54 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | Oct 14

During her 18-year career at the Utah

Department of Transportation (UDOT), Lisa

Wilson has done a little bit of everything,

from design to traffic operations to project

management, gaining valuable experience

at each position.

Along the way she has proven to be

an innovative leader, evidenced by her

work as Project Manager on UDOT’s first-

ever Continuous Flow Interchange (CFI)

project at Bangerter Highway/3500 South

in 2007 as well as the Department’s initial

foray into Accelerated Bridge Construction

(ABC) project via Self-Propelled Modular

Transporters (SPMTs) – the 4500 South/I-215

bridge move in 2008.

“Those are opportunities I sought

out,” said Wilson. “It’s exciting to be in

this environment where no idea is a dumb

idea. Every level of person at UDOT can

be a champion of getting ideas pushed

through.”

“Lisa has been involved in a lot of the

innovation at UDOT,” said Randy Park,

UDOT Project Development Director. “She

has really led our project management

effort and is so well-balanced in

everything she does. She currently

oversees all of design, including policies,

procedures, systems and contracts that

deal with design standards. She is good at

understanding technologies that help us

improve.”

One of those efforts is UDOT’s venture

While it’s tends to be true that the top executives of long-time

businesses within the design and construction industry are

usually grizzled old veterans who have spent decades climbing

their way to the top of the company ladder, there is a plethora of

highly-skilled youngsters leaving their personal imprint on their

respective markets.

Utah Construction & Design had a chance to catch up with

nine such professionals from different A/E/C markets.

40 & Under Rising StarsBy Brad Fullmer | Photos by Dana Sohm

Lisa Wilson, 40Project EngineerUDOT

Oct 14 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | 55

into 3D modeling, which UDOT eventually

hopes will become part of the bidding

process.

“We want to have our 3D model

as our bidding document – that is our

ultimate goal,” said Wilson. “We’re hoping

contractors can adapt quickly; we have

several on board that do automated

machine guidance. They use our model for

machine control grading.”

Wilson began her career at UDOT

as a summer intern while studying Civil

Engineering at Utah State University

in Logan. After graduating she started

working in UDOT’s rotational program,

which allows young engineers to work

in areas they have an interest. Wilson

started in design then moved into the

innovative contracting department

in Region 2, which helped develop the

design-build of SR-201 in 2006. After

that it was project management for five

years, traffic operations for 1.5 years, a

program manager for 9 months. She served

a total of 14 years in Region 2 before

moving to Central as a Project Engineer in

Preconstruction.

“That is one of the nice things about

working at UDOT – you can move around

and it’s a whole new world opened up for

you to learn things,” she says. Wilson is

also currently working on streamlining

business systems and sharing documents

through UDOT’s main information portal,

including inspectors and field workers.

“I’m grateful for all the opportunities

I’ve had,” said Wilson. “You learn so much

from every stop. It gives you a bigger

picture view of the Department than if

you were to stay in one area your entire

career. Preconstruction benefits because

I know people in TOC and development,

where we can coordinate better. Change is

good – it’s good to move and get a different

perspective. I would get bored if I stayed in

the same position.”

Every level of person at UDOT can be a champion of getting ideas pushed through.

“

”

56 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | Oct 14

For a guy who grew up with a passion for

snowboarding in Utah’s mountains, Dan

Mickelson finds himself managing perhaps

the ultimate construction project – a

23,000 SF, two-story mixed-used facility at

the top of Snowbird’s 11,000-foot Hidden

Peak, slated to open during the 2015-16

season.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Mickelson

says. “When I took the first snapshot

on the jobsite and sent it out to all my

friends from high school, I got a lot of

great feedback. It’s something to be proud

of and I’m thrilled to be working on it. 20

years ago I never would have thought I’d be

building a project like this.”

Mickelson’s career trek to the literal top

of the mountain began at a young age when

he developed an interest in woodworking,

with a goal to own his own shop. The

Heber City native got married at 22 and

started working as a framing laborer for a

residential wood framer in Provo, before

moving up the ranks and ultimately getting

his contractor’s license and doing framing

essentially from 1999-2008.

