in the Jindal administration, most recently as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Revenue. He also served as a senior executive at The Shaw Group in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Songy has served as president and CEO of CSRS for more than nine years and will continue as chairman of the board of directors. A civil engineer, Songy will return to the engineering side of the business, assuming lead responsibilities for growing the firm’s infrastructure business.
“I will step back into the engineering function,” Songy says. “Tim has a lot more experience running larger companies than I do, and where the company needs me the most is developing infrastructure and the business line. This is simply a matter of putting the best talent in the best spot.”
The leadership change comes as another founding principal in the firm, Curtis Soderberg, is retiring and selling his ownership stake in the company. He plans to continue working in real estate development. Barfield is not buying Soderberg’s ownership stake in the firm at this time, though he may at a later date.
Soderberg was among the founding principals of CSRS in 1978, when his architectural firm merged with Songy’s engineering company. Over the years, CSRS would grow into a firm of more than 100 employees with a specialty in program management for government and private sector facility, and infrastructure projects.
In recent years, that market has changed and federal and state governments have reduced spending on large facilities and infrastructure projects. Instead, they are more frequently entering into public private partnerships.
In response, CSRS is honing its focus on those so-called “P3” projects, and is currently involved in several around the state, including the LSU Foundation’s Nicholson Gateway project. CSRS is representing the foundation in the mixed-use development project.
“What we’re trying to build is a consultancy that comes in and says, ‘what are your needs, what are your projects on the board and how do you fund them?’” Barfield says.
Barfield, with his years of experience in both government and the private sector, is an asset as CSRS pursues opportunities in the P3 sphere, says Songy.
The firm also has another high-profile, former government official on its executive team: attorney and businessman Walter Monsour, who served as chief administrative officer for Mayors Pat Screen and Kip Holden. Monsour joined CSRS in early 2015 after stepping down as president and CEO of the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority.
“Sometimes we represent the private side, sometimes we represent the public side,” Songy says. “Walter and Tim have a lot of experience with that and that is why we wanted to bring these guys in with governmental experience. Walter is strong at the local level. Tim is very strong at the state level.”
The changes at the firm are part of a strategic succession plan that has been in the works for several years. Songy and Soderberg say they realized several years ago in order to sustain and grow the firm it would be important to bring in fresh blood at the ownership levels.
“This is a very natural transition that puts a talented leader in a position where both he and our firm will benefit for years to come” Songy says.
—Stephanie Riegel
