Saunders Construction Announces Leadership Changes
Saunders Construction has grown its leadership capacity with the recent promotions of several tenured leaders.
Ryan Balakas, a 17-year veteran at Saunders, has been promoted to vice president and general manager for Saunders Commerical Construction, LLC. Balakas served as vice president since 2015, growing the Express business unit, starting Saunders Norwood Construction, and recently overseeing several large commercial and healthcare projects. His efforts in furthering our risk management and continuous improvement efforts have significantly contributed to the company’s long-term success.
In addition, Dale Schneider will continue as the general manager of Saunders Express Services, LLC and add general manager for Saunders Concrete Structures, LLC. With a strong, tenured team in place, Schneider will provide executive support, leveraging his experience with sales, preconstruction and operations to support our established goals in the Concrete Structures work program.
In other leadership changes:
- Saunders added the role of area manager to the corporate organizational structure. Derek Breier, Nathan Wilks and Allan Williams have been promoted from construction manager to area manager, overseeing northern Colorado, the mountain region and Pikes Peak region, respectively. In their new roles, Breier, Wilks and Williams will assume work program oversight and organizational leadership responsibilities, and continue to expand our resources and client base for their regions.
- Curtis Underwood has been promoted to construction manager. Underwood’s role will support the Saunders Express and Commercial business units. He will also join the operations leadership group, which focuses on the continuous improvement, employee engagement and development of all Saunders operations.
- Sean Jackson has been promoted to general superintendent. Jackson has been in the construction industry since 2000 and with Saunders since 2019. He has worked on high-profile and technically complex projects and his expertise in project planning, including scheduling, safety, quality, and logistics, will be highly beneficial in this role.
- Matt Johnson has been hired as general superintendent. Johnson comes to Saunders with over 35 years of experience in the construction industry. He started his career working in the trades and progressively gained additional responsibilities. Johnson has a passion for project planning and mentoring up-and-coming operations team members.
Hoff & Leigh Continues Growth with New Broker
Hoff & Leigh Denver, a local commercial real estate company, announced the addition of Chris Camozzi as broker associate. Camozzi grew up in Lakewood and graduated from Bear Creek High School. He then pursued a career in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and was cast on season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter on SpikeTV. He also competed for Glory Kickboxing, PFL and Bare Knuckle Boxing (BKFC) where he is still competing today.
Aside from fighting professionally, Camozzi is an entrepreneur. He has owned retail stores where he also manufactured his equipment that was sold worldwide, and he owns and operates his training app “Jiu Jitsu on the Go.” Peering into the future and recognizing the finite duration of a professional athlete’s career, Camozzi is embarking on a new endeavor by pursuing a career as a commercial real estate broker.
“The skills that Chris utilized to become a world-class athlete are the same skills that are going to elevate him to the top of the Commercial Real Estate world,” said Brandon Langiewicz, Hoff & Leigh Denver branch president. “His work ethic, integrity, and drive are unmatched. We are excited and grateful to be part of the next phase of his journey.”
McWhinney Names Logan Sheffield Managing Director, Institutional Capital Markets
McWhinney, a national real estate investment, development and management firm with expertise in commercial, multifamily, hospitality, residential and mixed-use assets, announced the addition of Logan Sheffield to the leadership team as managing director of institutional capital markets.
In his new role, Sheffield leads efforts to raise funds that will support development projects in the pipeline and future initiatives. He will also work closely with the leadership team to provide strategic direction and the management of relationships within the institutional capital markets. Sheffield’s role involves overseeing the development and execution of comprehensive capital market strategies, fostering strong relationships with institutional clients, and driving initiatives to enhance the organization’s presence in the capital markets.
“We are excited to welcome Logan to the McWhinney team,” said McWhinney CEO, chair and co-founder Chad McWhinney. “His unique combination of private equity and entrepreneurial experience is a perfect match for McWhinney’s next phase of growth. Logan’s ability to structure deals and navigate the successes and challenges of daily operations will help move the company forward and ensure our fundraising efforts align with our purpose of creating places people love while supporting healthy relationships with our investors and growth in the regions we serve.”
Prior to joining McWhinney, Sheffield served as managing director of institutional capital market at Graceada Partners where he was responsible for their equity capital raising efforts. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Brigham Young University and his MBA from The Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.
St. John Properties Selects Jenna Kendall as Junior Construction Project Manager in Colorado
St. John Properties, Inc., a commercial real estate development and management company that operates 14 offices in 11 states, with a national portfolio valued at more than $5 billion, has selected Jenna Kendall as junior construction manager in the firm’s Colorado office. Kendall brings more than 24 years of project management experience to the company and was formerly project manager for DT Construct.
Kendall will handle a variety of construction management responsibilities for the company’s in-house construction division, with a primary focus on overseeing tenant build-out and tenant improvement activities. This includes interacting with design professionals and subcontractors to achieve successful outcomes. Kendall will also be involved with ground-up construction management activities for St. John Properties’ Simms Technology Park.
Throughout her career, Kendall has also handled project management activities for Katerra Construction and CFC Construction in Colorado. She earned a project management certificate from Colorado State University, as well as a computer science certificate from Metropolitan State University of Denver.
“Jenna is a well-rounded, highly-experienced and extremely motivated professional that is perfectly suited to successfully handle a diverse array of construction management activities, and we consider ourselves lucky to have her on our team,” explained Allen Rutherford, St. John Properties’ director of construction for Colorado. “With our active schedule of ground-up construction and tenant build-out activities, our office needed a self-starting and confident project manager that could make an immediate impact. Jenna’s strong relationships in and familiarity with the Denver area are also significant advantages.”