“It was an immensely satisfying job,”

says Mickelson. “I still have all my tools and

help people do odd jobs. It’s a great trade.”

In 2008 he was working in the high-

end residential markets in St. George and

found himself among the many recession

casualties. He planned to move back to

Northern Utah and try and grind through

by framing, when a chance phone call from

long-time friend Penn Owens changed his

course.

Owens was working in business

development for Layton and suggested

Mickelson submit his resume, even though

in June 2008 construction firms tended to

shed employees rather than hire new ones.

He interviewed, was offered a job that

same day, and started June 16 for Interior

Construction Specialists (ICS), Layton’s

tenant improvement division.

Mickelson started as a superintendent

and worked his way up to managing

projects for ICS, mainly smaller projects in

the $50,000 range. He tried to differentiate

himself along the way as someone who

could not only manage projects but get

repeat business from the clientele he

worked with.

“Layton is a company that likes people

to have worked for themselves,” he says.

“They like it when people take ownership

of their little piece of the company – that is

a part of why I’ve been successful. It’s more

than a paycheck, it’s my personal stamp.”

“He has skill sets beyond his age,”

says Bill Munck, VP of Layton’s Corporate

Construction Group. “What makes him

unique, in addition to his maturity, is he

has a unique set of technical skills and

people skills. He’s a guy on our radar. We

wish we could clone him.”

Mickelson will be assigned to another

project once Hidden Peak project suspends

construction activity for the 2014-15 ski

season. He’s looking forward to seeing the

final product.

“It’s going to be there a long time and

it’s very unique,” he says. “When I was

younger, I spent a few months at a high-

volume home builder where it was literally

rubber stamping out these houses. There

will never be another project like (Hidden

Peak) again. The uniqueness, the scale, is a

really big attractor.”

RIsIng staRs

Dan Mickelson, 38Project ManagerLayton Construction

David Dunn looks the Utah Museum of

Natural History (UMNH) – a complex project

he helped design the structural system for,

and one that has received numerous industry

awards – and relishes the next building that

will offer that level of challenge.

“It’s a fantastic building – there are no

right angles,” says Dunn, Principal and CEO

with Dunn Associates, Inc., a prominent

Salt Lake-based structural engineering firm

started by Dunn’s father, Ron, in 1995. “I

really enjoy taking something that doesn’t

look possible and making it possible. To look

at something difficult and say, ‘yes, we can

do that’…I pride myself on ingenuity.”

While designing UMNH with veteran

structural engineer Youra Zivait, Dunn recalls

saying to him, “I’ve never done this before,

a cantilevered concrete stair hanging off

of a wall?” He would say, ‘Dave, I’ve never

done that either. You’re an engineer; you

can figure it out. The principles and physics

and mechanics can be defined. He pushed

me hard and helped shape who I am and the

confidence I have as an engineer.”

Dunn has worked on the design of

several other award-winning projects,

including Vivant’s Headquarters in Lehi,

Westminster on the Draw in Salt Lake, and

the David Eccles School of Business at the

University of Utah. He’s currently working

on innovative, high-profile projects like the

new 230,000 SF Overstock.com building that

recently broke ground in Midvale, Lassonde

Studios at the University of Utah, and the

complex Terminal Redevelopment at the

Salt Lake Int’l Airport.

“I really like challenging projects,” he

says, taking a page from his father’s book.

Ron spent his early career working on highly

challenging projects for San Francisco-

based firms before returning to his Utah

roots and opening his Salt Lake practice.

“One of my dad’s favorite quotes is, ‘you

can never go back to where you’ve never

been’. There is an experience log that needs to

happen, there is a progression you go through.

I think I aged 20 years on the museum; there

were so many unique challenges.”

The elder Dunn believes David is more

than capable of leading the firm now, and

well into the future.

