California People: Updates About Construction Professionals for October 2018
Shannon Bartch has been promoted to regional leader for sports, recreation and entertainment with HOK in San Francisco. She has 15 years of experience as a project manager and designer of sports and recreation facilities. Projects include the Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin, Nev., and the Levine Fricke Softball Stadium at the University of California, Berkeley.
Hunvey Chen was named the regional leader of health care for HOK’s Los Angeles practice. She has participated in major projects including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Advanced Health Sciences Pavilion and the Ventura County Medical Center Hospital replacement wing. Outside of work, Chen is a member of the health care steering committee for the city’s chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
Fernando Garcia is the new grid modernization practice leader for HDR in its Irvine, Calif., office. He will partner with clients to implement new technologies and continue to support clients with innovative solutions for distributed energy resources, electrification of the transportation sector, distributed automation, data management, augmented reality and artificial intelligence. A power-industry professional for 15 years, he has been an HDR employee since 2012.
M. Craig Hall has been named senior vice president, general counsel, corporate compliance officer and secretary for Granite in Watsonville, Calif. He will be responsible for the general management of the company’s legal team and will participate in securities, corporate and board governance matters as well as compliance. With 26 years of legal experience, Hall was formerly with Oldcastle Inc., where he most recently served as deputy general counsel for Western operations.
Fred Parker has been promoted to director of operations of Gafcon Inc., where he will pursue strategic growth initiatives, process improvement and staff development for the company at it offices in San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange County. Previously with Balfour Beatty Construction, Parker will maintain his role in the field on the $450-million Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District bond program.
Ben Symons was appointed general manager for construction at Lendlease in Los Angeles. His extensive experience includes overseeing operations of privatized military housing projects such as Island Palm Communities and Hickam Communities in Hawaii and North Haven Communities in Alaska.
Michelle Tovar has joined Stantec as a principal biologist and will support the firm’s Northern California environmental services team in Sacramento. She has 14 years of experience working on infrastructure, passenger rail, renewable energy, habitat conservation and private development projects. Formerly a a senior biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she completed the regulatory compliance and permitting process for threatened and endangered species in California.
Charlotte Wiederholt has been named president of the studio unit at Tangram in Los Angeles. As the company’s creative director for 15 years, she has overseen its industrial design, engineering and customer service teams, which create workspaces that optimize employee creativity and productivity. Wiederholt’s clients have included the Boston Consulting Group, Saatchi & Saatchi, Juno Therapeutics, Imagine Entertainment and Loyola Marymount University.
