Giving Back
1. The Arizona Association of REALTORS® donated $29K to the Arizona Housing Fund, with $14K funded from proceeds of its Homes for All specialty license plate. The contribution will support housing programs serving more than 13,000 Arizonans experiencing homelessness. Since 2019, the Arizona Housing Fund has granted $1.9M to 11 nonprofit housing projects statewide.
2. Achen-Gardner Construction’s employee-owners supported the Gilbert Feeding Families Food Drive in February, donating nonperishable items to support the local community.
3. Employee-owners from Achen-Gardner Construction recently supported Patterson Elementary School’s Vehicle Career Day in Gilbert. Staff brought a mechanic truck and two CAT 308 excavators to the event on Feb. 20. Additionally, the company handed out merchandise and coloring books.
4. Achen-Gardner Construction’s Casey Peery recently held a presentation called “Planning for the Downtown Tempe Refresh Project” at Arizona State University’s School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. The presentation discussed techniques Achen-Gardner Construction used during the pre-construction and construction phases of its Downtown Streetscape Improvements – Mill Avenue, Rio Salado Parkway to University Drive, Phase II CMAR project.
5. The Arizona Builders Alliance partnered with SkillsUSA Region 6 for its annual Construction Competition, showcasing more than 150 Southern Arizona high school students on Feb. 20 at Catalina High School in Tucson. Student builders were able to put their construction skills to the test across seven trade categories, with industry professionals serving as judges.
Awards & Accolades
6. Magnum Companies earned three honors at the 2026 National Ornamental & Miscellaneous Metals Association Top Job Awards for projects completed in 2025. It earned gold for SRP MIC Indian Community Rehab & Recovery Buildings in the Exterior Railings & Fences, Non-Forged category; silver for Tempe Fire Department Station No. 2 monument in the Art/Sculpture category and bronze for APS DVA window shades in the Restoration category.
7. Trend Report recently held a celebratory Happy Hour event to welcome its new 2025 members of the Best-in-Class Influencers Circle. The event celebrates Tucson-based CRE professionals. This year’s honorees include:
- Clint Wadlund and Hamid Panahi – Institutional Property Advisors: 100+ Units Multifamily;
- Allan Mendlesberg and Joey Martinez – Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR: Under 100 Units Multifamily;
- Erik Chapman and Nick Travassos – Chapman Management Group: Industrial Deals;
- Will White and John Carroll – Land Advisors Organization: Residential Land Sales;
- Jeremy Price – Volk Company: Retail Sales;
- Brenna Lacey – Volk Company: Commercial Land Sales;
- Rick Kleiner – Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR: Office Sales, and
- Steve Cohen – Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR: Industrial Land Sales.
8. Flagstaff Director of the Public Works Department Scott Overtonfinished a 10-month training program with the Arizona City/County Management Association. The program focused on managing stakeholder relationships, legal frameworks, budgets, workforce planning duties and communications.
Boards & Commissions
9. Rudy Garcia Jr. has been named 2026 Board Chairman of the Arizona Builders Alliance. Garcia, who serves as VP of RG & Sons Plumbing Inc., brings more than 24 years of construction experience and has worked with the company since 2000, where he oversees day-to-day operations, business development, safety, forecasting and vendor relationships.
Company News
10. Michele Bax has joined Barnes & Thornburg LLP as Partner and will lead the firm’s first Arizona office in Phoenix. Bax spent nearly 19 years at Ballard Spahr LLP and previously worked six years at Snell & Wilmer LLP through 2007. She is joined in Phoenix by Fred Williams Jr., who most recently served as Senior Counsel at Ballard Spahr since late 2023 and previously held roles at Snell & Wilmer dating back to 1998. Barnes & Thornburg added 35 attorneys and 12 business professionals from Ballard Spahr nationwide, increasing its total attorney count to more than 850 across 26 U.S. offices.
Promotions
11. Ryan Companies US, Inc. has announced two promotions. Molly Ryan Carson has been promoted to Southwest Region President, where she will oversee all regional real estate development and construction operations across Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Nevada. She serves on the board of directors for Phoenix Children’s Hospital and the board of trustees for the NAIOP Research Foundation. Chuck Carefoothas been promoted to Executive VP, Western Division. In this expanded role, he will support the company’s leadership in San Diego, Seattle and Denver and focus on strategic customer relationships and growth of development and construction services across the western U.S. Carefoot has nearly 30 years with Ryan and has contributed to 35MSF of projects. He is an active member of NAIOP and Valley Partnership.
12. The San Luis City Council officially appointed Jenny Torresas its new permanent City Manager. Torres has served as the Interim City Manager for the past three years.
13. Hensel Phelps announced the following Southwest Region promotions:
- Cole Weaver has been promoted to Regional VP from Regional Director of Operations in the firm’s Phoenix office. He will lead Hensel Phelps’ Southwest Region.
- Isaac Gilles has been promoted to Operations Manager (Project Executive) from Project Manager and will oversee projects in Los Alamos, N.M., managed through the Phoenix office.
- Brendan Miller has been promoted to Operations Manager (Project Executive) from Project Manager and will lead operations for semiconductor manufacturing clients and associated projects in the Phoenix area.
14. Sandi Mecham has been promoted to Director of Property Management at Commercial Properties, Inc./CORFAC International. Mecham joined CPI’s Property Management division in 2021 and has two decades of commercial real estate experience. In her new role, she will oversee a team of 30 professionals managing more than 210 projects totaling more than 14MSF.
New Hires
15. Chamberlin + Associates recently hired Matthew McGeeas its new COO. McGee has nearly 20 years of experience in property management and has led vast portfolios across the United States.
16. Jesse Blum and Alex Demeroutis have joined CBRE’s Tucson office. Blum joins as Senior VP, previously having served at Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR and earlier spending more than seven years with CBRE after starting his career at Grubb & Ellis. He focuses on industrial leasing, sales and advisory services. Demeroutis joins as Senior Associate from Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, where she specialized in industrial leasing, acquisitions and dispositions in Southern Arizona.
17. Small Giants, LLC recently welcomed Stef Swiergol as Director of Operations and Thomas Rider as Web Strategist. Swiergol will oversee agency-wide operations and strategic planning, while Rider will lead website strategy and digital experience incentives for clients across the construction and commercial real estate industry.
18. Madhav Mundle has joined Consultant Engineering, Inc. as Senior Resident Engineer/Senior Project Manager. Mundle brings more than 30 years of experience overseeing major freeway and highway projects valued at more than $100M. He previously served as a Public Works Director for three and a half years and spent more than 20 years with the Arizona Department of Transportation. He is a registered professional engineer in Arizona and Texas.
19. Achen-Gardner Construction has rehired Erik Simms as a Senior Estimator.
Retirements/In Memoriam/Departures
20. Greg Brockman, Owner of Magnum Companies, has concluded his term as President of the National Ornamental & Miscellaneous Metals Association, capping 28 years of involvement with the organization. His leadership tenure coincides with a period of national recognition and growth for the Phoenix-based custom metal manufacturing firm.