“Dave’s reputation and respect for

others within the office will make it easier

for him to steer Dunn Associates in a

direction necessary to keep pace with the

ever changing professional services arena,”

stated Ron.

Dunn said helping architects achieve

what they desire aesthetically, while

bringing a realistic perspective in regards to

relative cost, is vital.

“If you can minimize cost in the

structure, then the architect can spend

money where he wants to…on materials,

architectural features, cool lighting,” Dunn

says. “We shape those decisions by helping

them understand the most structurally

efficient ways to do things. We have the

owners’ interest at heart; we want them to

get the most bang for their buck.”

Oct 14 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | 57

RIsIng staRs

David Dunn, 33Principal/CEODunn Associates, Inc.

There is an experience log that needs to happen, there is a progression you go through.

“

”

58 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | Oct 14

A year into college at Utah State

University, Kelly Gillman realized civil

engineering just wasn’t cutting it. He

switched to landscape architecture,

figuring it had some similarities while

allowing more artistic creativity.

“Both include the design of site-

related places, but it was more of a design

profession than a technical profession,

more aesthetic than calculations.”

Gillman, who is both a licensed

Landscape Architect and a Certified

Planner, worked at Sear Brown for three

years before joining CRSA shortly after the

2002 Salt Lake Olympics. Gillman was hired

by Soren Simonsen, former CRSA principal,

as the firm’s first landscape architect.

“He gave me a lot of opportunities

to try new things and go after projects

we maybe hadn’t gone after before,” said

Gillman.

While at Sear Brown, Gillman worked

with Steve Meyer, who is now Chief Capital

Development Officer at UTA. Gillman has

worked on several UTA-related projects,

including the streetscape for the Sugar

House Street Car. Gillman did all landscape

design on the ‘S’-Line, which connects

to the recently opened Parley’s Trail, in

addition to platforms and canopies for

Front Runner stations.

The ‘S’ Line is a unique project that

incorporated many sustainable design

aspects. He believes landscape architects

can positively impact a wide array of

projects.

“There are areas we can play a role

in as a sustainability director,” he says.

Beyond the obvious site landscaping,

landscape architects can help improve

storm water management, suggest ideas

like green roofs, pervious concrete, dark-

sky compliant lighting, the use of locally-

sourced products, and even things like

benches made of recycled materials.

LEED certification is also driving more

owners to consider environmentally-

friendly landscape designs, which focus on

water conservation, plant sourcing, use of

native plants and plants that are adaptive

to the native climate.

In regards to planning, Gillman has

been involved in the Utah State Fair Park

Master Planning process, funding for which

will be considered by the State Legislature

next year.

“They will consider retrofitting

existing facilities so they can be more

successful year round,” said Gillman. “The

need to bring buildings up to code and

make them more modern.”

Another interesting current project

for UTA is working on the Bus Rapid Transit

(BRT) system in Utah County. CRSA is

designing platforms, landscaping, park and

ride lots, drop off points, etc.

Much of Gillman’s work through the

years has come from repeat customers, a

sign of his easy-going demeanor and ability

to satisfy client expectations.

“What stands out is how effective

he is at bringing clients back again and

again,” said Jim Nielson, Sr. Principal with

CRSA. “There are few people who have

more enthusiastic customers than Kelly.

Almost all of his work is repeat work. He’s

a likeable person; people are drawn to him

and enjoy working with him.”

RIsIng staRs

Kelly Gillman, 38Senior PrincipalCRSA

Oct 14 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | 59

Construction is an industry built through

the years on the legacies of strong, family-

owned companies, many of which have

been around for multiple generations.

Cody Thorn’s heritage can be traced

back to great-grandfather Ashel O. Thorn,

who worked in construction beginning

shortly after the turn of the 20th Century and

founded Thorn Construction in Springville,

which existed until the early 80’s.

He’s always known about his family’s

heritage and identified at an early age that

it was a great potential career path.

