Giving Back
1. Achen-Gardner Construction, Southwest Gas, Arizona 811 and the Arizona Corporation Commission celebrated Trench Safety Week by visiting construction sites to reinforce safe trenching practices.
2. Brycon recently announced the results of its annual backpack drive. This year, Brycon was able to fill and deliver 100 fully assembled backpacks with essential school supplies for students.
Awards & Accolades
3. Andrew Bloom, founder of BVO Luxury Group and a longtime partner of Fidelity National Title Agency, recently celebrated 30 years in Arizona real estate. Bloom has closed more than 3,000 transactions totaling $1.6B in volume. He was inducted into Arizona’s $1B sales club in 2020 and has mentored thousands of agents during his career.
4. Achen-Gardner Construction announced it is proud to be a part of the 2025 Engineering News Record’s Top 400 Contractors. ESS Companies recently ranked #33 on the ENR’s Top Domestic Heavy Contractors list and #109 on the Top 400 Contractors list. The announcement said the milestone belongs to the teams that made it happen — Achen-Gardner Construction, Emery Sapp & Sons, Rummel Construction and Premier Testing Laboratories.
5. Magnum Companies earned a Bronze Award in Unusual Ornamental at the National Ornamental & Miscellaneous Metals Association 2025 Top Job Awards for “Octavia’s Garden.” The firm was also ranked No. 5 among the Top 10 Public Art Fabricators globally by CODAworx.
Boards & Commissions
6. Tempe City Councilmember Jennifer Adams has been appointed Chair of the Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority Board and Vice Chair of the Valley Metro Board of Directors.
7. El Mirage Mayor Alexis Hermosillo was recently elected chair of the Maricopa Association of Governments Regional Council. Hermosillo said her number one priority is to ensure the success of Proposition 479.
Company News
8. Lukrom has launched a private credit fund available through Broker-Dealers and Registered Investment Advisors. The firm partnered with American Alternative Capital as Managing Broker-Dealer and secured a third-party due diligence report from FactRight LLC to support the offering.
Promotions
9. Jimmy Tometich has been promoted to Executive VP at Layton Construction, where he will lead Arizona operations alongside Executive VP of Preconstruction Andrew Geier. Tometich succeeds David Blaser, who is retiring after 20 years with the firm. Tometich brings 22 years of construction experience spanning office, industrial, hospitality, multifamily and utility projects.
10. Mark Koechling has been promoted to Principal and Health Studio Leader at SmithGroup in Phoenix. He will lead the studio’s healthcare projects and business development efforts.
11. Ryan Park has been promoted to Director of Construction at Stevens-Leinweber Construction. He will oversee the firm’s metro Phoenix ground-up and tenant improvement pipeline totaling nearly 12MSF, along with supervising project management and field teams.
New Hires
12. Chris Camacho, the soon-to-be former President and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, announced he is transitioning from his role at GPEC to become the Senior VP of Global Expansion at Axon. Camacho will retain his position with GPEC until August.
13. Matt Brandon has started work as the newly appointed Economic Development Manager for Maricopa County. In a recent meeting of the Economic Development Committee, Brandon discussed his role in supporting regional efforts around infrastructure, air quality and workforce development, and emphasized collaboration with West Valley cities and WESTMARC’s target industry strategies.
14. George Maravilla and Noah Schott have joined JLL as Managing Director and Director, respectively, on the National Build-to-Rent Capital Markets team. Maravilla has more than 20 years of experience in BTR financing and private equity and closed $2B in construction financing and joint venture equity for more than 50 communities. Schott has been involved in $600M of debt and equity placement for BTR projects and will focus on expanding the firm’s advisory services nationwide.
15. Pat Boyle has rejoined CBRE in Phoenix as Executive VP, specializing in landlord representation for office properties. Boyle previously worked for Cushman & Wakefield andhas completed more than 500 lease transactions totaling 8.5MSF. Erin York also joined CBRE as an Account Manager supporting the office leasing team.
16. Kathryn Hixson has joined B&F Contracting as Project Manager in the Phoenix Division. She will oversee public works wet utility construction projects across Arizona.
17. John Medcalf has joined Page Southerland Page as Associate Principal and Director of Healthcare in the Phoenix office. Medcalf has more than 20 years of architecture experience in the healthcare, education and commercial sectors.