Balfour Beatty’s  Arizona operations have established a well-earned reputation as the contractor of choice for large-scale hospitality projects, including the ongoing Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort at Gainey Ranch and past work like Mountain Shadows Resort and The Fairmont Scottsdale. While Balfour Beatty’s hospitality market leadership continues building on this momentum, Allison also sees Arizona as a strategic growth market for many other sectors and is committed to finding new avenues for opportunity.

“Like in other parts of the country, many Arizona developers are diversifying portfolios and adjusting to our status as a hub of commercial mixed-use developments, retail and entertainment destinations and other rapid growth markets like data centers,” Allison adds. “Balfour Beatty is well-positioned to take on these growth areas and more.”

Allison is originally from Northern California east of the Bay Area, but became an Arizona State University Sun Devil and  received her bachelor’s degree in communications and business. Throughout her career, she has participated in multiple professional organizations and committees, including the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the Urban Land Institute’s Women’s Leadership Initiative (ULI-WLI) and the Arizona Association of Economic Development (AAED).

“Allison is a fantastic addition to our team in Arizona,” says Vice President Jay McQuarie. “She has an innate sense of client relationship-building and advocacy and a unique drive to see our clients connected to the teams and project solutions that best suit their needs.”

Today, Landon leads a team that, though based in California, is actively leaving an indelible mark on our preconstruction practices nationwide. Landon is also Balfour Beatty’s foremost expert on DESTINI Estimator and spearheaded its implementation over eight years ago.

While Landon and his team continue to test new and exciting AI-powered preconstruction tools, they still churn out more than 200 estimates per year, constantly driving down risk for our clients and trade partners.

From Trade Partnerships to Estimating Prowess

Landon attributes much of his estimating success to his roots in the trades, where he first worked as a metal stud framer and experienced the many ways that inaccurate estimating can result in cost escalations or delays that directly impact trade partners. After transitioning to the world of estimating, he brought this ground-level knowledge of the jobsite to bear.

It can be easy for estimators without that experience to overlook the granularity of a jobsite’s day-to-day activities and materials – how many tubes of caulk will be needed on a project? How many screws? How many cans of paint?

“At Balfour Beatty, we’ve created a culture where we expect that kind of precision as a higher degree of service to our clients,” Landon says. “Most of our estimators also come from the subcontracting world, so they understand the value of minute detail.”

While pursuing ever more accurate estimates is a clear benefit to our client, Landon’s and others’ trade backgrounds also ensure that our preconstruction teams have a clear window into our trade partners’ interests in achieving mutually beneficial goals.

“Large contractors can fall into a mindset that small preconstruction inaccuracies ‘come out in the wash,’ but we know better,” Landon adds. “Not only does that mentality betray our mission to deliver lean project solutions for our clients, but it lets down our trade partners for whom small changes can have outsized impacts.”

Embracing DESTINI

Collaboration – within, with clients and with design and trade partners – is at the core of Balfour Beatty’s behaviors as a company. When Landon first encountered the possibility of an even more collaborative and virtually accessible preconstruction environment via DESTINI Estimator, he seized the opportunity with the full support of company leadership.

At a base level, DESTINI provides a powerful tool for parametric estimating, able to extrapolate future estimates based on Balfour Beatty’s ever-expanding database of current and historical costs. In a time of persistent market volatility, owners increasingly rely on “napkin sketch” estimates during the earliest phases of project planning.

By implementing DESTINI Estimator, Balfour Beatty makes “napkin sketch” calculations as reliable as possible, and the following more concrete estimates are faster and more collaborative than ever.

“Many of our projects follow a collaborative alternative delivery contracting model like design-build or CM at-Risk, which already universally enhances collaboration between our team, the client and our design partner,” Landon says. “Using DESTINI combined with powerful 3D modeling tools, our preconstruction team and design partners can generate hypothetical sub-estimates in minutes, testing value engineering decisions and their cost implications in real time.”

What was once handled in a series of tedious back-and-forth emails (potentially losing the accuracy of cost data in the process) can now be accomplished instantly, accessible to all and accurate to the minute. Beyond just enhanced accuracy, the time savings significantly accelerates preconstruction and thus a client’s prospective speed to market.

Building on Success

Even after successfully implementing and improving upon DESTINI Estimator’s powerful advantages, Landon and his team have continued to explore new enhancements to the technology.