“Construction has been in our family

for generations and it’s really the only

thing I ever wanted to do,” said Thorn,

who serves as Operations Manager for

Construction Materials Recycling (CMR)

of Coalville, a company that specializes

in rotomilling, pulverizing, cement

stabilization, lime stabilization and full-

depth reclamation for the heavy-highway

industry. “I’ve always been intrigued by

construction. I love big equipment, the

smell of it, the fast-paced life of it.”

Thorn earned a B.S. in Construction

Management from Weber State University

and has worked for a couple of different

local construction-related companies the

past decade, including two stints at CMR

(’05-’07 and ’12-current).

In his role as Operations Manager,

he oversees every aspect of the company

from estimating to scheduling to project

management, and everything in between.

Rotomilling is the company’s bread and

butter, and it does 90% of its work in Utah for

most of the major heavy-highway general

contractors.

“We’re fortunate to work with all the

general contractors, not just one or two of

them,” said Thorn. “Our industry is getting

more competitive, but we’ve found that our

reputation and our quality of work have helped

us establish good relationships, where they can

call us and know they’ll be taken care of.”

“Cody is a very positive person and

fosters great interaction between our

clients and crew,” said CMS President

Stacy Jones. “He takes a job from start to

finish. We’re not a large company so we

all wear a lot of hats. He takes on a lot of

responsibility. Cody is the ringleader of

our team putting in 100% in making our

company successful. He does whatever it

takes to get the job done.”

Thorn said he learned good core

business principles primarily from his

father, Rich Thorn, who has been President/

CEO of the Associated General Contractors

(AGC) of Utah for more than 30 years.

“He’s been my number one influence,”

said the younger Thorn. “I always wanted to

make him proud. He set high standards. He’s

always been there; he’s met me countless

nights at Village Inn to discuss things.”

“He’s always had an interest in seeing

things progress – it’s in his gene pool,” said

Rich Thorn. “He could see it was a rewarding

industry and one that he could have a good

career in. Cody is good with people and

frankly, he’s a problem solver. He chose a

path that for a number of reasons made

sense for him to follow.”

“The key to success in anything you do

is practicing core principles,” Thorn said. “Be

honest, look people in the eye, do a good

job for them, keep your commitment. We’re

finding good opportunities right now in the

industry.”

RIsIng staRs

Cody Thorn, 34Operations ManagerConstruction Materials Recycling

60 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | Oct 14

As Executive Director of the Utah Chapter

of the American Institute of Architects (AIA

Utah), Heather Wilson has been intent on

ensuring that each of its 564 members is

able to participate and get maximum value

from the chapter.

She stressed the importance of

AIA Utah’s three specific areas of focus,

including the chapter’s impact on firm

culture, its inclusion of small firms, and

educating members on the value of media.

She wants to see members not only

engaging in AIA Utah activities, programs

and committees, but also participating in

their respective communities.

“It doesn’t matter if you are participating

in your church, your community, or your

government, because that is how you share

the value of who you are and what you do,”

she said. “I’m a firm believer that a rising tide

lifts all boats. If we share information and new

technology it will make us better.”

A native of Cincinnati, Wilson

graduated from the University of Cincinnati

in 2002 with a B.S. in Urban Studies. She

had taken various classes from one of her

professors, Brenda Case Scheer – who she

considers a close friend and mentor – and

ended up working for Scheer’s local practice

for two years before going briefly to Parsons

Transportation Group. She was writing

federal documents, which she deemed

“hard work, but it didn’t feel like good work”

and decided it wasn’t a job that clicked.

She ended up at AIA North Carolina

where she served as Director of Programs

and Communications, and was also able

to learn other aspects about chapter

operations from Executive Vice President

David Crawford.

“I handled all major social functions,

but David was a kind enough boss to let me

see the budget, and allowed me to be part

of board meetings and other processes,”

she said.

After working at North Carolina AIA

from 2005-11, Wilson moved back to her

hometown of Cincinnati after going through

a divorce. She mulled over attending

graduate school, until talking one day on

the phone to Scheer, who was living in Salt

Lake and serving as Dean of the University

of Utah’s School of Architecture (’02-’13).

