Three Mortenson team members were selected by Engineering News-Record (ENR) for their 2017 Top Young Professionals in the Mountain States region. This award recognizes individuals in the construction, architecture, and engineering industries who have built extraordinary portfolios early in their career and who dedicate significant amounts of time and expertise to serve their communities.
Joanna Slominski, Construction Executive
Joanna provides oversight for more than $500 million of work that Mortenson is currently completing across the State of North Dakota, including the $375 million Sanford Medical Center in Fargo. The Medical Center is the largest construction project in the State and one of the top 10 largest healthcare construction projects in the nation.
Other active projects that Joanna oversees in North Dakota include the $10 million renovation of NDSU’s oldest residence hall, Churchill Hall; new 200,000 square foot middle school in Dickinson; $25 million critical access hospital replacement for Southwest Healthcare Services in Bowman; and a new $14.6M hockey facility for West Fargo Public Schools.
As a West Fargo resident, Joanna is very involved in the local community. She recently led a successful school supply drive for the United Way by collecting over $5,600 in supplies and monetary donations and raised over $34,000 for the March of Dimes. Joanna also led a Habitat for Humanity WomenBuild team, made up of women from Mortenson and Sanford Health. She consistently encourages team members to give of their time and talents; together they have been involved with Meals on Wheels, Ronald McDonald House, and Great Plains Food Bank.
Joanna demonstrated her commitment to future engineers by organizing on-site learning sessions and tours for construction students from local colleges and universities, as well as high school education programs through engagement at the Sanford Fargo Medical Center. Additionally, she is co-chair of the Advisory Board of Construction Management and Engineering at NDSU, mentors area University students, and is involved in outreach to local high schools with a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) focus.
Gene Hodge, Vice President of Project Development
Recently named Vice President of Project Development for Mortenson’s Denver office, Gene Hodge is a key industry professional helping lead one of Mortenson’s largest operating groups. Gene is a natural leader who understands the importance of developing high-performing teams to deliver complex projects.
Gene’s enthusiasm and ambition provided him with continually increasing responsibilities that he has tackled with aplomb, leading to a steady path of promotions throughout his 13-year career with Mortenson. As a member of the Denver’s Core Leadership Team, Gene has a significant involvement in the overall management of Mortenson’s Colorado operations, a top-rated local builder that has averaged $450M in revenue during the past four years.
Among several of the high-profile projects Gene has led in Colorado is the 3400-acre Sterling Ranch Development in Northwest Douglas County. This is one of the area’s first true “smart city” developments, which is implementing a fiber-optic network to support the community’s intelligent infrastructure, and provide the connectivity and flexibility to adapt to future technologies. Other landmark projects that Gene has been involved with include the University of Colorado Athletics Complex Renovation and Addition, the new on-campus stadium for Colorado State University, the Coors Field Rooftop, the HARBORCenter for the Buffalo Sabres and the Pegula Ice Arena at The Pennsylvania State University.
Brandon Bergholz, Construction Executive and Healthcare Market Sector Leader
Brandon is a top AEC industry leader delivering some of the Denver-area’s most challenging and important projects. Brandon has quickly advanced since joining Mortenson as a project engineer in 2002, achieving consistent promotions leading to his current role as construction executive and market leader for Mortenson healthcare market in 2015, which averages $80 million in annual revenue.
Brandon’s rise to healthcare market leader is a testament to his successful experience in delivering the new, 831,000 square foot, $405 million, Saint Joseph Hospital. His involvement encompassed preconstruction efforts and early enabling work through to senior project management for execution, ensuring the hospital’s successful completion in less than 30 months. While the industry as whole relies on technology and innovation for project delivery, it’s the people behind the technological advancements that are key to project success. Brandon played a key role in working with the owner and design teams to ensure the right decisions were made early in the process, enabling the successful use of innovative and large-scale prefabrication on the project, a strategy that directly impacted the ability to meet the regulatory deadlines for its opening.
Understanding that no one working in the architecture, engineering and construction industry is able to deliver projects alone, Brandon is very actively involved with Mortenson’s trade partner committee and maintains strong ties to the industry community at large, helping facilitate Mortenson’s annual Star Awards event, one that recognizes outstanding project performance by our trade partners.
