CREW Pittsburgh continues to strive to bring value added benefits to its members.  To this aim, improving communication between members and the community at large is paramount.  We encourage you to share your success stories or those of your colleagues in the industry by sending us announcements, press releases, or news ideas with us.  Let us know about any promotions as well. We can be our greatest allies in our quest to improve and expand our business relationships and professional expertise!   Submit News
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Diana Lynn, a Broker/Manager with One80 Real Estate Services LLC

Natalie Abel, Vice President of Sales, Energy Savers, Inc. (Energy Services Consultant)
Susan Lesczynski, Broker of Record with Walnut Capital
Jennifer Danquist, dir. of business development for Marco Contractors, Inc.
Patricia Sommers with  First Niagara Bank
Kris Volpatti, Vice President, First Niagara Bank has rejoined CREW
Judy Hannon, Senior Vice President, TriState Capital Bank
Brenda Costa, a Project Geologist with Moody & Associates
 Sara Uhl, a project scientist with KU Resources, Inc.
Rosina Scalamogna, a Property Manager with Washington Plaza
Laura Stone, an Attorney/Shareholder with Babst, Calland, Clements & Zomnir, PC
Roger Valente, a Vice President with The Junkmen (first local male member)

Linda Shaner, a Vice President with S&T Bank

Kristen Storms, an associate with K&L Gates

Krista-Ann Staley, an associate with Babst, Calland, Clements & Zomnir, PC

Erica Steele, an attorney with Babst, Calland, Clements & Zomnir, PC

Carol Wood, a sales rep with McCarls Services
Cindy Hawk, Director of Real Estate with Thorp, Reed & Armstrong, LLP
Meagan Moore, a leasing manager at Gateway Center
Dani Kazienko, a senior advisor at CresaPartners
Kristine Ritter Wilhelm, a marketing associate with The Rubinoff Company

 


Roger Valente is the first male to join CREW Pittsburgh - April 16, 2010

Allegheny County Chief Executive and Current Candidate for Pennsylvania Governor Dan Onorato Speaks at CREW Lunch Program - March 13, 2010

CREW Pittsburgh Announces 2010 Board of Directors - February 4, 2010

CREW Pittsburgh's Economic Forecast Event Features George Cornelius, Secretary of the Commonwealth of PA Department of Community & Economic Development
September 29, 2009

CREW Network is pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 CREW Network Scholarship Program.
The Scholarship Selection Committee was once again faced with the very difficult task of selecting only 10 of the extraordinary women who applied for the 2009 scholarship program. To learn more about the recipients, read the Scholar Overviews.  August 24, 2009.
 
CREW Pittsburgh 7th Annual Golf Classic, August 17, 2009

CREW Pittsburgh Foundation awarded first volunteer with the President's Service Award,
May 20, 2009: More info here 

CREW Pittsburgh 2009 Board of Directors, January 19, 2009
 

CREW Pittsburgh and CREW Pittsburgh Foundation Agree to Dissolve Formal Ties (January, 2010)
 

CREW Pittsburgh and CREW Pittsburgh Foundation have mutually agreed to end their seven-year association. The Foundation’s proposal to separate was unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of CREW Pittsburgh at a November meeting. The decision became effective on January 1, 2010. The announcement was made at CREW Pittsburgh's Annual Holiday party by Foundation Outreach Coordinator, Eileen Iorio (pictured at the left with CREW Pittsburgh president, Maureen Ford). 

The Foundation will now be known as the Satchels of Caring Foundation.

"The strength of the Foundation has been the commitment of CREW members both physical and financial," said Heather J. Knuth, Outreach Director of the Foundation. "We want all CREW members to know how important their participation has been, and we encourage their ongoing involvement."

The approval by the CREW Pittsburgh Board is based in part on the results of a recent survey of the membership concerning the strategic goals and future direction of the chapter.

The separation will enable the Satchels of Caring Foundation to broaden its management team by reaching out to committed individuals who are not CREW Pittsburgh members and who have loyally supported the Foundation over the years. It will also enable CREW Pittsburgh to focus on its core mission of advancing and empowering women within the commercial real estate industry, and to concentrate its efforts and resources on programs like UCREW and CREW Careers.

To stay in touch with the Satchels of Caring Foundation and our new venture, please check out our current website, www.crewpittsburghfoundation.org for updates or call 412/201-2664.
 