Scheer mentioned an opening for the

Executive Director position at AIA Utah.

Having recently reconnected with an old

high school sweetheart, Utah seemed like

an attractive place to raise a family, so she

applied for the position, was hired, and now

couldn’t be happier to be involved with the

Beehive State’s architectural community.

“My family is comfortable here and I

believe in digging deep wells,” says Wilson.

“At this age I’ve figured out digging a deep

well is always better.”

Scheer is happy she was able

connect Wilson to AIA Utah, and says her

background and passion in Urban Planning,

along with her leadership style, has already

been a boon to the chapter.

“She’s got a strong personality, which

helps with an organization like AIA,” said

Scheer. “She has a good sense of when to push

and when to hold back. She’s an incredibly

bright person who has been involved in the

urban environment and making better places.

It’s great we have somebody at AIA who has a

strong interest in that.”

RIsIng staRs

Heather Wilson, 38Executive DirectorAIA Utah

Oct 14 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | 61

To an outsider, the glitz and glimmer

associated with being a star in today’s music

industry might seem like a dream career

scenario, where fame and fortune go hand-

in-hand, and a musician or band who makes

it to the ‘big time’ can punch their ticket to

stardom and untold riches.

Sean Campbell’s experience pursuing

a rock n’ roll music career didn’t exactly pan

out in that fashion, but he insists it was an

incredible journey, one he has zero regrets

following for nearly a decade.

“I would never take that experience and

say that I wish I would have done anything

else,” says Campbell, who serves as Business

Development Director for Eckman & Mitchell

Construction of Salt Lake. “It was definitely a

lot of fun.”

Campbell was the lead singer and

played piano and guitar for the five-member

band ‘Weather’ from 2000-2008. They

starting out in Salt Lake playing regular gigs

at places like the old Zephyr Club, before

ultimately selling everything except musical

instruments and clothes and moving to

Seattle. They signed a record deal in 2003 and

released their lone 11-track album, “Calling

Up My Bad Side”, which one critic described

as “pop-inflected post-Radiohead rock”.

Campbell said his alt-rock band had

modest success touring and playing bars,

clubs and other small venues throughout the

Western U.S., even occasionally opening for

acts such as Presidents of the United States,

and Ben Taylor, son of pop-folk legend James

Taylor. He even met his wife in the Northwest

music scene; she was a member of The Vicci

Martinez band when the two met after a gig

at the Over the Moon Café in Tacoma. Upon

getting married in August 2008, Campbell

realized it was time to pursue a different

career path and returned to Utah.

From as far back as he can remember,

Campbell was in and around construction

throughout his formative years, courtesy of

his father Bob Campbell, founder of Camco

Construction, a prominent Salt Lake general

contractor that closed its Salt Lake office in

2011 when Bob retired.

The younger Campbell remembers going

to meetings with his father as early as six

years old and felt like he had a good grasp of

the ins and outs of the industry by the time

he started working in the field as a teenager.

He wasn’t sure he would ever pursue

a full-fledged career in construction given

the risks, challenges, and overall stress level

it tends to foster, but is excited about being

at Eckman & Mitchell Construction and

contributing to the firm’s success.

“I’ve always said you have to be a little

sick in the head to be in this business,”

Campbell says. The highs are really high and

lows are really low – there is not much gray

area. My father never wanted his children to

be in the business even though it’s provided

well for his family. It’s a complicated

business. At this point he wishes me well and

when I need advice he always gives it. The

thing I remember him saying is always be

honest with people and follow through.”

“He grew up in the industry and kind of

came up in the same ‘Hard Knock University’

as I did, where we don’t know anything

different,” said Eric Eckman, Managing

Member of Eckman & Mitchell. “For his young

age he’s very affluent with construction.

Since he’s been here, between the two of us,

we’ll double our revenues from ’13 to ’14. He’s

played a big part in that.”

