Kitchell promotes healthcare construction executive

After having his hand in the construction of hundreds of hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the southwest, Dan Pierce has been promoted to senior vice president at Kitchell.

“Dan is the consummate leader with a unique blend of humor, intellect and resolve,” said Kitchell Contractors President Mike Rock. “He knows how to develop great teams, sharing his entrepreneurial energy when necessary but also, as is the case with all great managers, he knows when to step aside.”

Pierce joined Kitchell 30 years ago, right out of college, as a project engineer. Since his first project, St. Luke’s Hospital in Phoenix, he has advanced through the company from project manager through vice president, Healthcare Division, and has been directly involved in thousands of projects.

Pierce has demonstrated strong and steady leadership throughout his tenure at Kitchell and has been instrumental in building the company’s healthcare division, nurturing the medical technology planning division, Facilities Development Inc., and expanding the Virtual Construction group.

“We depend on Dan to ask the tough questions and to address challenges from all perspectives – nothing slips by him. This characteristic, along with his decades-long experience at Kitchell, makes him a tremendous asset to the company and I look forward to working alongside him for many more years to come,” Rock said.

As senior vice president, Pierce will bring lessons-learned and success strategies honed building the company’s health care division to the rest of the company.

With a bachelor’s degree in construction from Arizona State University, Pierce is involved in many organizations including the American Society for Healthcare Engineering, Healthcare Forum, Healthcare Administrators Forum, and the American Hospital and Health Association.  He is an ASHE Certified Healthcare Builder and member of the Leadership Development Forum of the Arizona Building Alliance.  Pierce played a lead role in helping establish the construction management program and its curriculum at Northern Arizona University.  From 2000 to 2005, Pierce was a board member of the Foundation for Blind Children in Phoenix.

Seasoned business development professional joins Kitchell’s healthcare practice

Valerie Kelly has joined Kitchell as Director of Client Services for the Healthcare Division. A 20-year veteran of the local construction and development community, Valerie was most recently with McCarthy Building Companies where she led business development efforts for the southwest region.

“Valerie’s insights and experience will be invaluable as we look to parlay our vast healthcare industry experience into markets both inside and outside of Arizona,” said Kitchell Vice President of healthcare marketing Dick Crowley.

Previously Kelly was Business Development Director for the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC), where she worked with high-level executive, political and local community leaders from both the private and public sectors. Prior to GPEC, she worked for four years as Marketing Manager for Evans Withycombe, the largest multi-family residential real estate developer in Arizona (now known as Equity Residential).

Kelly was instrumental in creating and launching the Central Arizona Society of Healthcare Engineering (CASHE) and served as a board member of the organization in 2009. In 2006, she received the 2006 Pinnacle Achievement Award for “exemplary leadership in construction sales and marketing.” She is active in Valley Partnership, Urban Land Institute (ULI), Valley Forward (former board member), the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Kelly studied English literature at UCLA and is a published writer whose articles have been featured in magazines including ‘TEEN, Self and Ms.