Giving Back
1. Facings of America announced it exceeded its $60K fundraising goal for its 2023 Design for Dogs event supporting the Arizona Animal Welfare League & SPCA. In addition to other activities, the event featured a doghouse design + build competition made up of 16 teams from several leading firms. In total, this year’s event raised $86.2K.
2. Lōkahi Traffic Engineering/Lōkahi Teams launched scholarship programs earlier this year for area high school students and honored eight scholarship winners on April 28. The program was open to Arizona students who plan to attend college in the fall of 2023.
Awards & Accolades
3. Ernst & Young LLP has announced that EPS Group CEO Kathey Wagner was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 Pacific Southwest Award finalist. Wagner was selected by an independent panel of judges. Entrepreneurs were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.
Company News
4. Bowman Consulting Group Ltd. announced the purchase of Fisher Engineering, Inc., a professional services firm specializing in customized fire protection and life safety engineering for public and private customers. Fisher’s workforce of 24 professionals, including Principal Fire Protection Engineer and Co-Founder Doug Fisher, will join Bowman in connection with the acquisition.
5. Valley Partnership has launched a search for a new CEO, and a committee has been formed to oversee the selection process. Cheryl Lombard, the organization’s president and CEO since 2015, will be leaving her position next month. Lombard has accepted a new role with ClearPath to oversee the group’s regulatory reform work to reduce and remove global energy emissions.
Promotions
6. Wendy Cohen was recently named President and CEO of Kitchell Corporation. Cohen is only the fifth CEO in the company’s 73-year history and the first female in the role. Cohen moves into the role vacated by Jim Swanson, who retires from Kitchell after 15 years in the President & CEO role. Cohen was chosen based on her successful leadership of Sacramento-based Kitchell CEM, Kitchell’s construction management company, where she has served as President since 2020.
7. Scott Lomax has been promoted to VP, Senior Superintendent at Clune Construction. He began his work with the company as a Superintendent in the New York office in 2019 and relocated to Phoenix shortly after.
New Hires
8. The Town of Paradise Valley has chosen former Tempe City Manager Andrew Ching to serve as Town Manager. Ching is scheduled to begin his new role June 19.
9. Michelle Kelly has been hired to serve as VP of Marketing and Business Development at Shepley Bulfinch.
10. Jodi James has been hired as Director of Business Development at SDB Contracting Services.
11. Kyoko Iwasaka has recently joined Childers Architect as a Senior Project Designer.
12. Brandon Mugrage has joined W.E. O’Neil Construction as Project Superintendent.
13. Trista Snyder has been hired at Rose Law Group where she will serve as an Attorney in the firm’s Real Estate Transactions and Business and Corporate Transactions practice groups.