The Simpson Gumpertz & Heger board of directors appointed a new executive partnership on Jan. 1 to lead the Waltham, Mass.-based national design firm. James Parker is its new CEO, and Niklas Vigener is chief technical officer. Parker had been head of structural engineering and structural mechanics, and Vigener had been head of building technology. 

The Boston-based Building Trades Employers Association Northeast named Thomas S. Gunning as executive director.  The group represents union building contractors in six New England states, Pennsylvania and parts of upstate New York. Gunning, who was BTEA’s director of labor relations, succeeds Thomas J. Gunning, who now is executive director emeritus.

IMC Construction, Malvern, Pa., has named Alex Craig as vice president of its New Jersey division based in Howell Township. He had been senior vice president and operations manager at Hunter Roberts Construction Group and also was a project director at Skanska USA Building Inc. IMC Construction is part of the Citadel Group, a national group of construction companies.

Tighe & Bond Inc., Westfield, Mass., has hired Carolyn Lowe as a vice president based in Shelton, Conn. She was a vice president for D&B Engineers and Architects PC, White Plains, N.Y. Lowe specializes in planning, design, permitting and construction services for drinking water, wastewater, building and other projects. 

North Reading, Mass.-based construction management firm Columbia promoted Siggy Pfendler to vice president, improvement and innovation, and Bill Carpenter to vice president, preconstruction and estimating, with both previously serving as directors in those roles. Pfendler was treasurer, vice president and board member of the National Association of Women in Construction’s Boston chapter. She also is a past member of the Associated General Contractors Building Women in Construction committee and now co-leads the Society for Construction Solutions in Boston.

South Coast Improvement Co., a Marion, Mass., design-build contractor, has hired John Sinnott as director of production. He most recently held a similar role at Gilbane Building Co.

South Burlington, Vt.-based PC Construction promoted Matt Cooke to executive vice president and chief operating officer. He had been senior vice president and construction executive of  the 100% employee-owned contracting company.

Sue Bator joined GeoEngineers Inc. as a principal environmental scientist in Boston. Specializing in environmental assessment, remediation and policy, she has managed projects for industrial, municipal and development clients in Massachusetts and in the Northeast.

Goldman Copeland, the New York City-based consulting engineering firm specializing in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, has named Vinod Pilal a principal of the firm.  A senior electrical engineer managing multidisciplinary design projects who joined Goldman Copeland in 2016, he also is vice chair of the NYC Dept. of Design and Construction committee of the American Council of Engineering Cos. of New York.

Hines has appointed Michael Izzo to the newly created role of vice president-carbon strategy. He had been the firm’s vice president of construction for the Eastern U.S. region.

Hamilton, N.J.-based architectural, interior design, landscape architecture and planning firm Spiezle Architectural Group has promoted Jill DiClementi to associate principal.  She had been director of interior design.

Shimenti Construction Co. has hired Oliver Holland as senior director, project management, to be based in the firm’s New York City headquarters. Previously, he led the retail, hospitality and development sectors for global construction consultant Mace Group.

Newark-based New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has appointed Teik C. Lim as president following a board vote on Jan. 5. Also named a distinguished professor of mechanical engineering,  he is set to take both roles on July 1. Currently, Lim is interim president of the University of Texas-Arlington and a professor of mechanical engineering. NJIT has been ranked a top 20 university nationally for graduating African American and Hispanic engineers.

The New York-based nonprofit multifamily finance company Community Preservation Corp. has promoted Sadie McKeown to president. She was its executive vice president and head of construction lending and initiatives.

John Simone has joined Queens, N.Y.-based real estate firm Cord Meyer Development Co. as chief operating officer. He was, most recently, vice president of development at Mattone Investors in Westbury, N.Y.