Neil H. Durkee, Founder, Chairman Emeritus and past President
Almost 50 years of business development history in the Construction Industry, including product sales, subcontracting, consulting engineering, and business development consulting.
Nevada Southwest Management, Inc. President, CEO and Principal. A firm founded in 1996 to provide business development for emerging firms in the construction, consulting engineering and architectural fields. Served as Director of Business Development for the following firms: Tracy and Ryder Landscape, Dwyer Engineering, URS, Global Pacific and seven years for Matt Construction. Currently representing:
Collins Engineers.
Irvine Consulting Group, Inc. President and CEO of this 300 man Geotechnical Engineering and Materials Testing Laboratory…1975 to1993. Founded this start up company comprised of myself, a part time Engineer and a part time Geologist into a company with five offices through out Southern California with sales exceeding $16 million annually. Primary business development and marketing effort was directed toward major land development, home building, contracting and sub contracting industries.
Southern California Testing and Geotechnical, Inc. Vice President and General Manager, Orange County Division. 1971 to 1975. Opened this division for the parent corporation and brought it to a level of over $4 million in sales.
L. R. Hubbard Concrete Construction, Inc. Vice President and General Manager, Northern San Diego County Division. 1968 to1971. Handled business development, estimating and administration. Bid work including residential, commercial, tilt up, curb and gutter as well as class “ A” commercial place and finish work
Riverside Cement Company, Inc. Bulk cement sales manager for the San Diego, California market place…. 1961 to1968.
Education: Woodbury University, Burbank, California. Graduated with Bachelors Degree in Business Administration with a minor in Sales and Marketing. GPA 3.32
Various post graduate studies in management, sales, accounting and public speaking.
Military Service: Served in the Army during the Korean Conflict. Awarded a Bronze Star for Meritorious Service, Korean Conflict Badge and a Good Conduct Medal.
Ben Parks, Past President
Born and raised in Southeast Michigan, Ben entered the US Air Force in 1989. He was lucky enough to have served 7 years in the Military Airlift Command as a crew member on C-5 airframes where he was responsible for cargo, passengers and logistics. The global nature of the strategic airlift mission meant that by the time he returned to civilian life, he had visited over 50 countries and been involved in nearly every major global event through early 1996.
The transition after the Air Force led to Ben joining Harrah’s Entertainment and starting a long term career associated with the casino industry. With multiple roles at several Harrah’s owned casinos, Ben moved with the company from Memphis, TN, to New Orleans, LA and ultimately landed in Las Vegas in 2000. With the move to Las Vegas, Ben was charged with creating a new marketing function and team at the Harrah’s (now Caesars) corporate offices. The following three years with the company involved everything from creating marketing programs generating millions across 26 Harrah’s casinos to developing and patenting enterprise software to support the company’s strategic initiatives.
Staying within the casino industry, Ben has owned a consulting company, filled the role of product manager with multiple companies and been everything from an individual contributor in a sales role to creating a sales organization as a vice president of sales. Along the way, Ben began volunteering his time to various organizations in town with support being provided to worthy causes that were meaningful to him with the most recent contribution being 3 years of service on the Nevada advisory board for the Arthritis Foundation.
Today, Ben is employed by Teradata Corporation as an account executive responsible for helping large gaming companies understand how Teradata’s technology and services can improve their marketing and operations. About the same time he joined Teradata, a good friend introduced him to Los Vaqueros. The mission of supporting at risk youth and families of deployed military members, the energy of the organization and the camaraderie of the members proved to be a very solid fit for Ben’s charitable energies.
Ben is married to Holly, a Scottsdale, AZ native. He has a 17 year old daughter, Caitlin, who will attend Auburn University starting in 2014. Both Holly and Caitlin are avid volunteers in their own right with Holly being a long time member and leader of the Junior League of Las Vegas and Caitlin contributing her time to too many school fundraisers to count!
Bob King, Past President
Born in Northeast Ohio, Bob and his wife Cheryl have lived in Las Vegas for 33 years where they have raised two children and have two grandchildren.
Prior to moving to Las Vegas, Bob attended Cleveland State University where he studied Metallurgy and Structural Engineering.