Pepper Real Estate Team Joins Reed Smith. Reed Smith welcomes a prestigious team of Real Estate lawyers and paralegals to its Pittsburgh office. The four partners, three associates and four paralegals come to Reed Smith from the Pittsburgh office of Pepper Hamilton.

The group is led by Dusty Elias Kirk, who served on Pepper’s Executive Committee and co-chaired its real estate practice. With more than 160 real estate lawyers in 22 offices worldwide, Reed Smith offers a full-service real estate practice for clients. Members of the group advise on all types of real estate transactions, and are recognized for their experience in acting on behalf of investors, developers, lenders and corporate clients.

Please update your contact info for these CREW Pittsburgh members on the team:

Dusty Elias Kirk, Partner – 412 288 5720; dkirk@reedsmith.com
Sharon F. DiPaolo, Partner – 412 288 5723; sdipaolo@reedsmith.com
Michelle L. Cindrich, Paralegal – 412 288 3012; mcindrich@reedsmith.com

Reed Smith LLP · Reed Smith Centre · 225 Fifth Avenue · Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Kristen B. Pleasants, Vice President in Investment Real Estate Lending, First National Bank, was selected as one of CPE’s Stars to Watch: Rising CRE Leaders 25 by Commercial Property Executive Magazine. CPE evaluated rising leaders from around the industry and selected 10 top performers— investors, developers, financiers, brokers and others aged 40 and under—that are already making important contributions, with promise of more to come.

Kristen’s advice to others: Work hard, be smart, build networks and play on your strengths. "In most cases, you get out far more than you put in." Read more in the April 2010 issue of CPE.

Congratulations to CREW Member Peggy L. Carpenter, president and owner of CP Environmental Group, Inc. (CPEG), on being named one of Pittsburgh’s top Women in Business.  This is the second year of the Pittsburgh Business Times’ Awards celebrating 25 outstanding women who have each made extraordinary contributions to our community. Read more in our newsletter.

One of CREW Pittsburgh's newest members, Kristen Pleasants, a vice president with Wachovia Corporation was recently featured in CP Executive as one of CREW Network's 20 Under 40 women from throughout the commercial real estate industry as part of the 20th anniversary celebration at the Convention & Market Place in Boston. Read More here. (Kristen has recently relocated to Pittsburgh and is now working as a vice president at First National Bank).

CREW Member Jessica Jarosz, an associate with NAI Pittsburgh Commercial, is proud to work at the the number one best place to work in Western Pennsylvania.  According to an online study of employee satisfaction conducted by The Pittsburgh Business Times in order to identify the 72 Best Places to Work, NAI Pittsburgh Commercial not only received the rating of the number one (#1) Best Places to Work in the small company division (the largest of the three categories), but they were also the number one (#1) of the overall Best Places to Work in Western Pennsylvania. PBT Subscribers can read more here.

Kim Ford, LEED AP, who started her own company, Corporate Advisors, on June 1st of this year has just announced that Corporate Advisors is now officially CresaPartners Pittsburgh.  CresaPartners is an international corporate real estate firm that exclusively represents tenants/space users and specializes in the delivery of fully integrated real estate services. (Posted 11/2009)

CREW Pittsburgh Membership director, Emily J. Gaspich, P.E., LEED AP, recently joined Gateway Engineers as Project Manager. Emily brings over a decade of engineering and consulting experience to the company. Her main focus will be serving clients project needs within the company’s diverse municipal market segments.

Fran Colby of Colby Design LTD, a full-service interiors firm, was recently awarded top honors in two categories in the independently-juried 2009 Interior Design Competition held by the Pennsylvania West Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID).

Fran won in the Small Office category (less than 20,000 SF) for her design work at the Elliott Company. Colby Design collaborated with Rock Solid Industries (Contractor) and Cenkner Engineering (MEP) on the Elliott project. And, as an interior design consultant to Devlin Architecture, Fran won in the Retail Space category for the interiors she designed for the new Orr’s Jewelers in Sewickley.

Dusty Elias Kirk, a partner at Pepper Hamilton LLP, was one of seven finalists for the Allegheny Conference on Community Development 2009 ATHENA Award. The award recognizes prominent women business leaders in Pittsburgh for their professional excellence, contributions to the community, and mentorship of other women.

