Coury Hospitality
Andrew Casperson, COO
Andrew Casperson makes the jump from executive vice president of operations to the role of COO with Coury Hospitality, a full-service lifestyle hospitality management company. Casperson joined Coury in 2023 and has led operational strategies for the company’s lifestyle hotels and bar and restaurant concepts. Notably, his projects garnered recognition such as Marriott International’s F&B Excellence Award. Casperson previously served in multiple roles with Omni Hotels & Resorts for nine years, as well as with W Hotels and Highgate.
Education: Northeastern University
McCarthy Holdings
Joe Jouvenal, COO
McCarthy Holdings has tasked Joe Jouvenal with overseeing its’ corporate human resources and quality and safety departments in his new role as COO. Jouvenal takes over for president and COO Scott Wittkop as he will retire in April. Jouvenal joined McCarthy Holdings, the oldest privately owned national construction companies in the U.S., in 1998 with McCarthy Building Companies, a subsidiary of the parent company, as project engineer before moving on to project manager and project director. His top projects include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Most recently, he served as the chief administrative officer for the company.
Education: Virginia Tech University (BS)
Balfour Beatty
Kellie Ajjan, Senior Vice President of Human Resources
In her new role as SVP of human resources, Kellie Ajjan will oversee the development and execution of Balfour Beatty’s people strategy practice, including recruiting and training, talent development, diversity, equity and inclusion, and compensation and benefits. At Balfour Beatty, a general contracting provider and at-risk construction management company, Ajjan previously was the SVP for Balfour Beatty’s investments business, serving in the human capital strategy space overseeing employee labor relations, organizational development, and talent and performance management. Prior to her time with Balfour Beatty, Ajjan spent time with Sunoco and Ametek.
Education: Penn State Grand Valley (MBA), Villanova University (BA)
Strive
Jake Dutson, Partner
Strive, a commercial real estate investment sales firm, has a new partner after announcing the promotion of Jake Dutson. Dutson joined the firm in 2018 as an associate before making his way up the ranks, including establishing and running Strive’s Houston-based office in 2021. In the time since, he has led the charge on 36 property sales in Houston, leading to a valuation of over $200 million while overseeing a team of sales agents in retail and industrial entities.
Education: University of Arizona (BA)
P.E. Pennington & Co.
Richard Osteen, Senior Property Tax Consultant
P.E. Pennington & Co., a national property tax consulting firm in Dallas, has added veteran tax consultant Richard Osteen to a company that represents more than $20 billion in property tax value. Before moving over to P.E. Pennington, Osteen served as managing partner with Meritax Property Tax Consultants after working as a property tax consultant with REO Tax Consulting. He notably worked with Motel 6 and Innkeepers USA across 24 states as clients.
Education: Oklahoma State University (BA)
Drew Clayton, Senior Property Tax Consultant
In addition to Osteen, Drew Clayton also comes over from Meritax after spending 14 years with the firm as a property tax consultant. During that time, Clayton used his experience in hospitality, multifamily, and retail valuations with his clients while also working heavily in the commercial real estate space by appealing valuations for a total of more than $1.2 billion across multiple states.
Education: University of Texas at Dallas (BA)
Board Appointments
The Perot Museum of Nature and Science
The Perot Museum of Nature and Science has added seven new board members for its 2023-2024 board of directors. In addition to these new board members, Meghan Sharma and Andrew Gould have both been named to the 2023-2024 executive committee for the museum. New board members include:
Peter Balyta: Vice president at Texas Instruments and president of TI’s worldwide Education Technology business
Shelly Dee: Owner of Creede Hotel and Restaurant and The Stables at the Rio Grande
Dr. Stephanie Knight: Dean of the Simmons School of Education and Human Development at SMU (Southern Methodist University)
Hamilton Lee: Partner in Cambridge Associates’ Dallas Office
John McGuire: Global head of the Conflicts Resolution Group at Goldman Sachs
Laura Melo: Director of Research and Development at PepsiCo.
Alice Rodriguez: Co-owner of Kendall Milagro, retired JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive
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