Giving Back
1. The Terracon Foundation awarded a $7.5K grant to Arizona State University to support scholarships for civil engineering students enrolled in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. The funds will help cover tuition and other costs for Terracon Scholars pursuing civil engineering degrees.
Awards & Accolades
2. Valley Metro was named the American Public Transportation Association’s 2026 Outstanding Public Transportation System among agencies in the 15 million to 50 million annual passenger trip category. The award recognizes the agency’s improvements in ridership, service reliability, safety and customer experience. Valley Metro recorded more than 41.7 million passenger trips in FY26, an 8.7% increase from the previous year, while rider satisfaction reached 89%. Bus on-time performance increased to 90%, and rail on-time performance reached 81%.
3. Jamie Blakeman at Lokahi Group was named Arizona Capitol Times 2026 Women Achievers of Arizona Corporate Leadership Honoree.
4. Stardust Building Supplies was recently named the 2026 Sustainable Scottsdale Award honoree by the Scottsdale Environmental Advisory Commission. Stardust was awarded due to its deconstruction program’s environmental contributions.
Company News
5. Cavco Industries recently unveiled Grande Arbor – the first manufactured home platform constructed without a permanent steel chassis. This comes after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development altered its manufactured housing code, removing the requirement to include the permanent steel chassis.
6. Alston Construction announced it has relocated its Arizona Business Unit to 2190 E. Elliot Road, Suite 330, Tempe. Much of the growth fueling the move is attributed to the decision 18 months ago to add and expand its Mission Critical division. To support the continued growth, the company named Vince Graumann Operations Manager for its Arizona Business Unit. Graumann brings more than 20 years of industry experience and previously held roles focused on continuous improvement, team development and client relationships.
Promotions
7. Michael Crandall was promoted to VP at Rafael Construction, Inc. In his new role, Crandall will lead the company’s Arizona operations and oversee the continued growth of the Phoenix office.
8. Säzän Group has promoted Lucas Landreth to Director of Operations, AZ. Landreth joined Säzän Group in 2018. In his new role, he will lead office operations, deepen client relationships and support the growth of the Arizona presence.
9. Wespac Construction announced the promotion of seven team members. In the order they were submitted, the promotions consist of:
- David Rich to Senior Project Engineer from Project Engineer;
- Jack Call to Senior Project Engineer from Project Engineer;
- Johnny Read to Senior Project Engineer from Project Engineer;
- Jovani Almeida to Project Engineer from Estimating Project Engineer;
- Lucas Doerksen to Senior Project Engineer from Project Engineer;
- Mattson Heidemann to Project Manager from Senior Project Engineer, and
- Thomas Partin to Senior Project Engineer from Project Engineer.
New Hires
10. Jennifer Lindley has been hired as the Town of Gilbert’s next Economic Development Director. Lindley has more than 20 years of municipal leadership experience. She will start on Oct. 26.
11. Alcorn Construction appointed Dean Howard as Business Development Manager for its Arizona operations. Howard brings more than 20 years of business development, strategic market growth and economic development experience. He previously served as VP of Business Development at Chanen Construction.
12. Weems Asphalt has hired Daniel Castillo as Client Advisor and Kyle Kelly as Division Manager as part of its expansion into Southern Arizona. Castillo will focus on HOA and multifamily residential clients and oversee end-to-end project management, while Kelly will coordinate public works, private development and educational projects in the region.