Giving Back
1. The Rosendin Foundation awarded $2.86M in 2026 grants to 157 nonprofits serving communities across 12 states and nationwide. Grants ranging from $5K to $100K support four health pillars: emotional health, nutritional health, occupational health and whole health. Arizona beneficiaries included Heavy Metal Summer Experience, which received $49.7K to introduce teenagers nationwide to skilled trades careers, and $90K to 100 Club of Arizona for firefighter decontamination systems.
2. Local nonprofit organization Passion to PowHer, founded by Shelby Duplessis, announced its third annual Passion to PowHer Conference, centered around the theme “Own Your PowHer: Confidence, Choices & Your Future.” The free interactive conference will be held Oct. 23 at Peoria Sports Complex. The event is dedicated to empowering young women ages 13-22. This year’s conference marks the official launch of the Passion to PowHer Scholarship Program. The organization will announce a new initiative awarding five $1K scholarships to graduating high school seniors.
Awards & Accolades
3. The Arizona Association for Economic Development’s highly anticipated Golden Prospector Awards were announced in late September. The 2026 categories and recipients were:
Project Awards:
- Economic Development Deal of the Year: City of Peoria – “Amkor Technology + Peoria Innovation Core”;
- Economic Development Program/Process: ASU Office of Economic Development & Greater Phoenix Economic Council – AISLE Program Expansion;
- Multimedia Promotion: Pima Leasing & Financing Corporation – Gila River Targeted Economic Development Brochures;
- Special Event: Town of Gilbert – Harvest in the Heritage District, and
- Website: City of Tempe – “Think Tempe”.
Awards of Merit
- Economic Development Deal of the Year: City of Mesa – Hadrian – Factory of the Future, City of Phoenix – Arizona State University Health Headquarters;
- Economic Development Program/Process: City of Buckeye – Buckeye Business Builder (B3) Startup Academy, City of Mesa – Mesa’s Redevelopment Toolkit, City of Winslow – BRE Incentive Program;
- Multimedia Promotion: City of Mesa – Better Life Mesa Campaign, City of San Luis – 928 Day: A Campaign Supporting Local Businesses and Community Pride, City of Surprise – Big Purple Box of Possibility, Norris Design & City of Tucson – H2K: From State Trust Land to Market-Ready Industrial Opportunity, Team West Valley – One Region. One Story. One Shared Commitment to Small Business;
- Marketing Brochure: City of Phoenix – Phoenix is BIO, Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona – ECoNA Regional Marketing Brochure, Town of Fountain Hills – Naturally Fountain Hills Economic Development Marketing Brochure;
- Special Event: City of Buckeye – Buckeye Development Update: Powering Growth & Streamlining Success, City of Phoenix – Phoenix Global Forum, and
- Website: Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona – ECoNA Website.
4. Metcalf Builders earned a spot on Engineering News-Record’s 2026 Mountain States & Southwest Top Contractors list for the fourth consecutive year, ranking among the top 50 contractors in the region, which includes Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The annual rankings recognize general contractors based on construction-specific revenue from the previous year.
5. Tech Parks Arizona has been recognized as one of six innovation districts nationwide for strong performance in housing and neighborhood stability in a report from the George W. Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative. The report examined 42 innovation districts and research parks across the country.
Company News
6. Stevens-Leinweber Construction is celebrating its 45th anniversary. Founded in 1981 by Mike Stevens and Mark Leinweber, the general contractor began with commercial tenant improvements and has since completed more than 10K tenant improvement projects and more than 25MSF of ground-up Class A office and industrial space, completed or in the pipeline.
7. Master-planned community landscape developer Fairco is expanding its focus into landscape management. The company has named Robert Clinkenbeard as COO to oversee the expansion, which includes landscape management, water management and plant care and management. Other leaders include Frank Tunnell as President of landscape design, Nathaniel Archambeau as Executive VP in charge of the new water program, and Jayson Gonzales as President of Fairco’s Landscape Management.
8. Chronicle Heritage, an archaeological review and surveying firm, announced it is ceasing operations and terminating roughly 600 employees companywide, including 108 employees at the company’s Phoenix headquarters.
Promotions
9. Clint Marchuk has been promoted to Senior VP of Capital Markets at Vestar. Marchuk joined the company in 2014 as VP of Acquisitions and has overseen more than 90 transactions totaling approximately $4.3B. In his new role, Marchuk will oversee acquisitions and Vestar’s broader capital markets strategy.
10. Compass Arizona has promoted Stephanie Gonzales to Regional VP and Annie McGeorge to Director of Operations.
New Hires
11. Sundt Construction has hired Vincent Castillo as Project Director and Nina Fernandez as Business Development Representative. Castillo has 25 years of experience spanning project engineering and superintendent roles and is a member of Arizona Airports Association, Southwest Chapter of the American Associates of Airport Executives, National Business Aviation Association and American Institute of Constructors. Fernandez is a member of Urban Land Institute, AzAA, SWAAAE and Commercial Real Estate Development Association.
12. Citywide Commercial announced the addition of Joan Krueger as Senior VP. Specializing in metro Phoenix’s East Valley, Krueger represents investors, landlords and tenants across all asset classes, but with a particular background in the office, retail, industrial/flex and land sectors. In addition to her professional experience, Krueger also previously served as Vice Mayor of the Town of Gilbert.
13. Perry Gordon has been added as a Senior Project Manager for Sun Eagle Corporation. He brings 25 years of construction management leadership experience. His background includes Commercial, Multifamily, Industrial and Municipal projects totaling more than $1.3B.