Under Landon’s leadership and out of commitment to Balfour Beatty’s mission, Senior Estimator Jorge Vargas has recently made DESTINI’s already collaborative environment even more user-friendly and accountable by creating a data-rich environment of trend management with software from Join. With the tool, clients, designers and our estimators can easily prioritize the most financially consequential value engineering options, comparing even minor design changes using DESTINI’s reliable cost predictions.

That data is largely managed by Estimator Hans Seggelke, and the entire process is overseen by Chief Estimator Neil Reilly, all while Director of Design Management Kristen Tuerk utilizes her architecture background to help clients identify the most lean and cost-effective design choices for any project.

While Landon is quick to divert attention away from himself and toward the dynamic preconstruction team he’s assembled, they’re all united by the same client-first values. Whether building schools, emergency operations centers or world-class aviation facilities, preconstruction professionals like Landon and the rest of our California team have the technical knowledge, collaborative mindset and willingness to try new and powerful tools necessary to create success.

Chuck joined Balfour Beatty in 2022 on the company’s Caltrain Design-Build Electrification project in San Mateo, California. His work prioritizing project personnel, resources and processes has been instrumental in delivering the 52-mile Caltrain corridor which provides commuter rail service through San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. 

He holds a bachelor’s degree in construction management with a minor in business administration from California State University, Chico. Outside of work, Chuck enjoys spending time outdoors hiking, fishing and golfing. 

That all changed in an unexpected twist of fate at the most unexpected of places: the 2015 Arizona Bike Week. To her great surprise, Jennifer spotted Balfour Beatty’s signature blue signage at a WestWorld project. In the years following Jennifer’s departure, Balfour Beatty significantly expanded its West coast presence, acquiring not only Barnhart but also Howard S. Wright’s Northwest and Arizona operations.

Jennifer immediately called Brian Cahill - then president of Barnhart - with a simple request: “I want to come home.”

Builder, Doer, Leader

And back home Jennifer came. Since that time, she has been instrumental in growing our Arizona operations and embracing the team’s “builder-doer” model.

Whether she’s helping bring a large-scale hospitality project out of the ground, executing a fast-track special project for one of her many valued financial clients, pitching in on an estimate or leading business acquisition initiatives, no task is too big or small for Jennifer to raise her hand. She’s even stepped up in a mentoring capacity to lead the Arizona chapter of Balfour Beatty’s Connecting Women employee affinity group and serves as an Ambassador for our My Contribution enterprise-wide program for employee-led business change.

“I’m a roll up your sleeves, get it done, jack of all trades,” affirms Jennifer. “It’s in my blood to be juggling five million things at once.”

That grit and determination served Jennifer well in 2020 when she faced a serious health challenge. As those who know her tenacity could have predicted, Jennifer didn’t just bounce back from this trial – she leveraged it to find a new and meaningful purpose.

When Jennifer returned, she requested the opportunity to take on leadership of the Arizona team’s special projects operations. She instinctively recognized the market’s incredible growth potential and was attracted to the quick-turn nature of the work. Vice President Jay McQuarie didn’t hesitate to entrust her with the role.  

A Servant Leader for Special Projects

Through her servant-leader approach, Jennifer has successfully nurtured and grown relationships with existing special projects clients such as Vanguard while bringing new clients into the fold and expanding Balfour Beatty’s market share. Today, she manages an impressive portfolio encompassing several national clients.

Although servant leadership can entail many different characteristics, to Jennifer, the term can be boiled down to a central trait: commitment. Whether it’s a work order to patch paint or the renovation of an entire trading floor, Jennifer is wholly committed to the success of her clients, projects and partners. She has even created a highly customized SOP for each client that communicates their unique needs and delivers on their goals with every project.

As an enduring sentiment of her commitment, Jennifer concludes every OAC meeting with a personal tagline: “Morning, noon or night, call me. I’m here for you.”

Building Bridges, Molding Minds

Jennifer certainly answers the call for her clients. In an even broader sense, she has answered the call for her community - both locally and globally. She not only leads Balfour Beatty’s longstanding partnership with non-profit Arizona Angels for Children but also served as a member of Balfour Beatty’s 2018 Bridges to Prosperity team which built a 430-foot footbridge that provides safe, year-round access for the Espiritu Santo community near Cochabamba, Bolivia.

“When I learned about the opportunity to use our expert engineering and construction skills to serve communities in need, I knew it was a calling I was uniquely suited to answer,” Jennifer says. “Providing opportunities for others has always been a very important value for me.”

