Phoenix Construction & Development

As President, Ryan is responsible to accelerate the growth and performance of all the Clayco business units (including subsidiaries Concrete Strategies, Lamar Johnson Collaborative and Clayco Design and Engineering) in our nation's Southwest Region. He is a modern construction leader, national lecturer and educator on integrated project delivery methods, and has had his work published both locally and nationally in many industry-leading periodicals. Ryan has redefined the design-builder’s role in solving grand challenges, believing that modern challenges require a new multi-disciplinary, collaborative approach. His talent for understanding complex, highly technical, large-scale projects has been demonstrated on jobs which have collectively netted more than 61 awards for design & construction excellence. Ryan was named one of the 2012 Building Design + Construction 40 Under 40 and the 2011 Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 20 under 40 for his extensive professional accomplishments and active role in the industry and community. He’s a believer in the American Dream ethos of upward social mobility through hard work, education, and critical thinking. He lives in Tempe Arizona with his wife Martha and their three boys, Tristyn, Ashtyn, and Aidyn.

Kirch has been with Kitchell Contractors since 2003, working his way from an intern to executive working on complex higher education and healthcare projects across four states. He is an accessible, supportive leader who is unwavering in his dedication to Kitchell’s projects, clients and employees.

April Morris is the Vice President of Hotwire Communications’ Southwest Region, covering Arizona and Nevada. With more than 15 years in the telecom industry, she brings extensive expertise in residential and multifamily properties. April is well-versed in managing business development and account management teams, having managed a multi-billion-dollar portfolio across three million homes. April develops and implements strategic sales visions to increase market penetration and drive sales initiatives throughout the region. She also supports her team of Business Development Executives through education and motivation, fostering a passion for promoting Hotwire’s services. Her efforts not only impact the Southwest Region but also contribute to company-wide initiatives through local leadership.

Ben joined Mortenson in 2010, and currently serves as a Project Executive for our Phoenix office. Over the past 14 years, Ben has developed high-performing, collaborative, and efficient teams that provide customers with a far superior experience. He provides overall leadership on complex, fast track projects in the Valley, and establishes project objectives. He notably led the implementation of Flow Scheduling (Takt Time Planning), an approach to structuring, assigning, and managing work to create reliable, predictable workflow, on the first project in Phoenix, which is now a standard and value driver on all Mortenson Phoenix projects.

Mike Lee serves as a senior director at McCarthy Building Companies with over 17 years of experience in the construction industry and over five years with McCarthy. Mike consistently demonstrates exceptional leadership among his teams, most recently leading the award-winning University of Arizona Applied Research Building design-build project team. Mike ensures seamless project delivery from program development through construction, all while ensuring engagement with the local community. Mike holds a B.S. in Construction Engineering and Management from California State University of Chico. He is a DBIA member and recently graduated from ABA Leadership Development Forum in 2021.

Tim currently concentrates his practice working with privately held companies in our construction and real estate groups working with general contractors, subcontractors, specialty contractors, engineers, homebuilders, commercial and multi-family real estate. Prior to joining the firm, Tim served as a subsidiary controller for a large publicly traded company.

Phoenix Community and Economic Development director, Christine Mackay, has served the people of Phoenix since August 2014. She is responsible for leading and fostering an environment where businesses can create and retain jobs, make capital investment and reinvestment in the community, and connect our workforce to employers and training opportunities. During Mackay’s tenure with the City of Phoenix, the department has facilitated the creation of over 100,000 high-value jobs, seen the average wage of those jobs increase from over $30,000 in 2014 to more than $80,000 in 2023, and closed deals with more than $75 billion in capital investment. Christine leads a department of over 55 full time staff that encompasses the full spectrum of economic development areas including: business attraction, business retention and expansion, community development, international relations, Sister Cities, the Phoenix Business and Workforce Development Board, administration, research, marketing, the City-owned Footprint Center and Phoenix Bioscience Core. In 2021, Christine was named as one of the Top 50 Economic Developers in the Country by Consultant Connect. She is a three-time honoree as "Economic Developer of the Year, Large Community" by the Arizona Association for Economic Development. Mackay was recognized as "Leader of the Year in Economic Development–Public Policy" by the Arizona Capitol Times, and "Industry Leader of the Year – Economic Development" by Arizona Commercial Real Estate Magazine. She has also been on the list of the Arizona Business magazine’s "50 Most Influential Women in Arizona." She is a member of the Economic Development Director's Team for Greater Phoenix, Maricopa Association of Government's Building a Quality Regional Community committee, Flinn Foundation Biosciences Roadmap committee, the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), Commercial Office Real Estate Executives (CoreNet), the Arizona Association for Economic Development (AAED), and the Arizona Business Incubator Association. Christine has more than 26 years’ experience in economic development overlapping 30 years of commercial real estate experience. Christine Mackay has spent both her personal and professional life here in the Valley.

Jay Ramos is an accomplished real estate professional with experience in land acquisitions, financing and asset management. Jay serves as a Senior Director of Real Estate Development at Opus and is responsible for directing Multifamily development in Arizona. Jay began his career with UBS Investment Bank in Los Angeles, California. Most recently, Jay held roles at Leon Capital Group and Mark-Taylor Residential. At Leon Capital Group Jay was responsible for seven multifamily projects totaling 1,100 units in various stages of development. While at Mark-Taylor Residential, Jay was responsible for strategic oversight and financial performance of a Class-A, multifamily apartment portfolio consisting of 2,200 units and a market value of $650M. Jay’s focus at Opus is pursuing and managing development opportunities from concept through occupancy and disposition. Jay is a veteran of the U.S. Navy having served in Desert Storm. Jay grew up in the Central Coast of California having received a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University.

