David B. Walls has been promoted to president and CEO of Austin Industries. He succeeds Ronald J. Gafford who will continue to serve as chairman of the firm, which is the parent company of Austin Commercial, Austin Bridge & Road and Austin Industrial. Walls has been with Austin Commercial since 1980 and president since 1996. He is a director of the Texas contractors association TEXO. Named to succeed him at Austin Commercial is William McAdoo, who was unit senior vice president in the central and South Texas region. With $1.5 billion in 2011 revenue, Austin ranks 33rd on ENR's list of the Top 400 Contractors.
Will Hodges has been appointed president of Cadence McShane Construction Co. He succeeds Neal Harper, who is retiring after 16 years with the contractor. Prior to joining Cadence McShane, Hodges was senior vice president of Adolfson & Peterson Construction.
Strider E. Steele has been elected to the board of Schmidt & Stacy Consulting Engineers Inc., Dallas, as corporate secretary. He joined the firm in 2006 and has been responsible for many of its large mixed-use and build-to-suit projects as well as for design and coordination of major electrical systems.
Scott A. Meyer has been elevated to vice president of Alliance Architects Inc., Richardson, Texas. He has 16 years of architectural, construction and project management experience. Meyer joined Alliance Architects in 1998 as a student intern, and most recently served as senior associate. In his new role, Meyer will continue to oversee project management and delivery as well as the company's information technology department.
SpawGlass has announced several promotions. Bobby Friedel has been elevated to chief financial officer. He was most recently serving as the company's vice president of finance and administration. He will supervise the firm's financial reporting and accounting as well as human resources and risk management. Friedel has been with SpawGlass for 12 years.
Dan Hinson succeeds Friedel as vice president of finance. He was previously the SpawGlass Houston region finance and administration manager. Hinson will oversee accounting for all operating regions and divisions. Scott Hobza has been promoted to president of the Austin region. He was, most recently, the firm's senior living and campus housing division operations manager. Hobza has been with SpawGlass for 21 years.
Mark Ramseur has joined Pape-Dawson Engineers Inc. as regional vice president based in Austin. He will be responsible for strategic and operational planning along the I-35 corridor and has more than 25 years of experience in the architecture-engineering consulting sector. The firm ranks at No. 229 on ENR's list of the Top 500 Design Firms, with $42.7 million in 2011 revenue.
LJA Engineering Inc. announced three recent promotions and new hires. James D. Ross has been elevated to vice president in the firm's Houston-based land development division. Ross has been with the firm for 15 years. Les Dodson has joined the firm as a construction manager in the East Houston office. He will be responsible for management and supervision of construction management activities for municipal projects. Reese Hurley has also joined LJA as project manager in its Austin division. He specializes in engineering of commercial and multifamily sites, floodplain studies and erosion-sedimentation control.
Jerry Holder Jr. has rejoined engineering firm Garver LLC as vice president and director of transportation services based in Frisco, Texas. Most recently, he was vice president and district manager for HNTB, where he was involved in program management for Dallas stormwater improvements, the North Texas Tollway and the Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts for the city of Biloxi, Miss. Holder had previously spent 14 years working for Garver, which is based in North Little Rock, Ark. The firm ranks at No. 226 on ENR's list of the Top 500 Design Firms, with $$43.8 million in 2011 revenue.
Jason C. Maldonado has joined Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam Inc. as stormwater quality manager on its flood control and drainage team. In this role, he will develop and implement stormwater and water quality compliance initiatives. Maldonado was previously director of a large-scale stormwater pollution prevention project in North Texas. James R. Baker also has joined the firm as transportation manager for its Houston region. He previously served as a design manager for the Harris County Toll Road Authority, where he was responsible for $250 million worth of expansion to the existing system, according to the company.