In the years following, Jennifer has continued to support Balfour Beatty’s Bridge to Prosperity mission in a fundraising leadership capacity.

Jennifer is known amongst her Arizona teammates as “Momma Jen.” Her deep care is profoundly manifested in ways both great and small and in ways that can easily be described, and yet are somehow profoundly intangible to those in her sphere. With steadiness, strength and a servant’s spirit, Relentless Ally Jennifer Rhoads is an anchor for Arizona.

During his 16-year career with Balfour Beatty, Vice President Jonathan Pearch has helped build some of Florida’s largest and most complex projects. From the iconic, 263,000-square-foot Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts to the 30,000-seat Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Stadium, the Hyatt Regency Orlando and more, Jonathan has developed a unique insight into the levels of collaboration projects of that mega projects require across diverse market sectors.

Perhaps that’s why Jonathan, who began his remarkable career with Balfour Beatty as a four-time intern, describes his journey in terms of the people he’s encountered along the way. From trade and design partners to his valued clients, Balfour Beatty teammates and members of the local AEC community, Jonathan knows first-hand that effective leadership is all about relationships. And Jonathan builds them to last.

When local leadership recognized an opportunity to expand and diversify our South Florida operations, they looked no further than Jonathan to grow the company’s pipeline in higher education and municipal markets among others. Although the elevation in leadership required Jonathan to re-locate his young family, he jumped at the chance, bringing with him the strong cultural and relational foundations he cultivated in Central Florida.

“I was fortunate to work on large project teams early in my career and observe the behaviors that helped everyone navigate the inevitable challenges that arise,” recalls Jonathan. “I strive to establish project cultures rooted in trust, transparency and accountability, because those become solutions-oriented teams.”

On the $36 million expansion and renovation of The Alfond Inn at Rollins, for example, the project team encountered an issue that could have completely derailed the schedule and budget, or at worst, even required a complete re-design.

While preparing to pour foundations on the hotel’s five-story, 81,000-square-foot addition, the team discovered grid alignment issues in the existing structure. With concrete teams mobilized, the clock was ticking to identify a solution.

While some contractors might have put the onus back on the client, this team proactively rolled up their sleeves and got to work under Jonathan’s leadership. As the team collaborated on a solution, Jonathan prioritized maintaining open and honest lines of communication with all partners regarding real-time or anticipated impacts.

Together, the team determined it was feasible to rotate the grid and partnered with the City of Winter Park on resulting setback and easement concerns. But the team didn’t simply solve the problem—they developed an innovative sequencing plan to recoup the time lost and ultimately finished the project on schedule.

“As the leader of the project, it is your job to establish absolute trust with the owner beginning day one,” asserts Jonathan. “That starts by understanding their values and goals and making them your own.” It’s a lesson he learned from his closest mentor at Balfour Beatty, Senior Vice President Brian Prebenda.

If Jonathan doesn’t immediately know the answer to one of his client’s challenges, or simply needs a thought partner to offer up a different perspective, he’s quick to tap the immense network he’s cultivated over the years, including peers at the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Central Florida Chapter, where he has served on the Board of Directors. With a deep understanding that our success hinges upon the success of our trade partners, Jonathan extends that same collaborative spirit into the local craft community.

For Jonathan, no matter the size, scope or geography in which we’re executing work, our recipe for success is simple: putting people first + building trusted relationships with a shared focus on operational excellence = exceptional project outcomes.

It’s a recipe that has already yielded great success in South Florida, with recent wins from first-time client, Nova Southeastern University, on their $23.9 million Terry Dining Renovation and an $90 million Student Housing project with long-time client, Florida Atlantic University (FAU).

From his humble roots as an intern to leading an entire market, Jonathan Pearch embodies the DNA of a Relentless Ally and is a passionate steward of Balfour Beatty’s unwavering promise: we build to last. 

Jeff Longacre knows a thing or two about consistency. Throughout his 32-year career, he’s worked for one company, in one market sector and remained committed to one overarching goal: delivering successful special projects – nearly 500 to be exact.

Behind that consistency is a man who wears many hats as the company’s vice president and special projects business unit leader in Seattle, Washington. From business development to estimating, scheduling, recruiting top talent and more, Jeff still enjoys every facet of special projects as much as his first day on the job. In fact, Jeff believes success in this fast-paced sector hinges squarely on a team’s adaptability and versatility.

