WHO’S NEWS: New co-chairs at BTEA; Marvin Meltzer moves to EDI International

The Building Trades Employers’ Association (BTEA) announced that Richard Kennedy, Chief Operating Officer of Skanska USA, and Joe Leo, President of Atlantic Contracting & Specialties, LLC, have been elected by the association’s Board of Governors to serve as the new Co-Chairmen.

Richard Kennedy is the Chief Operating Officer for Skanska USA Building’s operations in Metro New York and a member of the company’s national Senior Leadership Team.

RICHARD KENNEDY

He serves as the company’s Ethics Champion and the executive sponsor of Skanska’s Healthcare Center of Excellence.

Kennedy has also served as a Board Member of several Skanska affiliates, currently as a director of Skanska USA Commercial Development.

A 21-year veteran of the construction industry, Kennedy joined Skanska in 2004 and has overseen some of Skanska’s most high-profile projects in recent years, including the $1.7 billion United Nations Capital Master Plan renovation project and the $1.2 billion MetLife Stadium project.

Currently, he is leading the Skanska-led design-build joint venture for the region’s largest Public-Private Partnership (P3) to replace the Central Terminal Building at LaGuardia Airport.

Joe Leo is president of Atlantic Contracting & Specialties, LLC. Atlantic specializes in mechanical insulation, abatement, and firestop systems within the commercial and industrial markets.

JOE LEO

Leo oversees all project operations, safety, labor relations, and business development for Atlantic’s locations in New York City, Fishkill, Albany, Syracuse, Hartford and Boston.

Leo has spent 18 of his over 37 years in the construction industry with Atlantic. He has overseen the construction of many of high profile projects in New York City including the World Trade Center’s Transportation Hub, Columbia University, Fordham Law School, the Croton Water Pollution Control Plant, the new Astoria ll co-generation power plant, One Bryant Park, and The New School’s University Center.

Leo is President of the Insulation Contractor’s Association of New York City (ICA), Treasurer of the Insulation Contractor’s Association of Southern New York (ICASNY), and Secretary of the Subcontractors Trade Association (STA).

••• WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff has announced several new appointments to the leadership team of its U.S. buildings sector as well as the establishment of a new buildings executive team. The additions to the Buildings Leadership Team are Herbert Els, Mark Warren, Nolan Rome and Tom Marseille.The Executive Team will consist of David Cooper, Steve Burrows, Rick Rome, Jeff Smilow, and John BredehorstSpecific Buildings Leadership Team roles include: David Cooper (New York City) – President of Buildings and Northeast Region leader Steve Burrows (San Francisco) – Director of Buildings and Western Region leader Rick Rome (Dallas) –Southeast Region leader John Bredehorst (New York City) –national leader of Building Systems (mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection disciplines) Jeff Smilow (New York City) –national leader of Building Structures Herbert Els (Denver) – national leader of our Specialist Practices (Technology Systems, Architectural Lighting, Building Enclosures, Acoustics and Built Ecology) Mark Warren (Boston) – national client engagement leader Nolan Rome (Phoenix) – national business development leader Tom Marseille (Seattle) – national sustainability leader.

••• With EDI International preparing for a major expansion in the New York City market, the firm has added two design veterans with extensive experience working in what might be the country’s most difficult development arena, announced Victor A. Mirontschuk, EDI’s founder and chairman.

MARVIN MELTZER

Marvin H. Meltzer brings 40 years of award-winning experience in both luxury and affordable multi-family development, special-needs, and commercial-to-residential design in and around the city. His long list of awards includes the 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award from The New York Society of Architects for “an illustrious career that has added to the betterment of Architecture in New York City.” EDI also has recruited Meltzer’s long-time associate, David J. Stuart, as senior project manager. Stuart brings 15 years’ experience in the design and realization of multi-family and mixed-use projects, and has directed design teams for more than 20 projects in New York and the surrounding metropolitan area. Meltzer’s prior firm, Meltzer/Mandl Architects, was noted for designing signature projects in undiscovered neighborhoods. The firm also excelled at designing projects on irregular sites and/or sites with challenging topography.

••• Thornton Tomasetti announced that James S. Cohen, P.E., a senior vice president in the firm’s New York Wall Street office, has been admitted to the Loss Executives Association (LEA) as an associate member. He has more than 35 years of experience in forensic engineering, failure investigation, emergency response, repair and rehabilitation. The LEA is dedicated to the advancement and education of property loss consulting professionals and provides a forum in which current issues can be discussed and examined. Cohen’s work includes forensic engineering investigations of structural failures of all types, including buildings, scaffolding, and tower cranes, arising during design and construction through demolition.He also performs investigation and repair design for historic structures, emergency response, and assessment of hurricane, flood, seismic, snow/ice and blast damage. He has provided expert testimony for many collapse and engineering-related litigation projects.Cohen is the founder and chair of the Committee on Demolition Engineering, Structural Engineering Institute, ASCE, and of the Constructed Environment Preservation Engineering Committee, Architectural Engineering Institute, ASCE. Cohen received a bachelor’s degree in civil and structural engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, and a master’s degree in concrete structures from Imperial College London in the U.K.

••• Madeleine Stolper, an expert in urban planning and development, has joined Levien & Company as a project manager, announced Kenneth Levien, FAIA, president of the firm. In her new role, Stolper oversees a 25,000 s/f warehouse renovation and two independent school projects.

