Awards & Accolades
1. Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR recently held its Annual Awards event at the Tucson Country Club to highlight and celebrate its team’s achievements in the past year. Award recipients included:
- Paul Hooker –President’s Award for Excellence;
- Angie Benedict –Peter H. Douglas Heart & Soul Award;
- Rick Kleiner –Winner’s Circle #1 Producer;
- Allan Mendelsberg –Winner’s Circle #2 Producer;
- Aaron LaPrise –Winner’s Circle #3 Producer;
- Steve Cohen –Top Industrial Producer;
- Aaron LaPrise – Top Retail Producer;
- Rick Kleiner – Top Office/Medical Producer;
- Allan Mendelsberg & Joey Martinez – Top Multifamily Producer;
- Jessica Abeyta –Manager of the Year;
- Debbie Ramsey –Most Valuable Player;
- Rual Urbano – Tenant Relations Award, and
- Maria Aryes – Admin Employee of the Year.
2. Crystal Thompson, the Executive Affairs Advisor and Communications Manager at Central Arizona Project, recently received a lifetime achievement award at the Colorado River Water Users Association’s annual conference. Thompson has chaired the Public Affairs Committee for nearly 25 years.
Boards & Commissions
3. The Sundt Companies, Inc., the parent firm of Sundt Construction, announced the appointment of two new members to its board of directors. Sundt Senior VP and Chief Human Resources Officer Nicole Calamaio and Smiths Detection, Inc. President Inder Reddy joined the board on Feb 17. Calamaio has 30 years of experience in HR, 25 of which have been in the construction industry. Reddy has more than 30 years of experience and has expertise in strategy, operations and business development.
4. Valley Partnership has named its 2025 Board leadership. Rob Bassett will serve another term as Board Chair.
Board Officers are:
- Nicholas Fischer, Merit Partners (Vice Chair);
- Chuck Carefoot, Ryan Companies (Treasurer);
- Todd Weiss, ViaWest Group (Secretary);
- Jay Kramer, FENNEMORE (Counsel).
The group also welcomes six new board members:
- Thomas Loquvam, EPCOR;
- Doran Miller, Southwest Gas;
- Kelly Patton, APS;
- Rob Schramm, Kitchell;
- Ben Shunk, Chasse Building Team, and
- Erica Vester, Evergreen.
Company News
5. EPCOR USA officially closed on its purchase of the former Delta Dental office at 5656 W. Talavi Blvd. in Glendale. EPCOR has spent $1.5M on improvements and is actively moving employees into the 31.4KSF facility. The building was purchased for $5.3M, with Bob Broyles of Colliers representing the buyer. Cushman & Wakefield’s Mike Coover, Alexandra Loye and Erich Wichterman represented the seller.
6. Brian Ruffner recently launched a new leadership consulting firm called NoLIMIT Performance. The firm intends to help companies build stronger teams, scale successfully and create high-performing workplace cultures. Ruffner has 35 years of experience in HVAC, construction, manufacturing and corporate environments.
Promotions
7. LevRose Commercial Real Estate recently named two new partners: Branden Mondragon and Sean Lieb. Mondragon specializes in retail leasing and sales across the Phoenix area and joined the company in 2020. Lieb previously served as Senior VP and has expertise in landlord and tenant representation, as well as investment sales. He joined the company in 2022.
8. Silver Fern Companies and Otago Development announced the promotion of John Nagel to President. Nagel has been a part of the team for 12 years and has worked in various roles, including project management, estimating, pre-construction and as Senior VP.
9. The Weitz Company announced Frank DAscanio’s promotion to VP and General Manager of its Phoenix office. DAscanio joined Weitz in 2005 and has since led large scale projects including Park West at Texas A&M University.
10. Dibble announced promotions for Shannon Mauck and Adrian Carvajal within its Land Development team. Mauck now serves as Group Leader and will oversee multiple teams. She will also continue to manage Dibble’s Goodyear office. Carvajal now serves as Team Leader. He has 21 years of experience in civil engineering
11. Arrington Watkins Architects announced the promotion of Monika Ibarrola to Associate Principal. She will continue to expand on her current role as a leader within the Justice market sector. Ibarrola joined the firm in 2008.