Giving Back
1. Employees from the Phoenix office of Lincoln Property Company participated in the Meal Pack for 9/11 Day. Thirty-two Lincoln employees joined volunteers from across the Valley to pack 400,000 meals that will be distributed to local individuals and families facing food insecurity. The cost of ingredients packed by Lincoln employees was covered by an $11K donation made by the company.
2. Big-D Companies has announced its partnership with the American Heart Association during its annual Week of Giving, Sept. 14-21. The goal is for employees to raise $20K, which Big-D will match, accumulating a total goal of $40K.
Boards & Commissions
3. SMPS Arizona has announced its 2024-2025 Board of Directors. The new term began on Sept. 1. The new board consists of:
- President: Jamie Schindeldecker, Speedie;
- President-Elect: Tiffany Gorrell, GLHN;
- Past President: Christina Sollie, TYLin;
- Treasurer: Bill Pelham, Burns & McDonnell;
- Secretary: Emily Laughlin, Dibble;
- Membership: Megan Auringer, ASR Construction;
- Publicity: Meagan Cole, TYLin;
- Programs: Bridgette Blair, Town of Queen Creek;
- Education: Anissa Rasheta, SAZAN Group;
- Delegate-at-Large: Katie Rausch, Deutsch Architecture Group.
Company News
4. Air20, along with Western Maricopa Education Center, has launched a 90-day internship program to create interest in manufacturing jobs. At the end of the internship, participants are given an interview along with a performance report and have the potential to be offered a full-time contract. Arizona Commerce Authority,along with a U.S. Department of Commerce initiative, helped with the creation of the program by introducing Air20 and West-MEC.
5. To better oversee its plans to build up to a dozen LivAway Suites hotels in the Phoenix area, West77 Partners has opened a Metro Phoenix office. The location will also serve as the local home to West77’s affiliated general contractor Wasatch DC Builders. Several local news outlets reported the office would be in Scottsdale, but none provided an address or exact location.
Promotions
6. Greenlight Communities announced the promotion of Brian Spetman to VP of Project Management. Spetman joined Greenlight as a Project Manager in 2022 and was promoted to Senior Project Manager in 2023.
7. Mechanical Designs, Inc. announced the promotion of Matthew Moertl to VP. He has worked in the industry for almost two decades.
8. The Phoenix office of JLL announced it has promoted Ryan Bartos to market lead of its Tenant Rep Advisory Group. Bartos is now responsible for overseeing all brokerage activity for the company’s Phoenix tenant representation office team.
9. Terracon has announced the promotions of Eddy Ramirez and Matt Kleinholz. Ramirez, who has been with Terracon for 10 years, was promoted to Geotechnical Department Group Manager. Kleinholz, who has been with Terracon for more than nine years, has been promoted to Project Engineer.
New Hires
10. ElmTree Funds hired Blake Curtis as Director of Acquisitions. Curtis has more than a decade of experience in commercial real estate development.
11. JW Civil hired Karter Kay as its Chief Estimator. Kay will expand client relationships and identify new opportunities for JW Civil to serve the public sector.
12. Achen-Gardner Construction has announced two new hires. Jana Florie was recently hired as an Accounts Payable Supervisor, and Austin Krutcher joined as an IT Support Specialist.