I am the founder and owner of Phoenix Rising Investments, LLC (PRI) a Phoenix, AZ based developer of commercial real estate property. PRI has successfully acquired, zoned, entitled, financed, developed/adaptive reused, and fully leased over 850,000 square feet of industrial and office space, 130 multifamily units, and 40 acres of infill land. PRI's partners and tenants have ranged from individuals to locally owned businesses to several Fortune 50 multinational companies.

As a lifetime resident of the Phoenix area, Jimmy has dedicated much of his time and energy to the development and fostering of a broad network throughout Arizona. He leverages these strong relationships with those he knows within municipalities, SRP, Southwest Gas, Maricopa County, to name a few, to ensure that projects flow smoothly from start to finish. In an effort to understand the challenges/ opportunities associated with any project, Jimmy proactively begins discussions with many of these stakeholders. Jimmy is vital in achieving fast-paced schedules as he applies his years of experience to quickly identify problem areas, and more importantly, develop collaborative solutions. Jimmy has become known as one who can quickly and effectively work with the county and municipalities to maintain or expedite project schedules. This is accomplished by working with staff through the permitting process and obtaining at-risk permits when a permit cannot be obtained early on in the construction process. When needed, Jimmy works entities to expedite plan reviews, handle inspection and/or inspector related issues, night work permits, and the securing of temporary or final certificates of occupancy. In addition, Jimmy proactively works with the client and Willmeng team to navigate through any concerns with neighboring property owners, utility companies, and other key community stakeholders. By doing so, Jimmy helps prevent or resolve issues that cause delays, adverse impacts, and at times very expensive costs to the project.

Ryan Ash is the Vice President of Development, repositioning and leasing strategies of assets in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Prior to Vestar, Ryan worked at HFF focusing on the placement of structured finance and joint venture equity partnerships for mixed-use, retail, office, multi-housing, industrial, hospitality, land and data center assets. During his career, Ryan has personally closed debt placements and structured financings totaling in excess of $2.8 billion via nearly 145 unique transactions. Ryan is a graduate of the University of Arizona and is an active member of the Next Gen Leadership Network of the International Council of Shopping Centers and an active chartered financial analyst for the CFA Institute.

Daniel G. Perez is Vice President of Real Estate Development and Construction at SRG - Senior Resource Group. LLC.; He is an award winning-architect with 37 years of experience in Design, Development and Construction of Various market sectors national and Internationally; Senior living, hospitality, residential, Corporate Commercial, among other mixed-use developments. His vast experience based on project excellence and performance, guides the strategic capacity of organization In Overseeing resources and multidisciplinary teams in a highly collaborative manner, (North America, South America and Europe) Mr. Perez received his Architectural and Urban Planning education, training and Licensing in Colombia, South America and MS in Construction Management (ASU) and MBA (Thunderbird School of Global Business) education in the United States of America. Capitalizing on these professional skill sets, and 37 years in the Development, Design and Construction Industry. Awarded recognitions for “Architectural Design Excellence” and “Sustainable Projects”, other recognitions by the American Institute of Architects and USGBC in several LEED Certified Projects, thus, in the United States, South America and Europe. Also, recently, recognized by the Colombian Government with the prestigious “Colombian Entrepreneurship in Foreign Countries” award; Mr. Perez continues assertive in pursuing the Development, Design and Construction practice of Innovation, Energy Efficiency, using Technology + Integrated Project Delivery Method + Global materials and systems procurement, DMFA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) with Virtual Construction to generate developments with less risk, high Functionality and Operability of high-quality environments. Mr. Perez, also foments mentoring and actively stirs up a professional Mentor program in entrepreneurship, Architecture, Real Estate Development and Construction for young professionals, thus, nationally and internationally, that allows for new graduates to become more competitive in those areas of expertise. Along these lines; in his past roles as Principal Architect in multinational firms such The DLR Group, Leo A Daly, Jacobs Engineering, Fluor Daniel Corporation, PerezMcGee International Architecture and Development (Co-founder) or/and as a part of Development companies, such, UC residential Communities, IDM Companies where he has led the Development and/or the Construction divisions. Either, his work in projects for other Developers like HINES, RYAN CO., TRAMMELL CROW-CBRE, DMB, THE DAVIS COMPANIES, OPUS, BARKER PACIFIC GROUP, among others; Continues being his passion.

Jaime brings 20 years of industry experience to her role as Vice President of Healthcare Development, where she oversees development, market growth and strategy for Ryan healthcare in the Western Division. She collaborates with health systems, physician groups, owners and operators to develop new and repurposed healthcare facilities. She facilitates growth strategies through real estate acquisitions, development, creative capital solutions and building services. A proven leader with comprehensive and diversified industry perspective, Jaime provides creative approaches to identifying reasonable and attainable solutions. Using detailed analyses, research, critical thinking and problem solving, she identifies the most efficient and effective means to achieve the desired result for all parties involved. Jaime greatly values relationship building, which she fosters through trust, integrity, respect and passion for her field. Combining her two interests of healthcare and real estate, she’s inspired to lead her division with financial aptitude, reliability, high-volume task management and prioritization, and deal creativity.