DPS welcomes James Favata to Phoenix office
Dekker Perich Sabatini (DPS) announces that James A. Favata has joined the company as a registered architect in the Phoenix office. James is a member of NCARB and AIA. He is also an accredited LEED AP BD+C professional. In his new role, James will focus on directing public and private projects in the residential, mixed use, student housing and hospitality segments across the country.
DPS is thrilled to add James to our Phoenix team. James is a graduate of New York Institute of Technology, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Technology. He brings with him over a quarter century of experience in the residential community market. James is collaborative, engaging and understands that a project is never just about the building. He combines his knowledge of project financing, trends, metrics and an in depth understanding of the surrounding community to support both the client and the future tenants. The resulting design solutions welcome people home with a greater sense of wellbeing, security, and comfort.
Fidelity National Title Agency promotes Diane Day
Fidelity National Title Agency announced that Diane Day, who possesses 36 years of title and escrow expertise, has been promoted to President/County Manager.
Day has been a vital member of Fidelity National Title’s leadership team for 14 years. She was promoted from Senior Vice President of Operations. Fidelity National Title operates a number of branches in the Valley.
Day’s primary responsibility was to manage and mentor each of the branch managers and their teams. Day’s 36 years in various facets of the title industry have given her insight and expertise in the commercial, residential, and builder arenas.
In her new role, Day will oversee the management of personnel, production, financial results, and market penetration for escrow and title related services. She will continue to manage and mentor branch teams as well as the ancillary departments at Fidelity National Title.
“Diane’s breadth of experience comes not only from holding positions such as Escrow Officer, Escrow Manager, and Operations Manager, but also from her philosophy of collaborative leadership,” said Jim John, Executive Vice President and Division Manager with Fidelity National Financial. “Her passion for title and escrow will continue Fidelity National Title Agency’s long track record of providing an unmatched customer experience.”
Visit Mesa returns to full strength
Visit Mesa, the regional destination marketing organization for Mesa, Arizona, announced it has returned to being fully staffed after operating with a reduced team for almost two years. Visit Mesa secured a full-time Brand Ambassador, responsible for content creation on Visit Mesa’s consumer-facing media accounts, a Group Services support position that will help with the increase in sports-related bookings in the destination, and an Office Administrator to manage the day-to-day ongoings of the DMO, which recently relocated to Downtown Mesa.
“Mesa as a destination is growing at an incredible rate and we’re trying to do our best to stay abreast of all that is happening and be able to effectively share our destination with clients, visitors and residents alike,” said Visit Mesa President and CEO Marc Garcia. “Our new team members share a refreshing energy and enthusiasm that we are embracing as the travel demand for Mesa, Arizona continues to spike,” said Garcia.
Sabrina Petroski joins the Visit Mesa team as their newest Brand Ambassador. The role serves to ensure the Mesa City Limitless® brand is distributed across all social media platforms and travel inspiration is served up daily on these streams. Petroski will also produce the company’s upcoming podcast, For the Love of Mesa, which will be recorded from Visit Mesa’s new podcast studio. As a native New Yorker, Petroski studied digital media production and journalism at State University of New York at New Paltz and went on to complete her master’s degree at Arizona State University in liberal studies with a focus in film and was the chief of production and assistant director of operations at real estate media company List Logix before joining Visit Mesa.
Audry Brinkman joins Visit Mesa as Executive Assistant Office Manager. She is a hospitality professional with seven years of hotel management, hospitality sales, and staff development.
She was recently with The Enchantment Group as a member of the sales team. Brinkman studied at San Jose State University and became the director of sales at Island Hospitality Management in San Jose, taking charge of daily sales activity for hotels. Brinkman also was the director of sales and marketing at Interstate Hotels & Resorts.
Kelly Gertino takes on the role of Group Sales and Services Coordinator and will be working with the Sports Sales and National Sales directors to support tournaments, group meetings, events, and conferences. Previously, Gertino worked as a travel consultant for Bluegreen Vacations in Indianapolis before moving to Alaska to work as office manager for manufacturing company Alaska Structures where she gained tradeshow experience. Gertino migrated to Arizona from Seattle where she last served as lead concierge at Greystar, where she managed key operations for a luxury high-rise apartment building.
Travel demand is returning just as Mesa announced the opening of Bell Bank Park powered by Legacy Sports USA, a 320-acre sports and event facility and is nearing completion of Cannon Beach, the first-ever surf park in Arizona. The nearly recession-proof youth and amateur sports market and growth of sports and athletic facilities in Mesa have helped spur on the organization’s growth. More efficient sales processes, elevated branding and targeted consumer marketing strategies are all being deployed as return of visitor-related traffic in the city is already being seen in increased occupancies and other key visitor industry benchmarks.”
Gallagher & Kennedy attorney elected to fellowship
Gallagher & Kennedy announced that shareholder Shannon L. Clark has been elected into The International Society of Barristers (ISOB), an invitation-only Fellowship of trial lawyers.
Shannon has dedicated his 22-year career to representing plaintiffs in the areas of catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death, including products liability, motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, medical and professional malpractice, elder abuse, commercial trucking, police misconduct, construction site accidents and insurance bad faith. Shannon also maintains a successful appellate practice.
In addition to his Fellowship in ISOB, Shannon is a member of the National Trial Lawyers Association, American Association for Justice, Arizona Association for Justice, Arizona Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness, Arizona’s Finest Lawyers, and Litigation Counsel of America. He also serves as the firm’s representative in Lawyers Associated Worldwide, an international network of locally respected law firms.
Shannon is an AV-Preeminent Rating by Martindale-Hubbell, named a Top 100 Trial Lawyer by The National Trial Lawyers, peer-selected in Arizona’s Finest Lawyers, and named a “Forty Under 40” by the Phoenix Business Journal. He is recognized by Southwest Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America for Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Litigation, Professional Malpractice Law, and Products Liability Litigation, in which Best Lawyers in America also named him the 2022 Phoenix Lawyer of the Year.
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