Fairmont Scottsdale Princess GM Jack Miller earns top honor
Jack Miller, Regional Vice President and General Manager of the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess was recognized by Strategic Hotels and Resorts as 2022 General Manager of the year. This award was made more meaningful as Jack was selected to be honored among a prestigious group of leaders representing Strategic Hotel’s portfolio of brands, including Ritz Carlton, JW Marriott, Westin, Regent and Four Seasons. His accomplishments were many, with more than a decade of consistently exceptional performance at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, with all key metrics for top line revenues, profit, guest and colleague satisfaction consistently exceeded. This is the second time Miller has been honored this year; he was awarded the prestigious Drinkwater Leadership Award, colloquially known as Mr. Scottsdale, by Scottsdale Leadership. The award is given to those who exemplify excellence in the following areas – consistent community service and involvement, leadership and humanitarian values.
An active member of the hospitality industry, Jack has served as chairman of Experience Scottsdale,
Scottsdale, AZ’s convention and visitor’s bureau. He is also an active member of the Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association, and was instrumental in helping rebuild tourism for his hotel and community post- Covid, with the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess and the Scottsdale market experiencing one of the fastest recoveries post-pandemic shut-down in the country. During the pandemic, Miller instituted a program to feed meals to his furloughed staff; the hotel ended up providing more than 35,000 meals during the Covid shutdown. Miller was previously recognized by the American Hotel and Lodging Association as General Manager of the year in 2016, and as the InterContinental Hotels Group recognized him as General Manager of the year when he was General Manager of the InterContinental Miami in 2007.
Miller, together with his pioneering team, have activated the resort with legendary seasonal events, award winning restaurants and one of the top performing spas in the world. In 2010, the hotel launched Christmas at the Princess, a six week Christmas festival, which now hosts more than 250,000 guests annually. Christmas at the Princess helped Miller achieve his goal of establishing the Princess as
Scottsdale’s town square – the place for the community and travelers to celebrate holidays and milestones. During his tenure, the resort has also received multiple industry awards for its legacy events, meetings, incentive and leisure travel.
Big-D Construction adds to Arizona office
Big-D Construction announced it has expanded its presence in Arizona with the hiring of a director of preconstruction and a director of multi-family.
The general contracting firm’s Southwest office hired industry experts Rod Miller as director of preconstruction and Theresa Schultz as director of multi-family.
Miller will be responsible for assisting the preconstruction team serve Big-D Construction clients in the early stages of a project. This includes pricing, scheduling, and assisting design teams in conjunction with its trade partners.
Schultz will serve as director of Big-D Construction’s multi-family construction operations teams.
“Rod and Theresa bring large-project, development-minded experience to our rapidly expanding team,” said Big-D Construction Vice President Laura Shivers, LEED AP. “They exemplify a ‘uniquely helpful’ approach to work, and life in general. We are excited that they chose Big-D.”
Miller previously worked at Ryan Companies US for 7 years where he served as director of preconstruction and preconstruction manager.
A native of El Salvador, Miller grew up in California and New Jersey. He holds a BS in construction management from Arizona State University. He is a member of the Arizona Builders Alliance (ABA). He and his wife give back to the community helping refugees through several non-profit organizations in the Valley.
Schultz previously worked at Ryan Companies US for 8 years, and at Opus West Corporation for 12 years. She served as senior project manager and director of construction at Ryan. Schultz served as project manager and director of construction at Opus West.
Dermody Properties hires Samantha Fonda
Dermody Properties, a national private equity real estate investment, development and management company focused exclusively on the logistics real estate sector, has hired Samantha Fonda as Vice President, Investor Relations. Fonda started on February 27, 2023, and she is responsible for supporting all aspects of the company’s business related to investor relations, fund strategy and capital execution. Fonda reports to Kathleen Briscoe, Partner and Chief Capital Officer, and works closely with both Briscoe and Tyler Scheppmann, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations.
“I’m thrilled to join the team at Dermody Properties and about the opportunity to work with our valued investors,” said Fonda. “The company’s reputation for excellent customer service and its customer-centric philosophy are truly inspiring.”
Prior to joining Dermody Properties, Fonda held several positions at Avison Young. Most recently, she served as Director of U.S. Sales Enablement with a focus on identifying and executing new business opportunities for a variety of services. She was also the Operations Manager in the Chicago market, responsible for defining operational policies, enhancing service delivery for internal departments and liaising with executive leadership to maximize client results.
Earlier in her career, she spent four years with JLL in Seattle and Chicago, where she worked closely with brokers to develop sales strategies and execute new business pursuits. Fonda has also held sales and operations positions at The Atlantic and BAV Consulting (part of Y&R Group).
“Samantha is a perfect fit for this role,” said Briscoe. “Her experience in the industry will be an invaluable asset to Dermody Properties as well as to our partners and investors.”
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