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United Construction Company (UCC) announces Sarah Schmidt as their new Manager of Employee Retention and Development, a newly-created position at the company. The promotion went into effect on Wednesday, June 1, as she receives her Associate Professional in Human Resources (aPHR) certification.

Schmidt was the Executive Administrator at UCC for more than three years, with a decade of office management, project coordination, executive assistance, and employee development experience. She will grow upon her skills in her new role at the company.

“I’m excited to mix my passion for employee and corporate development with my devotion to United Construction and its people,” said Schmidt. “I anticipate a great future ahead for the company, and I’m excited to be a part of its internal growth.”

Schmidt’s primary responsibilities are to support ongoing company operations and improve employee engagement, development, and retention. Under those responsibilities, she will have several duties that will further United Construction’s mission to maintain a great company culture and invest in the career development of UCC’s employees.

Schmidt will head several human resources functions in her new position as well. These include working with senior management to evaluate staffing needs of the company, supporting recruitment and onboarding efforts, keeping the company current on employment laws and regulations, helping with record-keeping and budgeting, and more. On the training and career development side, Schmidt will help conduct basic new hire training, assist in the preparation of career path development plans for employees, monitor ongoing staff training programs, create relevant training materials, help managers conduct performance evaluations and goal setting/mentoring, and building solid cross-functional relationships across all company locations and groups.

Sarah will also have a focus on maintaining company morale/welfare in her new role. She will implement and facilitate team building activities, develop ideas for employee involvement activities, maintain the company event calendar, and plan more social events.

“As our company continues to reach new heights, we identified an opportunity to enhance our focus on employee career development and retention, and Sarah was the perfect fit for this role,” said Mike Whittaker, President of United Construction. “This has been a career aspiration for her, and we are thrilled to support her career development and benefit other UCC employees in the process.”

Team United and their plus-ones attended the Summit Awards hosted by NAIOP Northern Nevada this weekend. We had a lovely time supporting so many commercial real estate companies and professionals who have done incredible work within our industry in Northern Nevada. We were proud to be an event sponsor this year!

Thank you, NAIOP, for a wonderful event!

Back in February, we announced that United Construction was finalist for the 2022 Nevada Business Magazine (NBM) Awards under the “Battle Born” category. To honor all of the finalists and announce the winners, the NBM hosted an upscale business luncheon at the Peppermill yesterday afternoon. Along with Design Manager Keith Deutscher and Marketing Manager Alana Ridge representing United, Northern Nevada businesses from a wide variety of industries and years in service attended the event to celebrate each other.

Out of the many nominations, United was in the Top 3 under the “Battle Born” category, which recognizes companies that have been in business for more than 25 years. We are thrilled to be among the best this year in this category. Congratulations to all of the winners and finalists!

Our Operations Manager Casey Gunther and our Talent Acquisition Manager Susan Rowland recently participated in the Employer Support of the Guard & Reserve (ESGR) Boss Lift at the Nevada Air National Guard Base in Reno. The Boss Lift is a recognition event for employers (like United Construction) who support the United States National Guard and Reserve, and the event provided critical first-hand insight into why our support of employing Guard and Reserve members is essential to our national defense.

As a part of the program, Casey and Susan had the exciting opportunity to fly in a Military C-130 Aircraft and tour the Air National Guard Base. They also received a certificate to signify United Construction’s support of the Guard and Reserve.

We proudly employ members of our military and are strong supporters of our armed forces; as such, we are thrilled that Casey and Susan were able to participate in the Boss Lift event to commemorate our support.

United Construction is officially a Top Workplace in Nevada! We are thrilled to announce that our company is a winner of the 2022 Top Workplaces awards program. In order to qualify for this program, companies must distribute an in-depth, anonymous employee survey to thoroughly analyze staff engagement levels, company perception, leadership efficiency, and many more critical points that make an organization function well. The data is in – and we are so proud to be among the greatest places to work in the Silver State.

Congratulations to our wonderful employees that make United Construction the company that it is!

All this year’s winners can be found in the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Sunday print edition (also found in the e-edition on their website) via a Las Vegas Business Press staff report.

Our Park at McCarran project and field team welcomed the NAIOP Northern Nevada Developing Leaders onsite yesterday for a tour of Buildings 1-3. We had a great time showing these young construction and development professionals the immense progress of the park, both inside and outside. They were a delight to have! Thank you, Developing Leaders, for taking the time out of your day to experience the Park at McCarran construction site!