They are qualities Jeff has in spades. Having worked his way through college as a residential carpenter, Jeff learned the industry from the inside out. He credits his time in the field with providing a practical perspective on project execution as well as a direct lens into clients’ deeply personal connection to the work.

“Swinging a hammer taught me how to be a better estimator and scheduler,” affirms Jeff. “Emotions can have a direct impact on the decisions clients make, whether it’s a home or office building. I learned how to build relationships based on trust and communicate effectively with my clients to understand their goals.”

Trust: The Secret Sauce to Special Projects

Upon graduation from the University of Washington with dual majors in architecture and construction management, Jeff began an internship with Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company (HSW). As Jeff explored HSW’s diverse markets, he quickly discerned the alignment between his unique background and the skillsets required for special projects. At the time, however, special projects weren’t exactly a young builder’s coveted career path.

“When I started out, you could say special projects was the red-headed stepchild of the industry. Most people who get into construction want to work on projects that change skylines. That’s not special projects.”

But Jeff intuitively sensed just how special—that special projects could truly be. From the opportunity to collaborate with project partners at a much earlier stage in one’s career to the increased ownership of project decisions and their impact on budget and schedule, special projects don’t just require our teammates to wear many hats. To deliver highly custom projects that move forward at lightning speed, they must wear those many hats exceedingly well.  

“In special projects, you’re not separated from the client by an RFI,” says Jeff. “Superintendents are proposing value engineering solutions to clients face-to-face in the field, and project engineers can begin cultivating what we call ‘living room relationships’ with our clients at a very early age.”

It’s one of the primary messages which enables Jeff to successfully recruit new talent to join their thriving and full-service special projects team which also performs maintenance and warranty work.

Jeff believes it’s this highly collaborative and solutions-oriented approach that helps HSW build such trusted relationships with our special projects clients and partners across a vast array of market sectors and delivery methods. An added layer of trust is needed for projects within occupied facilities, when special projects teams must provide real-time and enhanced communication and coordination efforts to ensure Zero Harm.

The Door to More

Over the decades, clients have come to depend on Jeff’s guidance and that of his teammates, and the entire business has reaped the results. From a Confidential Online Global Retailer to leading banking institutions and even educational institutions including his alma mater, our Northwest operations enjoy a nearly 90% repeat client rate.

“A client is often willing to go out on a limb on a $50,000 job more than a $50 million job,” maintains Jeff. “Once a client starts understanding that they can rely on our guidance and that the guidance adds real value, you start to build trust which can often lead to repeat work or even major capital projects.”

To help attract the workers back to the office post-pandemic, commercial clients are increasingly seeking Jeff’s expertise on design and construction choices that embody their culture, values and identity. Under Jeff’s leadership, the team has built mock-ups and conducted pilot programs to help meet their clients’ goals for the modern workplace.   

The Staying Power of Special Projects

Although Jeff has more than three decades of special projects experience under his toolbelt, he doesn’t plan on exploring other market sectors anytime soon. He loves the people, frenetic pace and even the unpredictability special projects can bring.

“I never know what I’ll be doing three or even six months from now,” says Jeff. “We’re always assembling new teams, we’re always estimating, we’re always scheduling. I’m not going anywhere. I’m having too much fun.”

While en route to a concrete conference, Daniel’s professor of construction engineering at San Diego State University casually recommended he check out the Lean Construction Institute (LCI). At the time, the professor could not have possibly foreseen the extent to which Daniel would take this advice to heart—or how it would ultimately inspire and shape his philosophy on building.

Sixteen years later, Daniel has not only become a respected practitioner of lean, but he has also risen through the LCI volunteer ranks to become Chair of this year’s Congress. The annual event, widely esteemed within the AEC community, draws together hundreds of industry professionals and owners to gain new ideas and perspectives that advance their lean journeys. As Chair, Daniel leads multiple volunteer committees and collaborates with LCI staff on event planning, programming and logistics.

This high-profile leadership role is the latest in Daniel’s near decade of involvement with LCI, which includes positions as chair of the LCI San Diego Chapter Community of Practice (CoP) and membership in the Congress Content and Outreach Committee, where he has played an instrumental role in the abstract review process among other contributions.

Daniel has been a member of LCI since 2009 and attended a total of six Congresses over the years.

A People-First Lens on Lean Construction

Behind Daniel’s impressive legacy of service to LCI is a deep-seated belief that lean tools and methodologies have the power to transform the built industry as we know it. Although benefits of lean construction such as improved efficiency, better cost control and reduced risk are broadly known, Daniel believes it is lean’s most fundamental principle - respect for people - that has the greatest alignment with the tenets of Balfour Beatty’s people-first culture.

