The latest People in the News highlighting new hires, promotions, honors & recognition of the men and women in the St. Louis building community.
Staffing Changes at N.B. West Contracting
New Hire – Kristen Westbrook-Tatum
Kristen Westbrook-Tatum has been hired as N.B. West Contracting’s HR Director, bringing over a decade of HR experience to the team. Prior to joining West, she managed the Human Resources function in mid-size companies in the Digital Print Marketing and Sign Supply Industries. Currently, Kristen is partnering with West’s Leadership Team, serving all levels of employees. Her areas of expertise include HR start-ups, process improvement, and organizational development. Kristen is a proud member of the Society of Human Resources Management and holds a BA in Organizational Leadership from Maryville University St. Louis.
N.B. West Contracting Company has promoted Chris West to Vice President of the company. In his new role, he will assist in the management of daily operations for both construction and material supply. N.B. West Contracting has been an asphalt paving & concrete contractor, and asphalt supplier serving all of east central Missouri since 1956.
January 17, 2020
KAI Expands with Addition of Senior Project Manager, Controller and Senior Project Accountant
KAI has expanded with the addition of three new team members — Michelle Huber as Controller, Kevin Jacobsmeyer as Senior Project Manager and Tonya Valentine as Senior Project Accountant.
Michelle Huber, Controller
As Controller, Huber will oversee accounting functions, internal and external financial statement reporting, monthly close activities and cash flow forecasting, plus provide oversight of the professional services project accounting team.
Huber has 10 years of industry experience, having previously worked as a Controller at Kaskaskia Engineering Group in Belleville, Illinois and as a Senior Tax Accountant at Brown Smith Wallace in St. Louis. She has a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and an MBA from McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois.
Huber resides in O’Fallon, Illinois with her husband, two sons and a daughter who attends Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. In her spare time, she stays busy attending her son’s football, basketball and baseball games.
Kevin Jacobsmeyer, Senior Project Manager
As Senior Project Manager, Jacobsmeyer is responsible for overall project success, which includes managing owner relations and subcontractor and KAI personnel performance. His overall objective is to project profitability and customer satisfaction.
Jacobsmeyer has 31 years of industry experience, which includes prior positions as Project Director at JW Fuller Construction in Webster Groves, Missouri; Project Manager at Brinkmann Constructors in Chesterfield, Missouri; Project Manager at Korte Construction in Highland, Illinois and Estimator at Clayco Construction and C. Rallo Construction, both of St. Louis.
He has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri – Rolla and resides in Columbia, Illinois with his wife. He has a son and three grandchildren. He is a member of the Columbia Illinois Lions Club and enjoys golfing in his spare time.
Tonya Valentine, Senior Project Accountant
As Senior Project Accountant, Valentine will provide construction accounting support for the KAI Build project management team. She has 25 years of industry experience, having previously worked as Lead Project Accountant/Accounting Manager Industrial Division for Fowler Management Services in Edwardsville, Illinois; Accounts Payable/Subcontractor Payment Coordinator at Holland Construction Services, Inc. in Swansea, Illinois; and Full Charge Bookkeeper at Gravois Planing Mill in St. Louis. She has an associate degree from Southwestern Illinois College.
Valentine lives in Highland, Illinois. She has two grown children – a daughter who teaches Pre-K in Hazelwood and a son who is a chef in New York City. She enjoys traveling and visiting wineries in her spare time.
Industry Leader Paul Hilton Officially Joins BurkHill Real Estate as Managing Principal
BurkHill Real Estate LLC, a St. Louis-based private real estate investment company, announced today that industry veteran Paul Hilton will take on the role of managing principal at the company he co-founded with Mark Burkhart, former CEO of Cassidy Turley, in 2016. Hilton will step down from his current executive director position at Cushman & Wakefield.
Hilton brings nearly 35 years of commercial real estate experience to his new company. For the last 26 years, he was a commercial real estate investment specialist with Turley Martin through its evolution to Cushman & Wakefield.
Both Hilton and Burkhart will continue to consult on corporate real estate portfolios as well as identify investment opportunities and establish short- and long-term strategies for the Fund. They will also oversee the property management and leasing teams to ensure the strategy is being implemented in accordance with their vision. The firm’s fund invests in retail, industrial, office, and multi-family real estate assets, with a minimal asset size of $1 million.
Hilton has consulted with many of the major real estate owners across the United States with regard to portfolio strategy, including acquisition, disposition, financing and valuation of their properties. His career transactions total over $8 billion.
N-STORE Services Promotes Five
Brent Ricci, Director of Operations – Brent joined the company in 2003 as a Project Coordinator. Through his dedication and performance, he has successively earned promotions to Project Manager, Project Manager – Team Lead, Operations Manager, and now Director of Operations. With his advancement, Brent now oversees and leads N-STORE’s Operations department in planning, estimating, and execution of our construction projects. N-STORE is proud of Brent’s achievements and thankful for his contributions to the company over the past 16+ years.