United Construction Welcomes Edward Morgan as New Chief Financial Officer
CFO Brad Breach to retire after serving 35 years with the Nevada-based design-builder

United Construction Company (UCC), a best-in-class general contractor and design-builder serving both Northern and Southern Nevada industrial and commercial markets, has named Edward “Ed” Morgan as their new Chief Financial Officer, beginning March 7, 2022. This announcement comes as UCC’s beloved CFO Brad Breach announces his retirement after 35 years of professional service to the company.

Morgan joins UCC with several decades of accounting, finance, analysis, reporting, and operations leadership experience in Colorado, Northern California, and the Truckee/Tahoe region, serving the majority of those roles for residential and commercial real estate development companies. Most recently, Morgan served as the Chief Operating Officer for Taylor Builders, one of the Sacramento region’s largest land developers. As COO at Taylor, he instituted policies, procedures, and controls to help a start-up business grow into a large development company through leading the human resources, administration, risk management, and finance teams to success. Before his career with Taylor Builders, Morgan was a Vice President and the Corporate Controller for Mountainside Partners and East West Partners-Tahoe, where he secured public financing and construction loans, managed accounting and project teams, prepared annual business plans and much more. In addition to an established accounting and auditing career in Colorado and holding a Master of Accountancy degree from the University of Nevada, Reno, Morgan is a finance veteran in the construction industry.

“Ed is a highly-experienced leader in construction, operations and finance, which makes him an excellently well-rounded and ideal choice for our next CFO,” said Michael Whittaker, President of United Construction. “As he begins his tenure with UCC, we are looking forward to seeing Ed leverage his expertise to ensure not only our solid financial management continues but also enhances our abilities in all aspects of our business.”

As CFO, Morgan will oversee the accounting and IT teams, company finances, employee benefits, contract and labor law, taxation and other financial and human resources-related roles for both United Construction and United Concrete Specialties. He will also spearhead organizational productivity initiatives, cost-control measures, risk management and strategic goals alongside Whittaker, Chief Executive Officer Michael Russell and Operations Manager Casey Gunther.

Breach has been the leader and guardian of UCC’s finances and accounting department with committed consistency and transparent accuracy, and he has provided invaluable advice to numerous customers, managers and employees since his arrival to the company in 1987. He has paved the way to a well-deserved retirement.

“Brad has hired the people, created the processes, implemented the software and established many of the routines that have ensured our success today,” said Russell. “Brad’s legacy will forever be a part of United Construction’s rich history, and he will truly be missed. As Brad supports Ed in his transition to CFO over the next few months, we are confident Ed will carry on our company’s mission, vision and traditions.”

Here at United Construction, we are proud to celebrate the women who lift up our company every day, bringing us to new heights and reaching key milestones and successes. Happy Women in Construction Week (Sunday, March 6 – Saturday, March 12) to all the wonderful women who serve in the construction industry!

Our celebratory video that we recorded for AGC Nevada can be found via this link.

Featured from left to right:

  • Carrie Dyer, Project Engineer
  • Ariel Mooney, Administrative Assistant
  • Sandy Penny, Accounting Supervisor
  • Farhat Sameena, Architectural Designer
  • Justine Lotz, Accounts Payable Clerk
  • Gladiss Hernandez, Accounts Payable Clerk
  • Sarah Schmidt, Executive Administrator
  • Jami Fornelli, Estimator
  • Susan Rowland, Talent Acquisition Manager
  • Yajaira Medina, Project Administrator
  • Audrey Mackey, Operations Administrator
  • Alana Ridge, Marketing and Communications Manager

 

(Not videoed: Glady Robinette – Project Administrator, Catherine Bernauer – Project Administrator)

Despite supply chain issues affecting our industry, construction in Nevada continues onward efficiently and with confidence, as builders and developers help our state grow. Our CEO Michael Russell was recently a part of Nevada Business Magazine’s Builder & Developer Roundtable with other Silver State construction/development leaders to discuss the reality of these matters and how the industry continues to overcome these obstacles.

Dive into Michael’s words of wisdom as well as insight from the other expert panelists in Nevada Business Magazine’s Industry Focus article, which highlights the conversation at the recent roundtable.

We are honored to be one of three finalists under the “Battle Born” category at this year’s Nevada Business Awards! The Battle Born award recognizes companies that have been in business for more than 25 years, and we are thrilled to be in the Top 3 considered for this honor.

Thank you, Nevada Business Magazine! The team at United Construction looks forward to attending the awards luncheon in May.

A full list of the finalists, and more information about this awards program, can be viewed HERE.