And in his role as Sr. Director of Technology & Operations Improvement in California, that’s precisely where Daniel sets his focus: people.

“When it comes to construction technology, yes, we have our client, but we also have our internal customer - our operations teammates, design team members and trade partners putting work in place,” says Daniel.

He makes it a priority to “go and see,” regularly visiting jobsites to discuss workflows, challenges and the value project teams derive from company tools and technology platforms and adapting workflows as necessary based on feedback.

Lean: It’s for Everyone

Daniel believes that his work with LCI and adoption of lean has made him a better technology advocate for the business and hopes to inspire others to explore the ways in which lean principles and tools can benefit them.

He is quick to dispel myths surrounding lean, including that it is difficult to learn and primarily only applicable on large-scale projects with Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) delivery models. On the contrary, Daniel believes that lean journeys can and should begin anywhere, at any time, on any project, for anyone.

“I’m passionate about the message that lean can be valuable to everyone,” says Daniel.

He encourages industry professionals to begin by familiarizing themselves with Gemba Walks and the Last Planner System®. The latter, developed by LCI founders Glenn Ballard and Greg Howell, is a comprehensive approach to project management that encourages greater collaboration between team members to produce more accurate plans and reliable schedules.

With the rise in collaborating contracting models such as design-build, which create greater runway for the deployment of lean tools such as Balfour Beatty’s propriety SmartStart® process, Daniel sees the appetite for lean only growing into the future as more owners experience its value. Just as importantly, the interest is rising among top industry talent who know first-hand the difference between working on a collaborative project or one plagued by inefficiencies. 

The spark that Daniel’s professor ignited many years ago has grown to become an inspired and ever-evolving journey in his pursuit of the spirit of lean: continuous improvement. It is through the progressive vision, encouragement and commitment of lean leaders at Balfour Beatty like Daniel that our own lean journey is continuing to take root, drive innovative practices and deliver ever-greater value for our teams, partners and projects.

Interested in learning more about lean construction or ways you can get involved with the Lean Construction Institute (LCI)? Reach out to Daniel to learn more.

His layers of support systems, including a roommate and classmate with a similar background, translated into a successful educational career and he soon landed his first construction job with Balfour Beatty, recruited as a project engineer and mentored by Project Executive Tom Stedem. Even better, his roommate joined him.

Mauro has since followed Tom to several successful Florida projects, created his own successes and now serves as an Assistant Project Manager on the Broward County Convention Center and Hotel project in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Giving Back

When Mauro first heard of Balfour Beatty’s partnership with Bridges to Prosperity (B2P), he was instantly drawn to the mission and intended to apply for the team as soon as he was eligible. He didn’t, but regretted it immediately when the same roommate was selected for the 2022 B2P team. From that point, Mauro knew that his participation in B2P wasn’t a question of “if” but “when.”

“Bridges to Prosperity is a great opportunity for me to contribute to something real, lasting and life-changing for many families,” Mauro says. “I grew up relatively fortunate in Venezuela, but the conditions for rural Rwandans are not unlike situations I remember from back home, so I understand how this could impact the lives of people who need it most.”

As leader of our 2024 B2P team, Mauro is faced with a difficult task: coordinating a team of ten from every corner of Balfour Beatty’s US operations (yet another found family), spurring each teammate on to contribute to a successful and safe accelerated two-week bridge build. Despite the monumental logistical effort of the task at hand, Mauro’s focus, as ever, is on the people involved – both the families being served and the team traveling to serve.

“I feel strongly that B2P is not just an opportunity to provide critical infrastructure for a community in need, but also for our team to learn,” Mauro says. “My hope is that our team seizes the opportunity to open our eyes, minds and hearts, to understand the privileges we take for granted in the U.S. and to catch a glimpse of what really matters in a community with much less.”

Mauro and the B2P team depart for Rwanda on November 7. Balfour Beatty teammates, clients, trade partners and friends and family are invited to support their effort and to follow their journey before, during and after the bridge build.

La Familia es Todo

Throughout his education, career and now effort to selflessly give back, Mauro has never lost sight of the importance of family. Mauricio and Valbi still live in Doral, and though the two-hour round trip is substantial, he makes the drive as often as possible to visit and honor the family and community that provided for him, raised him and set him up to make a difference in the world from Florida all the way to Rwanda.