United Construction
Reno, NV 89502
Locations
United Construction
Project Manager
Key Contacts
Owners, Principals & Senior Executives
Brad Breach's Bio
Brandon “Brad” Breach serves as United Construction Company’s expert on commercial and industrial contract administration, job cost systems, construction lien laws, personnel practices, insurance and risk management and taxation. He manages corporate finances and reports, and administers the safety, hazardous chemicals, and employee benefits programs.
Brad brings over twenty five years of progressive accounting, taxation, contract law, and financial management experience to his position at United Construction Company. This broad range of experience enables Brad to effectively account for each project to ensure that it is turned over lien free to the owner upon completion, and to formulate and administer contracts and subcontracts that exact performance and provide equity to each party.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Brigham Young University, Brad worked in public accounting for five years. While in public accounting, Brad became a Certified Public Accountant and became familiar with a wide variety of businesses. This background enables Brad to adapt to the Particular needs of any project. Brad served as the Controller of the Pepsi Cola Bottling Group’s Reno operation for three years before joining United Construction Company in 1987.
Brad served as a Director for the Northern Nevada Chapter of Construction Financial Management Association. The Association provides timely and critical information and analysis on tax, accounting and reporting issues affecting the construction industry. Brad is also an active member of the Nevada Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. His active membership in these organizations enables him to keep abreast of the ever-changing legislation that affects the construction industry.
Michael Russell's Bio
Michael Russell is responsible for company strategy, geographic diversification, business development, marketing and communications, public relations, best practices, and continuous improvement at United Construction. As CEO, Michael promotes positive stakeholder involvement in the company by fostering relationships, facilitating effective communication, keeping stakeholders active in decision-making, dealing professionally and fairly with all stakeholders and continually instilling this philosophy in the company’s culture.
From 1991 through 1999, Michael was Director of Preconstruction and Business Development at United. In this role, he was responsible for design, estimating, project purchasing/buy-out, marketing and business development functions of the company. Michael returned to the company in 2010 after a career with Prologis, where he organized, established, and managed the U.S. and Canadian project development platform for build-to-suit and fee development projects, site acquisitions, industrial park master planning and infrastructure development.
Michael’s 35+ years of construction industry experience includes work in industrial, commercial, defense, medical, military, education, manufacturing, office, aviation, retail, multi-family, wastewater treatment, photovoltaic, petrochemical, infrastructure and land development markets. Michael’s professional experience includes more than 50 million square feet of building completions, and more than 25,000 acres of land acquisition and related land development. Michael has also previously held general and mechanical contractor’s licenses in Nevada and California.
Michael is an active member of NAIOP, EDAWN, the Governor’s Office of Workforce Innovation Construction Sector Council and IAMC. He also served as co-chair of The Children’s Cabinet, a local non-profit helping keep children safe and families together and sat on the board for over a decade.
Originally from New Orleans, Michael now resides in Reno, Nevada with his wife Becky, where he enjoys skiing, golf, music, cooking and time with his family and friends.
Mike Whittaker's Bio
As President Mike ensures project teams collaborate to deliver quality projects on time and on budget. He guides and supports the more than 60 project professionals and field leaders delivering projects through offices in Nevada and California. Mike also oversees day-to-day activities at United with a focus on enhancing operations and company culture.
Mike has delivered complex construction projects and led collaborative teams in Nevada and California. In 2019 he rejoined the United team, where he had previously launched his career as a project leader after graduating from California State University Chico. He has expertise in a broad range of project types, working with private and public works customers to manage industrial, government, higher education, hospitality and specialty projects with values upwards of $90 million.
With a passion that started when he was a curious child who enjoyed building forts and working with his hands, Mike loves construction. After high school, Mike joined the United States Marine Corps Reserve, where he served as a Sergeant for eight years. Simultaneously, he attended California State University, Chico. His childhood interest in construction inspired him to earn a bachelor’s degree in construction management.
Mike is a member of the Design-Build Institute of America, American Institute of Constructors, LEAN Construction Institute, Association of General Contractors, and the USAGBC. He earned his AIC Professional Construction Certification and is a LEED Accredited Person.
Pete Brunner's Bio
Pete Brunner instills a culture of safety, quality and attention to detail on all his job sites at United Construction as General Superintendent. With over three decades of construction experience and more than eight years of superintendent experience at United, he is a veteran field leader who focuses on communicating expectations and developing team rapport. Pete is also an asset in preconstruction, providing constructability insights and working closely with customers to meet needs.
After beginning his career as a trained carpenter, Pete served as a commercial superintendent for Stitser Drywall and a full superintendent for Pacific Mountain Contractors and K7 Construction. He is also skilled in contract management, process scheduling, subcontracting and management, and he holds a Certificate in Project Management Essentials from the University of Nevada, Reno.