John Bracy, Senior Project Manager – N-STORE Services is pleased to announce the promotion of John Bracy to Senior Project Manager. In 2012, John began his career with N-STORE as a student intern, where his capabilities were quickly recognized and he was hired permanently as a Project Coordinator. John continued his development within Operations and was promoted to Project Manager a few years later. In this role, John excelled in new business estimation, project management, and training – all of which has allowed him to earn his most recent promotion.
Jeremiah Miller, IT Services Manager – Jeremiah Miller has been promoted to IT Services Manager for N-STORE Services. Jeremiah has been with the company for 13 years, where his specialized abilities in graphic design, web development, and system support have advanced him from previous positions of IT Help Desk to his latest role as Technology & Multimedia Specialist. Technology within the construction industry is ever-changing. Within his new role, Jeremiah will ensure N-STORE is at the forefront of industry trends and advancements in technology. N-STORE Services is proud of Jeremiah’s success and countless contributions in managing the delivery of our IT Services.
Mark Harris, Estimating Manager – N-STORE Services is excited to recognize Mark Harris for his promotion to Estimating Manager. Mark started with the company over 17 years ago. Providing leadership and supervision through his many career advancements, Mark has been successful in managing many types and sizes of work. Mark is responsible for delivering estimating for N-STORE’s new business onboarding, ensuring program success, and driving estimating improvements for our existing client-partners. N-STORE is honored to recognize Mark for his expertise and dedication with this career advancement.
Alison Smith, Accounts Payable Associate – N-STORE Services is excited to announce Alison Smith’s recent promotion to Accounts Payable Associate. Alison joined the N-STORE team one year ago as Accounting Assistant. She brings extensive value to our Accounting department and entire company with her strong organization skills and quick learning ability. In addition to her capabilities, Alison is highly valued for her positive attitude, work ethic, and for continually upholding the company’s core values. N-STORE is excited for Alison to continue her career development as she undertakes new responsibilities.
January 10, 2020
Murphy Company Adds John Johnston
John Johnston has joined Murphy Company as project manager, automation controls. Sam Welge, manager, automation controls and energy solutions for the mechanical contractor, made the announcement.
With more than 19 years’ experience in building controls, Johnston holds an associate’s degree in refrigeration, air-conditioning and heating from Ranken Technical College where he also studied instrumentation and process controls. He is a licensed journeyman pipefitter, Local 562, and served as an HVAC service technician before focusing on building controls. He also has completed Microsoft networking and associated computer studies at St. Louis Community College as well as training and certification from several manufacturers.
Founded in 1907, Murphy Company is one of the nation’s top mechanical contracting firms delivering innovative solutions to the commercial, industrial and institutional markets. For more information, visit www.murphynet.com.
Kelvin Taylor, Alexis Hershey Joins Midwest BankCentre
Kelvin Taylor has joined Midwest BankCentre in the role of executive vice president-chief information officer, reporting to Chief Executive Officer Orvin Kimbrough. In addition, Alexis Hershey has been named senior vice president-digital assets, lending and strategy.
As chief information officer, Taylor works at the intersection of information technology, lines of business and finance to apply data science to strategic decisions for bank services and products. He also contributes to the development of business processes for implementing analytical solutions that include technology.
Taylor founded Taylored Analytics in 2007 to help Fortune 500 companies in the financial services, retail, restaurant, utility and telecommunications industries capitalize on and leverage their data. He has led teams in the customer loyalty sector as president of Maritz Loyalty Marketing, president of Frequency Marketing, Inc. and was a practice advisor on Cisco Systems’ business analytics team.
Taylor earned bachelor’s degrees in economics and mathematics at Morehouse College and completed post-graduate studies in economics at University of Maryland, College Park, Md. Taylor has served locally on the United Way and Urban League boards of directors. He and his wife, Tamila Taylor, annually host a charity golf tournament to fund scholarships to Morehouse College, the world’s only HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) for men and the nation’s top producer of black males who continue their education and receive doctorates.
Hershey joins Midwest BankCentre from Citi, where she was senior vice president of digital strategy. She applies her experience in digital strategy and both product and project management to transforming the bank’s online digital experiences that drive sales. She partners with the bank’s commercial, community & economic development, consumer and fee income groups to develop and deploy digital products and systems to achieve the bank’s goal of meeting customers where they are, when and how they want to do business. She also is the executive sponsor of the bank’s newly established operations enhancement team, which aligns and leverages process improvement, efficiency initiatives and technology systems to enhance customer service and bank competitiveness.
She earned her undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary studies and her master’s degree in education at the University of Houston. She is active in the community through United Way.
Midwest BankCentre, a mainstay of St. Louis community banking since 1906, employs a staff of about 280 working at 17 bank locations in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis, Jefferson and St. Charles counties.
Superior Waterproofing and Restoration Co., Inc. is pleased to announce the promotion and advancement of Mr. Donald Muren, Jr to company president. Don has been with the company for twenty-five years. He has been very instrumental in Superior’s past and will be for the future.