Blach Construction (Blach), an award-winning, full-service commercial builder serving California since 1970, welcomes Alex Llerena, former CPA, as chief financial officer (CFO). Llerena has more than three decades of experience leading financial and operational strategy for large, multinational companies, primarily in the construction industry. At Blach, he will oversee the Finance and Accounting Team and is a member of the cross-functional Leadership Team that manages overall firm operations.
Llerena most recently served as CFO for W. Bradley Electric in the Bay Area. Prior to that, he spent 16 years at Bechtel Corporation. While there, he held a number of positions, including Head of International Tax, General Manager of Bechtel Business Services and CFO/Principal VP and Ethics & Compliance Officer for the firm’s Mining and Metals Global Business Unit in Santiago, Chile. Additional previous professional experience includes leading the international tax groups for Oracle Corporation and Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V., a multi-billion-dollar, multinational building materials company based in Mexico.
“Alex’s distinguished background in guiding financial operations for global building companies and proven track record of success in navigating change and expansion make him an ideal addition to Blach Leadership,” said Blach President Dan Rogers. “I am confident that his savvy experience, coupled with his broad understanding of the construction industry overall, will have substantial impact on our continued growth.”
Made over the course of 2023 to best serve its clients and key markets, Blach also announces several changes to its operations team. Keith Craw has assumed the newly created position of vice president, field operations, leading the firm’s award-winning safety program, quality assurance/quality control and self-perform crews. As vice president of operations, Mike Grzanowski’s role expanded to include responsibility for Blach’s project management teams, in addition to his oversight of preconstruction and virtual design & construction groups. Both Kevin McIntosh and James Woodbury were promoted to vice president, with McIntosh overseeing Blach’s central coast region and affordable housing market projects and Woodbury responsible for market rate and mixed-use projects, as well as companywide innovation and design-build initiatives.
“These organizational changes directly align with the expertise and aptitude of valued long-time, dedicated colleagues,” continued Rogers. “Keith, Mike, Kevin and James – collectively and individually – have proven to be significant contributors to our ongoing success, positively impacting both our established markets and our vision to expand and innovate. In their roles, they will continue to strengthen the solid foundation upon which Blach was built.”
Rounding out operations leadership changes, Blach has elevated Amber Emery and Brad Fannin to project executives, empowering them with expanded strategic responsibility for leading several of the firm’s Bay Area education projects. Emery continues to oversee several transformative projects for Fremont Union High School District, among others, and Fannin has managed several campus-wide modernization projects for San Benito High School District and Milpitas Unified School District (MUSD). He is currently leading construction of a new Student Union Building at Hollister High School, the long-awaited San Benito County Campus of Gavilan College and the pioneering MUSD Innovation Campus.
“With nearly two decades of successful project management experience, Amber and Brad have each proven instrumental in simultaneously overseeing large scopes of work and day-to-day operations of multiple, complex education projects,” said Grzanowski. “They are trusted leaders who continue to be a reliable and valued resource for their teams, partners and clients.”
“2024 will surely be a pivotal year at Blach. With strong leadership and teams in place we are poised to continue successfully delivering quality marquee projects for our clients, employing forward-thinking methods and solutions,” Rogers concluded.
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