Estimating, Purchasing & Preconstruction
Paul Laird's Bio
Paul has 33 years of experience in the construction industry and is responsible for overseeing all preconstruction services. With his developer/builder background, Paul has an owner’s perspective and he will always seek to add value to each customer’s project through collaboration and attention to detail.
Paul joined the United Construction team after ten years as Vice President of Construction for Duke Realty where he managed the design-build construction operations for the Chicago market and other locations within the Midwest. He oversaw a team that managed all land due diligence and provided planning and construction for internal development as well as 3rd party projects. His department designed and constructed over 8 million square feet of industrial and office building spaces and completed $340 million in volume between 2006 and 2011. His group managed tenant finish to support 12 million square feet of lease space and site planning of 380 acres to support 6 million of square feet of future development. In 2011, Paul successfully completed the design-build redevelopment of the former 87 acre Lucent Technologies’ campus in Lisle, Illinois for the new Navistar Inc. Headquarters. This $89 million, 9 building project was occupied in 12 phases over the course of 12 months and included 1.2 million square feet of tenant finish and the largest building automation retrofit in the history of the suburban market.
Operations
Casey Gunther's Bio
As Operations Manager for United Construction, Casey oversees more than 30 project professionals in Nevada and California. With nearly two decades of construction industry experience under his belt, he is an expert at ensuring all project teams meet objectives while following best practices and resolving project challenges. Casey has worked as a superintendent, project manager, estimator and senior project manager. He has built facilities as large as 663,000 sf and up to $30 million in project value.
Casey is a disabled veteran and was proud to serve his country. As a Corporal, he held the billet of a Staff NCO and was directly charged with leadership of 90 Marines. After being honorably discharged from the military, Casey set out on a dual path of being a fulltime student and fulltime project administrator and then project engineer. He got started at Truckee Meadows Community College through Veterans Upward Bound studying construction and then earned his civil engineering degree from the University of Nevada, Reno.
Teamwork and community service remain Casey’s guiding principles. In his hometown of Battle Mountain, he volunteers for rodeos, parades and more. Casey also lobbies on complicated land issues and knows the challenges of dealing with wildfire devastation. As a member of Disabled American Veterans, he has supported various veteran initiatives. He was also honored with the 20 under 40 designation by the Northern Nevada Business Weekly in 2020.
Business Development, Marketing & Sales
Alana Ridge's Bio
Alana Ridge leads internal and external communication efforts at United Construction. She maintains digital marketing assets, including the United website, intranet, social media, graphics, and other branding resources and is the main point of contact for news media. Additionally, as part of United’s Preconstruction Team, Alana creates response documents on requests for qualifications and proposals.
Alana previously developed and implemented public relations strategy for numerous contracting firms in Nevada and brings her knowledge of the construction media landscape to United. She enjoys encapsulating the story behind every project by touring job sites to experience the work in action, learning the ins-and-outs from project managers and engineers, and working collaboratively with everyone involved in each job to reach a common goal.
As a San Francisco Bay Area transplant, Alana graduated with her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Nevada, Reno Reynolds School of Journalism. She also holds a Certificate in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Florida Atlantic University. In her free time, Alana sings in a competitive a cappella chorus and travels the world.
Other
Keith Deutscher's Bio
Keith Deutscher serves as the Design Manager and lead architect for United Construction. After starting his career as a staff architect at United, he moved to Arizona to serve as a Project Architect for several Phoenix and Scottsdale area firms. Among his experiences include Stewart + Reindersma Architecture, where he oversaw a staff and the coordination of consultants and developed and managed contracts. He returned to the United team in March 2021, with decades of architecture and design experience under his belt at that point.
Keith’s architectural experience includes hospitality, medical, retail, industrial, office and education. A graduate of California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo, he is licensed in Nevada and California, is NCARB certified, and is a LEED accredited professional. Keith loves living in the Truckee Meadows and enjoys the positive quality of life up here in Northern Nevada. On any given weekend, you might find him out on a hiking or mountain biking trail or sliding down the slopes in the winter months.
Susan Rowland's Bio
As Talent Acquisition Manager at United Construction, Susan supports our culture of collaboration by finding project professionals who understand and enjoy partnering during project delivery.
For Susan, identifying talent is more than finding individuals with the right skill set and experience for the job. She also seeks the right personality for the United culture. Susan champions our core focus on streamlining preconstruction and construction processes to maximize value for our Customers. In her work, she identifies professionals who share our core commitment to teamwork, which frames the United Process, a consistently successful model for the collaboration, programming, planning, preconstruction, construction, and post-construction stages of our projects.
Susan make it a point every day to cultivate a positive outlook-both professionally and personally. She supports the United team in maintaining the valuable relationships that we have earned with our Customers, Designers, Engineers and Subcontractors through performance and service.
Susan’s primary goal is matching quality candidates with quality positions while keeping the process fun.