Awards & Accolades
1. AZ Big Media has released the 2025 Ranking Arizona list of Top 10 Landscape Architects. The top firms are as follows:
- ABLA,
- TRUEFORM landscape architecture studio,
- EPS Group,
- T.J. McQueen and Associates,
- Logan Simpson Design,
- Coe & Van Loo Consultants,
- Studio DPA,
- G.K. Flanagan Associates,
- CollectiV Landscape Architects and
- SmithGroup.
2. AZ Big Media released the 2025 Ranking Arizona list of Top 10 Landscape Contractors. The top firms are as follows:
- Earthscapes,
- Caretaker Landscape and Tree Management,
- Ventana Outdoor Living,
- AAA Landscape,
- Grounds Control,
- AME Landscape Companies,
- Berghoff Design Group/BDG Maintenance,
- Creative Environments Design, Pool Spa & Landscape,
- ELS Maintenance & Construction and
- Gothic Landscape.
3. AZ Big Media released the 2025 Ranking Arizona list of Top 10 Capital and Finance Companies. The winners were:
- 1st American Commercial Lending,
- Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation,
- CBRE Capital Markets Debt & Structured Finance,
- Colliers,
- Walker & Dunlop,
- Arizona Financial Credit Union,
- Tower Capital,
- STORE Capital,
- Churchill Commercial Capital and
- JLL.
4. Area Development Magazine bestowed the Gold Shovel award upon Arizona. Arizona won the award in the five-to-eight million population category. Arizona has been awarded a Golden Shovel for five consecutive years. Additionally, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s third fab expansion was named one of the Manufacturing Projects of the Year.
Boards & Commissions
5. Pima County Economic Development Director Heath Vescovi-Chiordi has been chosen President-Elect of the Arizona Association for Economic Development. His term began June 1. He will serve alongside AAED’s Executive Committee for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
New Hires
6. Greg Abrams has been named Senior VP of Land Acquisition for Brookfield Residential’s Arizona division. He will oversee land strategy and acquisition efforts statewide, drawing on more than two decades of experience in the region’s residential real estate market.
7. Claudia Christo has joined CVL Consultants as Director of Water/Wastewater. She has 24 years of experience in surveying, infrastructure master planning, utility operations support, capital improvement planning and the design and construction of water and wastewater systems.
8. Rob Primera has been hired as Director of Business Development at Austin Companies after serving as a vendor partner for Austin Electric Services for years. He has more than 30 years of experience in construction, technology integration and builder program development.
9. James Steele has been appointed as PREMIER Design + Build Group’s new General Superintendent for the Southwest Region. Steele has decades of experience in construction and leadership. His new position will have him supporting field teams and acting as a mentor.
10. DLR Group has hired Melissa Alexander as a Principal and Higher Education Leader. She has more than 20 years of experience in architecture, campus planning and capital management and is a member of the International Interior Design Association.
11. Jeremy Kotter has joined Gensler’s Phoenix office as Project Director. He brings 23 years of experience managing a range of project types and leading large teams through design and delivery.
12. Kelly Button has joined CBRE’s Tucson office as an Associate focused on leasing and sales in the office market. She previously spent nearly 20 years at Long Realty Company, serving a wide range of clients across southern Arizona.
13. Lloyd Sports + Engineering announced Abby Schmidt has joined the Lloyd team as a summer intern for 2025. Schmidt is a fourth-year Landscape Architecture student at Arizona State University.