California & Northwest People: Updates About Construction Professionals for October 2020
Tony Rango was hired as president of Suffolk’s West region. Rango will lead operations in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego and expand Suffolk’s California presence. He previously held leadership positions for more than 22 years at Webcor Builders, where he served as executive vice president and chief operating officer.
R&H Construction, Portland, Ore., hired Kenny Herrera as environmental, health and safety director. Herrera will oversee the company’s safety operations and lead its environmental, health and safety program. He has held senior level positions for the past 16 years, most recently as Intel’s global construction EHS manager, overseeing up to 22,000 construction workers annually. He is a certified safety professional.
Brandon Kluzniak was named project manager II for HNTB Corp. Based in Los Angeles, Kluzniak will focus on geotechnical field work and design delivery for SoCal’s XpressWest project, which includes more than 130 miles of high-speed passenger rail. Kluzniak’s public-sector experience includes geotechnical design roles on such transportation megaprojects as Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor, the new Gerald Desmond Bridge at the Port of Long Beach and high-speed rail from Fresno to Bakersfield.
Ware Malcomb has promoted Sergio Valentini to director, architecture, in Los Angeles, where he will manage the architecture studio and oversee all Los Angeles architecture projects. Valentini joined Ware Malcomb last year and previously worked at major firms in London and Chicago on international and domestic projects in the high-rise office, mixed-use, entertainment, aviation, residential and hospitality sectors.
Taylor Design hired Teresa Endres and Ian Lawlor as project directors in Sacramento and San Francisco, respectively. With more than 25 years’ experience, Endres has managed more than 25.5 million sq ft of projects with a total construction cost of more than $18 billion. She serves as chair of the Central Valley chapter’s AIA Academy of Architecture for Health (AAH) and is a member of the AIA National AAH Advisory Group. Lawlor has more than 30 years of experience as a project architect, manager and coordinator in the planning, detailing and construction of large-scale, complex health care and academic projects. Before joining Taylor Design, Lawlor was a project director for Stantec (formerly Anshen+Allen).
Jamie Kolkey was named Kennedy Jenks’ operations manager for Northern California for the water business unit. She will be responsible for operations and leadership of five offices in the firm’s water sector: Sacramento, Walnut Creek, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Santa Rosa. Earlier this year, Kennedy Jenks named Kolkey to the board of directors.
Edward Axt has returned to WSP USA as the senior engineering manager for transit and rail in Sacramento. Axt, who began his career with the firm, will oversee transportation planning and engineering projects, including transit planning, light rail transit and bus rapid transit feasibility studies, alternatives analysis of transit systems and high-capacity transit master plans.
Ryan Cos. promoted Bret Jordan to Northwest regional president. Jordan joined the company in 2017 and formerly served as senior vice president/market leader. His work includes Kirkland Urban, a Kaiser Permanent facility in Renton, Wash., and the in-progress senior living community Wesley Tehaleh.
The California Construction and Industrial Materials Association (CalCIMA) named Robert Dugan as president and CEO. Dugan has more than 35 years of experience working in the state legislature, lobbying for construction, utility and academic institutions at the local, state and federal levels. Most recently, he served as vice president of advocacy and public affairs for the Associated General Contractors of California. Previously, he was director of government affairs for Granite Construction in Northern California.
Neal Electric, a subsidiary of Meruelo Enterprises Inc., has promoted Sam Passanisi to president. Passanisi, who has been with the company for 16 years, most recently worked as vice president of service and special projects, which encompassed public- and private-sector projects, complex contract negotiations and design-build delivery.
After 40 years with the company, longtime Hathaway Dinwiddie executive Gordon Smith will retire, effective January 2021. Meanwhile, Hathaway promoted Kevin O’Riordan to executive vice president. O’Riordan is a 35-year Hathaway veteran who helped lead the Northern California special projects group and establish Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Co.’s Seattle office. He will oversee the Silicon Valley and San Francisco offices as Smith transitions into retirement. Hathaway also has promoted Sara Carmody, who has worked for the firm for 21 years, to senior vice president. Her work includes construction of more than 5 million sq ft in South San Francisco, Brisbane and the greater peninsula. Carmody will continue to oversee Hathaway Dinwiddie’s life science sector in Northern California.
Cupertino Electric Inc. (CEI) has promoted former senior vice president of operations Brett Boncher to chief operating officer. Boncher spent the last 25 years at CEI in operationally focused roles, delivering some of the largest data center, renewable and commercial projects the company has built to date. Boncher will be responsible for the company’s day-to-day operations and oversee commercial, renewable, utility and data center project divisions.
In its Los Angeles office, Clune Construction promoted Irving Calderon and Paul Holzschuh. Calderon was promoted to vice president, project executive and has more than 28 years’ experience managing projects in entertainment and media, law, banking and hospitality. Holzschuh has been promoted to vice president, project executive. His 26 years of experience includes overseeing entertainment and media and law firm projects.
