Description :

West Valley Municipal Forecast

Moderated by Chase Farnsworth, Mortenson Construction, Sr. Project Development Manager

Chase Farnsworth graduated Arizona State University with a bachelor of science in construction management and has been actively involved in the construction industry for the last 7 years. He is passionate not only about the entire building process but also providing solutions to customers and actively engaging with the community. Since his start in the industry in 2010 he progressed quickly from project engineer to superintendent to project manager. He has been part of Mortenson since 2014 and is currently serving as senior project development manager overseeing Mortenson’s growth and expansion in the Arizona market.

Speakers:

Karl Zook, PE, City of Surprise, Assistant Public Works Director/City Engineer

Karl received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington. Karl began his professional career in General Contracting in the Dallas/Ft Worth metropolitan area and worked in the industry for 11 years. Karl moved to Arizona in October 2003.

In September of 2005, Karl began his local government career with the City of Surprise as a Construction Project Manager in the newly formed CIP department. In February

2007, Karl spent the next 7+ years of employment with the City of Peoria and obtained his Professional Engineering license in November 2008. Since November 2014 Karl has been the City Engineer, Assistant Public Works Director for the City of Surprise

Karl has been a City of Surprise resident since 2009, is married to Rebecca Zook, they have 2 children and 3 dogs.

Christopher Williams, City of Buckeye, Manager, Construction and Contracting

Chris enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1977, after successfully completing boot camp he was assigned as a Contracts Specialist. After several enlisted promotions he received a commission in 1983 as a Contracting Officer and retired in 1999 achieving the rank of Major. During his tenure in the Marine Corps he was assigned as a Senior Contracting Officer and a Senior Construction Project Manager in major projects.

After retirement he took a position with Williams Energy as the Director of Construction. In 2005 he left Williams and moved to Buckeye looking forward to retirement but instead started working for the Town of Buckeye as the Manager, Construction and Contracting. During the economic downturn he left Buckeye to become the Director of Federal Projects for Haydon Building Corp. As the economy recovered, the City of Buckeye called upon him to return to his former position as the Director of Construction and Contracting.

His duties include; project delivery for all Capital Improvement Projects, the development and implantation of the City’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and writing, negotiating and administration of all contracting and purchasing function for the City of Buckeye.  

Chris has been a City of Buckeye resident since 2005, is married to this beautiful wife Victoria, they have 3 children and 4 grandchildren.

Shawn V. Kreuzwiesner, PE, City of Avondale, Assistant Public Works Director

Shawn Kreuzwiesner is the Assistant Public Works Director in the City of Avondale. In this role he provides oversight and leadership for the city’s public works function with a focus on operational efficiencies and customer service. In particular, he directly oversees the city’s Solid Waste, Street Maintenance, Fleet Service and Utility Capital Improvement Program. 

In total, he has more than 14 years of progressive leadership experience within the public sector. Prior to joining Avondale in June 2015, he worked for the City of Peoria providing long range planning and utility engineering functions. 

Prior to entering public service, Shawn had worked as a Civil Engineering in the private sector. In the private sector he worked on a variety of projections including bridge rehabilitations, building evaluations and the construction of building and utility facilities. He also worked for a few years as a technical contractor to FEMA helping to evaluate requests for federal disaster funding.     

Shawn received a Master of Public Administration from Grand Canyon University and a Bachelor of Engineering from McMaster.  He is married and has two young children the keep him very active. 

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