MAKING MOVES


Blach Construction Announces Key Hires and Promotions Blach Construction has announced four key hires, including project executives in Monterey and Southern California and a senior director of marketing at its San Jose headquarters, along with several leadership promotions. Project Executive Daniel Chavarria will support Blach’s continued expansion on


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the Central Coast. He brings more than 16 years of industry experience focused on design-build delivery of civic projects across Central and Northern California. In Southern California, Project Executives Rick Fochtman andRick Willison bring decades of experience serving the region’s education and institutional construction sectors. Blach also appointed Kate Vernon as senior director of marketing. Vernon brings


more than 20 years of construction marketing experience. Te company also promoted several longtime employees: Tierney Azzopardi to


vice president of human resources, Justin Cabralto general superintendent following the retirement of John Mathias, and Katie Blach Ellington to vice president. Azzopardi, who joined Blach in 2011, oversees talent acquisition, training, and


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1 Daniel Chavarria 2 Rick Fochtman


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Katie Blach Ellington


4 Tierney Azzopardi 5 Justin Cabral


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organizational development. She leads the firm’s recruiting and internship programs, as well as professional development initiatives. Cabral brings more than 30 years of construwction industry experience to his new


role. Since joining Blach in 2010, he helped develop the company’s next generation of superintendents. As general superintendent, he will oversee all field operations. Troughout her career at Blach, Ellington has focused on driving innovation across


operations, preconstruction, and the Folia team. As vice president, she will continue supporting preconstruction, virtual design and construction, and marketing while leading strategic company initiatives.


“As a lifelong resident of Santa Cruz,


I’m incredibly proud to see our commu- nity, with one of the highest rental rates in the nation, lead the way in California with educator housing,” said Jared Bogaard, president of Bogard Construction. The project is being delivered


Bogard Construction Breaks Ground on Santa Cruz City Schools Project Bogard Construction, in partnership with Santa Cruz City Schools, recently broke ground on the district’s first Educator Housing Community. Addressing the affordability challenges in the area, the 100-unit development will provide below-market-rate housing for district teachers and staff. The project, funded through voter-approved Measures K and L, marks a


major step forward for educator workforce housing in Santa Cruz County as school districts across California seek practical ways to address recruitment and retention in high-cost regions.


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CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTOR MAY/JUNE 2026


through an alternative design-build approach to align budget, constructa- bility, site planning, and program goals. Working with architects EHDD and Studio VARA during preconstruction, Bogard expanded the project from an original 80-unit concept to 100 units. The roughly 120,000-square-foot


community includes studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, along with site improvements and renova- tions to two existing buildings on the property. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2028.


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