“Sean was exposed to construction

from the time he was born,” said Bob

Campbell. “He followed some other passions

for awhile but came back to what he knew. I

was originally a little surprised he decided to

go forward in construction. The past several

years he’s really matured and has a full

understanding of construction management.

I’m extremely proud of his progress and

the confidence the ownership (of Eckman &

Mitchell) has placed within him. I’m excited

about the success he’s having.”

RIsIng staRs

Sean Campbell, 35Business Development DirectorEckman & Mitchell Construction

64 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | Oct 14

This past January 11 Matt Morgan was

snowmobiling near the top of St. Charles

Canyon near Bear Lake with friends and

co-workers from Salt Lake-based Morgan

Asphalt, including Dan Frost and Bryce Butler,

both of whom had rode the rugged Northern

Utah terrain for more than two decades.

Ahead of the pack, Morgan darted

down a hill, only to trigger an avalanche that

swallowed him up and left him buried under

the snow approximately 1,500 feet down the

hill. Frost and Butler followed behind, and

were able to dig Morgan out and stabilize

him until search and rescue arrived.

Both Frost and Butler have worked at

Morgan Asphalt for since the company was

founded in 1996 by President Thomas Morgan,

and have seen Morgan grow up from a child

to his present position as Vice President of

the company. His first real job was working on

Frost’s grading crew at age 16.

“I couldn’t let him sit under that snow…I

knew there was risk but I didn’t care and just

took off down the hill,” recalls Frost, who

arrived on the scene first. “He thought he was

bulletproof and could ride out of there. It’s

amazing how we got him out; they stretched

rope 1,500 feet and drug him up the hill. It took

a helluva long time to get him out.”

“It was the longest day of my life,”

said Butler. “I held his hand the whole time,

trying to keep him calm, but he actually kept

us sane. He was talking and aware, but he

doesn’t remember any of it.”

The force of the avalanche broke both

Morgan’s femurs and his left arm; he spent

three weeks in the hospital and had two

surgeries that left him with rods from his

hips to his knees in both femurs and two

plates and 14 screws in his left arm.

With Thom Morgan and his wife away

while Thom serves as an LDS Mission

President in St. Louis, Morgan’s wife (he had

celebrated his one-year anniversary the

week before the accident) and his co-workers

helped support him during his recovery.

Through it all, Morgan expresses gratitude

not only for life itself, but also for the

experience, and the effect it’s had at work.

“We are very close – it’s been a family

atmosphere here ever since I can remember,”

said Morgan. “The team has always treated

me with the utmost respect and I feel really

blessed to have friends like that. It’s been a

great experience – I’ve taken more good from

it that I even could have taken negative. It’s

brought our team closer together.”

“The Senior Management team

and everybody else rallied around him,

supported him through it because we

were not in a position to do so,” said Thom.

“Everybody helped wherever it was needed;

they picked up where he was not able to. It’s

a real compliment to the team and their love

for Matt and the company.”

Morgan says that even though his

title is Vice President and he is the top

executive during his father’s absence, he

wants to emphasize that the company is

led by the collective experience of its Senior

Management team, which includes: Frost,

Operations Manager; Butler, Equipment

Manager; Cameron Hone, Estimating

Manager; Heather Morley, Office Manager.

After his part-time work in the field

during his teenage years, Morgan served an

LDS Mission to Louisville, Kentucky, and then

graduated from BYU-Idaho in Construction

Management in 2011, joining the family

company full-time in August of that year.

“I asked him for a job, he obliged, and now

I’m elbows deep in it,” said Morgan. During the

past three years he’s served as an excavation

supervisor, project manager and estimator. He

relies on the expertise of those around him as

he learns the nuances of the industry.

“It’s part of their job to teach me about

how they manage and how the company

works,” he said. “Being 29 and relatively

inexperienced, that guidance system is there

for me to learn. From the outside looking in

it might seem confusing, but because we’ve

been together so long and trust each other,

it works.”

