People: Northwest

Norbert Orth, president at Dexter + Chaney, has been promoted to CEO. He will also maintain his responsibilities as president. In his new role, Orth will continue to set corporate strategy and work closely with senior leadership to ensure operations are executed properly. John Chaney, co-founder of the firm, has assumed the role of executive chairman. Chaney will lead the board of directors and work closely with the product and development teams.

Wayne Wright has joined Stantec as a principal scientist at the firm’s Bellevue, Wash., office. Wright will oversee growth in the firm’s biological services in the Pacific Northwest as well as helping to expand its ecosystem restoration division. Wright has more than 20 years of experience as a consulting scientist. His specialties include permitting, fisheries, wetlands, reservoir management, river restoration, estuary restoration, riparian systems, water quality, Endangered Species Act consultations, agency negotiations, as well as public outreach and teaching.

Turner Construction Co. recently announced that the Associated General Contractors of Washington recognized Susan McCants as Project Manager of the Year. McCants was given the award for her work on Sound Transit’s Capitol Hill Station project. She is the first woman to receive the honor.

PBS Engineering and Environmental Inc. has hired Todd Coleman as port sector manager. Coleman previously served as the CEO for Port of Vancouver USA. During his time there, Coleman doubled the Port of Vancouver’s acreage and conserved more than 500 acres on the Columbia River for migratory birds. He also managed to come in $80 million under budget on the port’s 45-mile rail expansion project.

Melissa Wechsler has been promoted to partner at Runberg Architecture Group. She will be joining Brian Runberg and Michele Wang as the firm’s third partner. Wechsler has been with the firm since 2006 and has been the project manager on many high-profile jobs. She is currently the project manager for Block 47, a boutique apartment building, and is also collaborating with Graphite Design Group on the design of two residential towers above Google’s future offices in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle.

Northwest Demolition and Dismantling has named a newexecutive management team. The firm has appointed Richard Wayper as president, Dave Williams as vice president of operations and Chad Hoffart as vice president of administration. Wayper has been with the company for 18 years and was previously vice president of business development. Williams, a 17-year veteran with the firm, was previously vice president of operations. Hoffart has been with the company for 15 years and was previously a contracts manager.

Will Rhodes has joined R&M Consultants Inc. as a senior geologist in the firm’s Fairbanks, Alaska, office. Rhodes previously worked with R&M at their Anchorage office from 2008 to 2010. His specialties include site characterization and monitoring activities, remediation system installation and implementation, and environmental sampling. He also has expertise with vapor intrusion assessments, chlorinated solvent release characterization and remediation.