Giving Back
1. Tech Parks Arizona developed Racing the Sun, a hands-on STEM program for high school students, eight years ago to promote workforce development. After incubating the program and establishing good momentum, Racing the Sun is transitioning over to SARSEF–Southern Arizona Research, Science, and Engineering Foundation in order to grow the program and best serve the region. Racing the Sun is a solar go-kart competition that challenges high school students to design, build, test, and ultimately race their solar-powered go-karts.
Awards & Accolades
2. The Urban Land Institute Arizona District Council (ULI Arizona) was recently awarded a $20K grant from global ULI’s Building Healthy Places Initiative, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to convene a local task force to study the intersection of health and housing in Arizona.
3. 19 protégés were honored recently at the NAIOP Arizona Developing Leaders Young Professional Group (YPG) Mentor Program graduation for the 2018-2019 class at Citizen Public House.
Boards & Commissions
4. – Craig Finfrock, CCIM was elected to serve as First RVP for CCIM Institute’s Region 2 for 2020 on April 20, 2019. Craig Finfrock is the immediate past President of the Southern Arizona Chapter of CCIM Institute and has served on this Chapter’s Board since 2015. Currently, Finfrock serves on the CCIM Institute’s Designation Committee and Chapter Activities Subcommittee.
5. Arizona Self-Storage Association recently elected three new board members and re-elected seven board members. Newly elected board members are David Brown, Wentworth Property Company; Matthew Hall, Stadium Properties/Dollar Self Storage; and Belinda Rosthenhausler, Clear Title Agency of Arizona. Re-elected to the board are Bill Alter, Rein & Grossoehme Commercial Real Estate; Diane Gibson, Cox Armored Mini Storage Management, Inc.; Jeff Gorden, Eagle Commercial Realty Services; Dave King, Wentworth Property Company; Martin Lorch, BPI Capital Management, Inc.; Ray McRae, Arizona Mini Storage Management Company/Storage Solutions; and Chris Rudel, The Rudel Company.
6. Steve Beaver leads Benchmark Electronics’ global legal, compliance, ethics and intellectual property matters and has been elected to the Arizona Chamber as a board member. In this position, he will work to advance business in Arizona, particularly related to economic development opportunities, workforce development and K-12 education.
Company News
7. Landsea Homes, which made its Arizona debut in May 2018, has acquired Mesa-based Pinnacle West Homes – which has 15 communities totaling more than 1,150 lots already underway in metro Phoenix – for an undisclosed price.
Promotions
8. W.E. O’Neil Construction announced the promotion of Rob Duceatt to Regional Director of Virtual Construction. Duceatt will continue to provide the BIM technology and Virtual Construction support and direction within the Arizona based offices, while also working with the California and Colorado offices to develop an integrated approach to further push the use and implementation of W.E. O’Neil’s technology across all project locations.
9. Barry Nicholas has been promoted to Designated Broker at Tru Realty where he will manage and supervise services like contract agent support, training, onboarding, reviewing contracts, distributing leads, and liaising with government and all state and local associations.
New Hires
10. SWP Contracting & Paving recently selected Tracy Kerns to serve as General Manager. With 25 years of construction experience, Kerns will provide leadership support to project teams while promoting and expanding the company’s services across the Southwest.
11. Formerly with Dabdoub Commercial, Jose Dabdoub joined Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, bringing over ten years of experience working in the Arizona-Sonora region.
12. SCS Engineers’ Arizona office is continuing to grow with the addition of Dana Justice, a marketing specialist who previously worked at the firm’s office in San Diego. Justice is responsible for supporting marketing and business development in Arizona, Nevada, and California for environmental services.
13. LevRose Commercial Real Estate recently added Austin Knebel as an advisor to its growing team. Knebel will specialize in selling and leasing properties throughout Scottsdale, Tempe and downtown Phoenix.
14. ZELUS, the largest reality capture services firm in the nation, announced Ron Nauta has joined the company as Director of Visual Design & Construction. Ron brings over 20 years of experience across both the design and construction industries having led teams in BIM/CAD modeling and project management at both Exyte (formally M+W Group) and Trimble.