Ware Malcomb promotes Kevin Evernham and Eric Zitny
Ware Malcomb, an award-winning international design firm, today announced that Kevin Evernham has been promoted to Regional Vice President of Ware Malcomb’s Southwest Region and Eric Zitny has been promoted to Director, Regional Operations. In Evernham’s role, he joins the firm’s executive team and is responsible for the overall growth and management of the region, which includes the firm’s Phoenix, Dallas and Houston offices. In Zitny’s role, he oversees firm operations for the same region.
Evernham joined Ware Malcomb’s Phoenix office in 2012, as a Senior Project Architect and, six months later, was promoted to Regional Manager. In 2015, he was promoted to Regional Director and in 2017, to Principal. In the past year, he assumed leadership of Ware Malcomb’s Southwest Region and in partnership with his leadership team, grew the company’s Southwest Region nearly 100%.
Evernham earned his Bachelor of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and his Masters of Architecture from Arizona State University. He is a registered architect in all 50 U.S. States, and the District of Columbia. In addition, he is NCARB certified, a member of NAIOP and involved in many commercial real estate industry organizations. He recently spoke at the NAIOP I.CON West national industrial conference.
Adolfson & Peterson Southwest hires 5 and promotes 7
Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP), a national, family-owned construction management and contracting company, is expanding its Southwest office to meet rapid construction industry growth in the Southwest region.
“With Arizona construction employment expected to increase by 5.6% in the next two years, we carefully selected a strong team of construction professionals to uphold and strengthen our team to answer the industry’s growing demand,” said Rob Cortazzo, regional president of AP Southwest. “We’ve elevated some of the talented leaders within our team and added new talent to respond to market and client needs and accelerate our growth.”
Five individuals were hired to the team to help meet the increasing demand of construction employment. These following professionals bring impressive experience and fresh perspectives that compliment AP’s strides to expand:
• Molly Ahrens was hired as a Marketing Manager and will lead the creation of marketing materials, proposal and collateral materials, and marketing and communication copy for customer awareness and educational programs.
• Jason Axtell was hired as a Project Manager and works with project superintendents to lead projects up to $15 million. Axtell joins the Southwest team following his work with AP’s Gulf States region.
• Kristie Breeden was hired as a Project Manager II with more than 20 years of experience working in commercial, multi-family and residential construction. She will now manage projects, trade contractors and suppliers for projects up to $50 million.
• Cristian Gutierrez was hired as a Project Manager and supports project superintendents by overseeing projects and coordinating project partners to successfully complete projects up to $15 million.
• Mike Tompkins was hired as a Senior Superintendent and brings 45 years of diverse industry experience to the company. Tompkins will lead field operations, site safety and project partner coordination while providing functional and regional expertise to the AP team.
In addition to AP’s external hires, the following seven key team members were promoted to cultivate leadership and to support area clients as projects continue to ramp up:
• Zac Byard was promoted to Senior Superintendent following 11 years with the company. Byard will work alongside project managers to lead project teams and provide senior-level direction and construction oversight.
• Vince Castillo was promoted to Senior Project Manager and will apply 15 years of experience to successfully oversee multiple projects from groundbreaking to opening.
• Caleb Frost was promoted to Assistant Project Manager following his role as a Project Engineer for AP. He will support day-to-day activities for the project manager and superintendent while managing all project elements.
• Jonathon Harper was promoted to Assistant Project Manager and now works closely with field superintendents to review and prepare project materials and maintain close relationships with project partners.
• Steve Reamer has been promoted to Assistant Project Manager with three decades of experience and now supports the project manager and superintendent in day-to-day management activities while maintaining the daily organization and control of project elements.
• Kelly Salvione was promoted to Director of Project Operations and will be responsible for supporting project teams, ensuring project requirements are met, and improving and developing business operations.
• Joel Splinter has been promoted to Quality Control Manager and will leverage 30 years of industry experience to support the implementation of the quality assurance and quality control programs at AP’s project sites.
Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation board elects 3 new members
The Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation Board of Directors ratified the selection of three new members to their board of directors: Dr. Shaharyar Ashraf, Dr. Laila Hishaw and Julia Wacloff. The new members, each serving a three-year term, join current directors Dr. Bruce Spigner, Dr. Melanie Hull and Delta Dental of Arizona president and CEO Michael Jones.
Dr. Ashraf earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine in 2012. Since 2014, Dr. Ashraf has been the owner dentist of Tangerine Dental Group, a multi-provider dental office supported by Pacific Dental Services. Dr. Ashraf is a teaching faculty member and a subject matter expert in CAD/CAM dentistry. He has been affiliated with multiple national and local dental organizations, including the American Dental Association, Arizona Dental Association, Southern Arizona Dental Association, Southern Arizona New Dentists, Pima Dental Study Club, We Serve Foundation, Free Dentistry Day and Arizona Dental Mission of Mercy.
Dr. Hishaw is a change agent for children’s oral health and diversity in dentistry. She is a board-certified pediatric dentist and a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and International College of Dentists. Dr. Hishaw is a private-practice owner and author of the Amazon bestseller, Cavity Free Kids. She’s been featured on Discovery Health Channel for her role in diagnosing a rare disorder in her patient, and in multiple podcasts and publications. She currently serves on the ADA Presidential Task Force to Eliminate Barriers for Underrepresented Minorities into the Dental Profession and as a Delegate for the Southern Arizona Dental Society.
She is an alumnus of the ADA Institute for Diversity in Leadership. In 2018, Dr. Hishaw founded Diversity in Dentistry Mentorships Inc. a nonprofit committed to strengthening the diversity pathway from middle school to dental school through mentoring, educational and hands-on programming, and scholarships to youth and pre-dental students from African American/Black, Latinx, and Native American backgrounds. The organization has been featured in Yahoo! Finance, Black Enterprise, and ADA News.
Wacloff works with Arizona Department of Health Services leadership and management on a variety of public health functions as related to oral health and has been in her current position for ten years. She was responsible for developing the first comprehensive state oral health plan for Arizona. Prior to joining the Department, she served as an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Oral Health. There she participated as the lead epidemiologist for the Surveillance, Investigations and Research Team providing technical assistance and support to States with surveillance and research related to preventing oral diseases. Wacloff has over 20 years of experience in various public health settings providing needs assessment, policy development and quality assurance at local, state and national levels.
Wacloff has held various faculty positions in dental and dental hygiene institutions. She earned her master’s degree in Dental Public Health from Boston University; a Bachelor’s in Dental Hygiene Education from the University of Minnesota and holds certificates in epidemiology and dental hygiene.
“I am excited to have three people with the background, skill set and compassion like these community champions join the Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation Board,” said Jones, who is also chair of the Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation. “Our Foundation board will look to make an even greater impact on oral health by improving access to care and providing oral health education for underserved and uninsured Arizonans.”
In 2022, the Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation selected 29 non-profit organizations across the state as recipients of grants and dental supplies to improve the oral health of Arizonans. These funds, totaling $752,423, were awarded to support projects and services promoting good oral health practices and increasing access to dental care among underserved children, pregnant women and seniors.
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