MADELINE STOLPER

Previously, Stolper served as an associate of acquisitions and development at The Georgetown Company. During her tenure there, she managed nearly $200 million in development projects and executed acquisitions in excess of $250 million.| Among the projects she managed were the ground-up construction of a KIPP charter school in the Bronx and the development of an office complex and retail power center in Columbus, Ohio. Stolper holds a M.S. degree in real estate development from Columbia University and a B.A. in urban studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

••• Dagher Engineering announced the promotion of Joseph Munafo, LEED GA, to Associate Principal. Marking 10 years with the building systems design firm, he joins principals Elias Dagher, Richard Pearson and Josephine Zurica on its leadership team. A native New Yorker, Munafo earned a degree in Aerospace Engineering from Polytechnic University (now NYU Tandon School of Engineering) before entering the building systems field, initially as a plumbing and fire protection specialist. Since joining Dagher in 2005, Munafo has designed systems for a wide range of projects in the New York metropolitan area, including parks, academic buildings, healthcare facilities, residential buildings, commercial office buildings and retail space. As a project manager, he has spearheaded numerous high profile projects: renovation of New York City schools, development of new park lands for Hudson Park and Boulevard in Manhattan, and the redevelopment of Governor’s Island. Munafo’s recent project, 35XV, a new luxury residential tower that sits atop Xavier High School, received a 2016 Platinum Award for engineering excellence from the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACEC NY). Munafo has served 12 years on ACEC NY’s Plumbing Codes, Fire Codes, and the New York City School Construction Authority committees. He is also Vice President of the American Society of Sanitary Engineering’s New York Chapter.

••• Skanska USA has hired Jody Fisher as Vice President, Media & Content. He will be based in the Skanska USA’s flagship office located in the Empire State Building in New York City.

JODY FISHER

An award-winning publicist with more than 20 years of corporate and consulting experience in New York and national media markets, Fisher will play a critical role at Skanska USA in developing and executing internal and external communications strategies to support the company’s business objectives with a particular focus on national media relations. In his newly created role, Fisher will also ensure the company’s local media efforts across the country are aligned with Skanska USA’s national media strategy. Fisher is well-versed in the construction industry, having played pivotal communications roles for Silverstein Properties at the World Trade Center, Brookfield Properties at Manhattan West/Hudson Yards, Fisher Brothers, Tishman Construction, Vornado Realty Trust, Plaza Construction and the New York Wheel. As a counselor in strategic communications, public relations and reputation management, he has been the creator of publicity programs for a wide variety of clients including NewsCorp, BMW and KeySpan/National Grid. Fisher helped lead the public relations campaign for the acquisition and arrival of the Space Shuttle Enterprise to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in 2012. His work with the Fisher House Foundation and Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund helped catapult these organizations to elite status among military charities. Fisher began his New York City media career as a radio reporter for stations including WINS-AM and WCBS-AM. He is a graduate of Fordham University. ••• The New Jersey Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA-NJ) announced that John A. Cwikla, AIA, has been installed as the organization’s secretary during AIA-NJ’s annual awards gala at the Park Savoy in Florham Park, N.J. Cwikla has been an active member of AIA-NJ for 20 years and has served as a member of several organization committees. He also served as AIA-NJ’s Regional Associates Director, a national position, and as chair of AIA-NJ’s Emerging Professionals committee. Cwikla is a project architect with Potter Architects, LLC, a third-generation architectural firm, in Union, NJ. Since joining the firm in 1995, he has led design for a wide variety municipal, school and private projects. Mr. Cwilka, a LEED-accredited professional, also serves as the firm’s in-house Information Technology Director. Cwikla graduated from the architecture program at Spring Garden College in Philadelphia, PA, with a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1992.

••• Lilker Associates Consulting Engineers has promoted ten of its MEP Engineering and Technology Solutions staff in Manhattan. The following employees have been named Associate: Boris Salazar, P.E., LEED AP, and Adam Samuelson, P.E., LEED CEM, Mechanical department; Jim Glemboski, Mike Putnam, P.E., LEED GA, and Alex Sichel, P.E., Electrical department; and Julio Crespo and Alina Zaccarelli, Sanitary and Fire Protection department. Several engineers and designers were also given new titles. Liz Liszanckie was named Senior Designer for the Technology Solutions Group. In the MEP group, Keith Lunkenheimer, LEED AP, was promoted to Project Engineer and Josh Gormley was promoted to Engineer.

••• MAST Construction Services, Inc. announced the hire of three new project managers, Eric Chait, Jozef S. Greczek and Michael Sidoti. Chait, Greczek and Sidoti have taken on project management and oversight responsibilities within the 15-year-old company. As a project manager, Eric Chait has completed two renovation projects at Hudson County Community College (HCCC) in Jersey City and currently is involved with the construction of the college’s new $30 million Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) building. Prior to working at MAST, Chait, who earned his bachelor degree from New York University’s College of Arts & Sciences and master’s degree from Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Management, worked as an operations manager for the State of New Jersey Judiciary, where he spent 11 years in operations and facilities management for the State of New Jersey. As part of the MAST team, Jozef  S. Greczek currently is the on-site project manager for an addition and renovations project at the $16 million Anna L. Klein Elementary School in Guttenberg, New Jersey. Greczek’s earlier position was as a general superintendent and includes 14 years of experience managing multi-million-dollar construction and renovation projects throughout the New York Metropolitan Area. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Monmouth University and an OSHA 10 certification in Construction Safety & Health Administration. Project manager Michael Sidoti is focused on the construction of the new $30 million Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics building at Hudson County Community College. Before joining with MAST, Sidoti was a project superintendent/project manager and spent 14 years as a construction manager. Sidoti has a bachelor degree from Pace University.

TROY VAZQUEZ-CAIN

••• Hausman LLC, an integrated communications firm serving the architecture/engineering/construction industries, has announced the promotion of Troy Vázquez-Cain to vice president. Previously Director of Client Relations, Vázquez-Cain joined the award-winning firm in 2012, having nearly 20 years of experience in marketing and public relations in fields ranging from hospitality and luxury goods to financial services and fashion.

Source: Real Estate Weekly