Awards & Accolades
1. The Arizona Builders Alliance named Derek Wright, the President and CEO of Suntec Concrete, recipient of its Life Director Member of the Board recognition. Wright had a 12-year tenure on the ABA Board of Directors.
2. GCON Co-Founder and CEO Mike Godbehere has been named an EY US Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2026 Pacific Southwest Award winner. Godbehere was selected among nearly 1,000 program participants that included 592 finalists across 17 regions competing for the title. He will now be considered for the program’s national awards happening this November.
3. Sam Suwarno, Materials Project Manager, and Ben Jones, Senior Staff Engineer, at Terracon, have earned their Professional Engineer licenses in Arizona. Both have served as project managers with Terracon for seven years and have demonstrated exceptional technical expertise, leadership, and commitment to client service.
4. ConnectCRE recently announced its 2026 Next Generation Awards. Recipients include:
- Harrison Cole – Vestar;
- Brandon Vasquez – Diversified Partners;
- Kristian Brown – Cushman & Wakefield;
- Dylan Sproul – Transwestern;
- Mason Gates – Matthews Real Estate;
- Megan McInerney – Colliers;
- Brad Cohen – Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation;
- Stephanie Saccente – Lincoln Property Company;
- Austin Groen – CBRE, and
- Chase Dorsett – Newmark.
5. AZ Big Media announced its Top 10 industrial brokerage firms for 2026 as part of Ranking Arizona. The list consists of:
- NAI Horizon,
- ORION Investment Real Estate,
- Kidder Mathews,
- Colliers,
- LevRose Commercial Real Estate/TCN Worldwide,
- Marcus & Millichap,
- CBRE,
- Cushman & Wakefield and
- JLL.
6. As part of its annual Phoenix Rising: IFMA Excellence Awards & State of the Chapter program earlier this month, the IFMA Greater Phoenix Chapter issued several awards. The awards and recipients included:
- Lifetime Achievement, Jody Hawkins;
- Professional Member of the Year, Pete Peralta, Jr.;
- Associate Member of the Year, Danny Najarian (KES);
- FM Project of the Year, Town of Queen Creek;
- Rising Star, Shelton Dube;
- Committee of the Year, Sponsorship & Trade Show Committee, and
- Committee Member of the Year, Xarissa Merkley.
Promotions
7. CS Construction Inc. has promoted Ross Genenbacher to President and Zach Barnes and Chris Pearce to VPs.
8. Emily Allen has been promoted to CEO of Dekker. Allen succeeds Benjamin Gardner, who will transition to Managing Principal of the firm’s federal government studio. Most recently, Allen served as CFO. She joined Dekker as an intern 22 years ago and advanced through the company to its executive leadership.
9. Jeff Allen has been promoted to Senior VP, Americas West at Burns & McDonnell. Allen joined Burns & McDonnell more than 15 years ago, where he helped expand the firm’s self-perform construction capabilities and support the delivery of complex infrastructure projects for electric power, industrial and other critical infrastructure clients.
10. Christopher Shiota has been promoted to Senior VP at Land Advisors Organization. Shiota earned the promotion through his dedication to clients, market expertise and results. Tony Eaton, President at Land Advisors Organization, recognized Shiota’s skills leading to his promotion.
New Hires
11. Stacey Lemos has joined Tech Parks Arizona as CFO. Most recently, she served as Assistant VP/Comptroller at the University of Arizona, where she led accounting services, tax compliance, payroll operations and financial reporting. Lemos brings more than 30 years of financial leadership experience and previously served as CFO and Administrative Services Director for the Town of Oro Valley.
12. Rafael Construction welcomed Mike Crandall as Project Executive and Shayne Lovato as Senior Estimator in its Phoenix office. Crandall brings more than 20 years of industry experience and will help lead project execution, client relationships and business growth throughout Arizona. Lovato joins the company with extensive Arizona market knowledge and will oversee estimating and preconstruction efforts.
Retirements
13. Aubrey Roumo, Senior VP, Arizona, has retired from MGC Contractors, Inc. after decades with the company. Throughout his career, Roumo served as a trusted leader and mentor, helping deliver projects while supporting employees, clients and industry partners.