The Lester Group announced the appointment of Jerry Pennington as the new vice president of Fortress Door Company, effective immediately. Pennington brings over three decades of industry experience to his new role at Fortress Door, where he will be instrumental in guiding the company’s sales and operational strategies.

BuildBlock announced that Russ Nicely has joined the company as commercial development director. Nicely will focus on continuing education and promotion for architects, engineers, general contractors, specialty subcontractors, owners and developers, as well as working to further develop commercial construction projects across North America.

BuildBlock Building Systems, the manufacturer of BuildBlock Insulating Concrete Forms, announced the addition of Frank Gordon, Assoc. AIA, as the vice president for strategic development. Gordon will be leading the marketing, sales and technical teams and bringing them together to build relationships with industry leaders, stakeholders, developers, industry professionals and more, supporting BuildBlock’s growth initiatives.

Associated Builders and Contractors announced Oct. 7 that it has named John Mielke as its senior director of apprenticeship. The former ABC Wisconsin chapter president will provide strategic direction, transformational leadership and innovative education solutions to ABC’s 67 chapters, 23,000 members and their apprenticeship trusts nationwide.

Ware Malcomb announced Oct. 1 that Nick Watkins has joined the firm as director of workplace strategy. In this role, Watkins will lead Ware Malcomb’s strategy and change management services for clients in multiple practice areas across the firm.

Technical Glass Products has a new architectural services manager role to support glazing design along the East Coast of the U.S. and in the Ontario and Quebec territories of Canada.

Diversified Fall Protection has appointed Gabe Galvan as EBM design director. Galvan will play a key role in leveraging the company’s newly acquired California Scaffold Inspection and Testing license. This license permits DFP to offer inspection, testing and design services related to exterior building maintenance and other equipment within California.

Knight Wall Systems announced on Sept. 17 the hire of Anna Allen as human resources manager, according to Knight operations manager Pat Collins.

Tubelite announced the addition of Jessica “Jess” Brooks as a client development manager, covering Alabama and north Georgia. She will work closely with glazing contractors and architectural teams to help them select and specify high-quality, aluminum-framed storefronts, curtainwalls, entrances, windows and daylight control systems.

Ware Malcomb announced on Aug. 8 the promotion of Kourtney Pennycook to studio manager of interior architecture and design in its Atlanta office. The firm concurrently announced that Lauren Leyrer, P.E., has joined the Atlanta office as civil engineering manager.