CREW Pittsburgh committee member and past-president Kim Ford, LEED AP started her own company, Corporate Advisors, on June 1st of this year. Corporate Advisors is a full-service exclusive tenant representation company with four commercial real estate professionals helping clients in Pittsburgh and across the country. The company has just moved into its permanent office space located off the Wexford exit in Sewickley, PA. For more information please visit www.mycorporateadvisors.com. (Posted 10/2009)

Leslie Waldron, a design liaison at Spectra Contract Flooring recently passed her LEED AP exam in Commercial Interiors.

Pennsylvania Super Lawyers has named Andrea Geraghty, Geraghty + Associates, P.C.; Dusty Kirk, Pepper Hamilton, LLP; and Marcia Grimes, Babst, Calland, Clements & Zomnir, PC as Super Lawyers. these attorneys are among the top five percent of lawyers in Pennsylvania, as chosen by their peers and a nomination committee review. Polling, research and selection are performed by Law & Politics, a twice-monthly legal publication.

Peggy Carpenter, president of CP Environmental Group, Inc., was featured in Pittsburgh Magazine's Spotlight on Women in Business this month. Check out the article here.  And, Christi Neroni, president of Agency Assist Outsource Solutions LLC, was featured along with her husband Mark in the Family Business section of the Pittsburgh Business Times.  See an excerpt here or login to the Pittsburgh Business Times for the full article.   (Posted 7/2009)

CREW Pittsburgh would like to send well wishes to an active member of our chapter, Priscella Reid, who has most recently served as a consultant and senior real esate specialist for Interstate Acquisition Services for projects including the North Shore Connector LRT and the realighnment of the PA Turnpike. Reid will be moving to Dallas, TX where she has accepted a position with Dallas Area Rapid Transit. She plans to transfer membership to the local CREW Chapter and notes "I have enjoyed my affiliation with CREW Pittsburgh and will think of everyone often."

Leslie Waldron recently joined CREW Pittsburgh and has volunteered to serve as the 2009 Marketing Director for the CREW Pittsburgh Foundation. Waldron, along with fellow CREW member, Colleen Defilippo, President of Spectra Contract Flooring who also serves as the VP of Activities for IFMA Pittsburgh, is coordinating a fundraiser benefitting, "Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh." The event will take place on Thursday, May 7, 2009 at the Keystone Corner at PNC Park from 5:30-9:00pm. CREW members are invited to come and enjoy a night at the ball park for a good cause! Contact Leslie Waldron at leslie.waldron@spectracf.com for details about registration and sponsorship.

Lori L. Czekaj, Senior Loan Officer at Commercial Capital & Consulting, LLC, was recently named National Chairperson for the Mel Blount "Partners for Kids" campaign, which raises funds for the Mel Blount Youth Home located in Washington County. Czekaj will be heading up a national campaign with corporate partners The Finish Line, Inc. (posted 5/2009)

CREW Pittsburgh communications committee member, Marureen Jordan who is with the firm Cohen & Grigsby, P.C., was honored as on of the “2008 Pennsylvania Rising Stars” in Philadelphia Magazine and Pennsylvania Super Lawyer Magazine, an annual listing of the top lawyers in Pennsylvania. (posted 2/2009)

Burns & Scalo Real Estate Services is pleased to announce SingleSource Property Solutions has signed a lease for 32,705 square feet of office space located at Stealth Technology Center, 333 Technology Drive, located in Southpointe, PA. 

SingleSource plans to move into the space in February allowing the company to double the size of its operational headquarters.  “This allows us to add up to 50 staff immediately.  It gives us good access for hiring in Allegheny and Washington Counties, and it’s very convenient to I-79,” says Brian Cullen, with SingleSource.  “We feel very fortunate to be expanding at a time when many of our competitors are downsizing.”  The firm is a leading provider of integrated mortgage services and property management solutions throughout the United States. 

Kelley Hoover, Director of Brokerage Services with Burns & Scalo Real Estate Services, represented the building owner R.S. Stealth, LLC in this transaction.  “Stealth Technology Center is an excellent two story Class A office building offering 16’ foot ceilings, an outdoor picnic area, a second floor lounge while being conveniently located near many amenities.  It’s great to see this Pittsburgh based firm growing and expanding within this area,” said Kelley.  The building is now 100% leased.

Patrick Sentner and Edward Lawrence, with NAI Pittsburgh Commercial, represented SingleSource Property Solutions. (posted 2/2009)