RIsIng staRs

Matt Morgan, 29Vice PresidentMorgan Asphalt

Oct 14 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | 65

When Ibi Szekely (now Guevara) came

to Utah in November 2001 from her

hometown in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, to

begin an 18-month internship at Camp

Kostopulos in Emigration Canyon, she

excitedly planned a visit to the state’s

capital city on her first Sunday in town.

Expecting to find a thriving, bustling

city teeming with people – much like

she was accustomed to growing up in

Romania’s second most-populous city

(300,000-plus) behind only the capital of

Bucharest – she was rather shocked at how

quiet and lifeless downtown was.

“It’s Sunday and nobody was

downtown,” said Guevara, who started

working in the A/E/C Industry for Salt Lake-

based Hunt Electric in 2004 on a part-time

basis and has since parlayed that into

owning a percentage of the firm and being

part of Hunt’s executive team. “I came from

this big city that is crazy. The other thing I

noticed was I grew up in a city with a lot of

multi-family apartment complexes. Here,

it’s this vast area of houses and houses…it

was a big difference from home.”

Guevara grew up in a small 700 SF

apartment with her parents and sister,

and was nearly 14 when the Romanian

Revolution occurred at the end of 1989,

which ended 42 years of Communist

rule in the country and established

a democracy. Her father works as a

warehouse manager, her mother is a

seamstress, and Guevara attributes her

strong work ethic to their example.

“They always juggled their schedules

to make sure one of them was home with

us,” she said. “Everybody is amazed at how

hard they work, even now.”

She viewed coming to Utah as a

tremendous opportunity. She was well

educated, earning a law degree from the

Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University

Faculty of Law in Cluj-Napoca (she was

the first in her family to graduate college)

and had a well-paying job for five years

as an office manager for a company that

distributed orthopedic products. But she

saw a glass ceiling above her and wanted

to explore new options.

In Fall 2001, her internship was

approved and she fortunately got her

visa, which she partially credited to

connecting with the woman at the

application window at the U.S. Embassy

because Guevara spoke Hungarian (she is

ethnically Hungarian).

When she arrived at Camp Kostopulos

– a residential summer camp for children

and adults with special needs – her

primary responsibilities included activity

leader, helping with business development,

RIsIng staRs

Ibi Guevara, 38VP of Business DevelopmentHunt Electric

I believe in developing relationships and in reciprocating the help I get. Networking is so important for somebody in my position. It’s important to get involved once you become a member of something.

“

”

66 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | Oct 14

and fundraising events. She later became

camp lifeguard, pool manager and

swimming instructor, which led to her

developing relationships with several

families, many of whom remain close

friends and clients. Following that first

summer she was offered a nanny position,

and accepted.

Friends back home in Romania

questioned why such a talented person

with a law degree would settle for a job

taking care of children, but Guevara

was patient and figured a much better

opportunity was around the corner.

One of the families she grew close

to was Richard and Caryn Hunt. Richard

owned Hunt Electric, and hired Guevara

part-time in 2004, figuring her personality

and can-do attitude could benefit his

company.

“She was so engaging with my

children and everybody that interacted

with her,” said Hunt. “I saw a place for

her and she took it from there and grew

professionally. She has a great work ethic,

and she’s genuine and trustworthy. In her

line of work she’s out in front of deals and

people need to trust her, and they do.”

Guevara expresses great pride when

talking about Hunt Electric’s growth

the past decade, with revenues having

tripled since 2005, and two new divisions

– Energy/Solar and Transmission/

Distribution – having been added.

She appreciates those who helped

mentor her initially, particularly

members from the Society of Marketing

Professional Services (SMPS) and many

business development professionals of

different general contractors. Guevara

has been and continues to be involved

with numerous industry groups and

believes that the more people you help

be successful the more success you will

experience yourself.

“I believe in developing relationships

and in reciprocating the help I get,” she

says. “Networking is so important for

somebody in my position. It’s important to

get involved once you become a member

of something.” n

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