Upon arriving to Las Vegas in 1982, Bob accepted employment with the Nevada Power Company (NPC) where he remained for five years. While at NPC, Bob worked in the area of energy conversation, ultimately specializing in the field of commercial lighting design and consultation.
Moving into the private business sector, Bob’s technical expertise in the field of lighting combined with his solution oriented thinking and the ability to communicate ideas effectively, provided the platform for several successful business ventures.
Currently, Bob serves as President/CEO of Design Concepts, Inc., a company he founded in 2001 providing technical sales, design and consulting services to the Las Vegas market for many large scale commercial, industrial, roadway and sports lighting projects.
Bob is honored to have been an active Member of Los Vaqueros for 10 years, a past President, and current Board Member. Bob feels strongly that Los Vaqueros is a great organization which allows Members the opportunity to “give back” to the youth of the Las Vegas community.
Ken Welden, Past President
Kenneth J. Welden, P.E., is the owner and operator of Civil Squared Engineering (Formerly Martin & Martin Civil Engineers) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mr. Welden was born and raised in a small town in Wisconsin. He graduated with his Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. For twelve years he worked specifically on large scale retail project across the country. He consulted for some of the largest retail mall and big box developers in the nation including The Mills Corporation, Simon Properties, General Growth Properties, Macerich, Cabela’s, and Target. In all, Ken worked on significant retail projects in one form or another in over 25 states and is currently a licensed engineer in 11 states.
Looking for a new challenge Ken moved his family (wife and four children) to Las Vegas in the fall of 2008 and in 2010 he assumed ownership of Martin & Martin Civil Engineers (now Civil Squared Engineering). Civil Squared is positioned to maintain its steady growth by continuing to service the private development industry in the Las Vegas Valley. Ken believes strongly in giving back to the community which has supported his company for so many years.
Alex Koch, Treasurer
Alexander Koch is the Treasurer of Los Vaqueros and has been a member of Los Vaqueros since 2011. He is excited to work with such a great group of men focused on helping enrich the lives of at-risk youth in our valley.
Alex has been in Las Vegas since 2004 when he graduated with a BS in Hotel Administration from Cornell University. Working with some of the premier gaming companies in America, Alex has worked for MGM Mirage, Golden Nugget Gaming, and Las Vegas Sands in financial and operational planning & analysis as well as mergers and acquisitions. In 2009, Alex joined Eureka Casinos and the Urban Group to be the Corporate Director of Development & Administration. Alex helps lead the operations of the two operating Eureka Casinos in Nevada and assists in all development projects and expansion plans for the businesses.
Alex lives in Las Vegas with his wife, daughter, and dog. In his free time, he enjoys volunteering with the Cornell Nevada Alumni Association, traveling, and watching TED talks.
Justin Anderson, Secretary
Justin Anderson, Owner/QE Galt Development LLC
A second-generation Las Vegas native, Justin Anderson is truly a reflection of what Las Vegas has to offer; a roll up your sleeves work-ethic; a loyalty to community; a passion for growth; a work-hard/play-hard attitude; and a commitment to family.
Today, Justin owns and operates multiple businesses in multiple industries from construction & development to event photography. He is a board member for Los Vaqueros Las Vegas and an active participant in many industry associations.
Jim Gianoulakis, Board Member
Born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jim enjoyed growing up in the most exciting city in the world. Jim graduated from Western High School in 1972 and subsequently received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
After spending a few years in Information Services at several small concerns, Jim joined the team at Southwest Gas Corporation in 1984 and maintains that relationship to date. Jim’s role with Southwest Gas initially was as a computer programmer. During Jim’s 32 year career, he was involved in all facets of the Information Services department. Jim has been in management in the Information Services area the last 20 years on both the infrastructure as well as the software development side of the business. Jim’s current role tasks him with the responsibility of application software utilized by the field based workforce.
Jim enjoys several hobbies to keep him busy in his down time. Jim is an avid amateur astronomer and spends a lot of time looking up. Jim began umpiring high school baseball in 1995 and continues with that passion to present. For pure recreation, golf is still #1 in Jim’s book.
Jim has three sons who also live in the Las Vegas area. Jim is very close with his sons and enjoys spending time with them.