Your Team | Educational Facility Services

Mr. Hileman joined Highmark School Development in 2008. In his role as CEO, he leads the company’s efforts to provide facility solutions for the nation’s growing charter school movement. Additionally, he has expanded the company’s focus to include independent schools and early learning centers. Collectively, he has developed educational facilities of over 2.3MM square feet, valued over $500MM. In June 2016, Mr. Hileman was recognized as the Utah Region EY Entrepreneur of the Year. Prior to joining Highmark, he spent 21 years in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry, having worked with Kraft Foods and Sara Lee Corporation in the capacity of sales management, strategic planning and customer marketing. His experiences required 9 relocations across 7 states and included 2 corporate assignments. He is the father of 6 children and enjoys time with his family, especially biking and hiking adventures. Mr. Hileman holds a BA in Communications from Brigham Young University.

Jennifer Barbeau joined Highmark in April 2019 as a Director of Project Development. Her key responsibility is to determine the credit worthiness of projects and provide account management of development through underwriting, real estate acquisition, construction, occupancy, management and disposition.

Prior to joining the Highmark team Ms. Barbeau served as both the Vice President of Operations and Director of Finance & Operations in the charter school development sector. Her experience in these roles includes facilitating investor transactions, lease negotiations, and oversight of the business operations. In addition, Jennifer served as a Financial Accountability Manger on the state charter authorizer level, providing oversight and support to charter portfolios. In these roles and throughout her 15-year career, Jennifer has obtained practical experience in commercial lending and project management, as well as private industry and governmental accounting practices. Ms. Barbeau holds degrees in both Accounting and Business Administration from Northwest Nazarene University.

Mr. Miller joined the Highmark team as Accounting Manager in 2013. He helps maintain accuracy and financial integrity on each project. His expertise in accounting helps create a smooth transition from the construction phase to a fully operating school. His diverse career has included accounting and operations leadership in several industries. He helped a startup online retailer grow to join INC 500’s fastest growing companies list. Later he co-founded a new private school as Financial Aid Director where he implemented their federal Title IV funds program. At Highmark his contributions over the years have led him to his current role as VP of Operations and Accounting. He holds a Masters of Business Administration along with a BS in Economics from the University of Utah.

Mr. Earnest joined Highmark as the Chief Investment Officer in 2019. He is principally responsible for investments and financing for the company’s public and private schools.

Previously, Mr. Earnest served as the Chief Investment Officer and Senior Vice President of EPR Properties, a specialty real estate investment trust that was focused on Entertainment, Recreation and Education properties. He supervised and directed all three investment areas at EPR Properties.

Prior to joining EPR Properties in 2009, Mr. Earnest served as an Executive Vice President of Capmark Financial Group, Inc. (formerly GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corporation, or GMAC) and was responsible for the co-management of Lending and Originations for both North America and Europe. Formerly, Mr. Earnest was responsible for GMAC’s Specialty Lending Group which consisted of the Healthcare, Hospitality and Construction Lending Divisions. Prior to joining GMAC, he was a principal in Lexington Mortgage Company, which was acquired by GMAC in March 1996.

Mr. Earnest has an MBA from the Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia and is a graduate of Tulane University.

Leo Gomez joined Highmark School Development in February of 2018 as the Accounting Supervisor. In this role, he supports the accounting team with various tasks including accounts payable, receivable, collections, and maintaining company financial data.

Prior to joining Highmark, Leo spent 12 years in the airline industry with a major U.S. carrier. In his role as Supervisor of International Payments, Leo was responsible for foreign currency financial transactions with hundreds of business partners in 15 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

As a liaison between international airports and the company’s finance team, he enjoyed finding ways to improve internal procedures. He led a company-wide effort to automate foreign payments by identifying and implementing new technologies. This initiative eliminated manual entries and greatly reduced processing times. During his time there, he also helped oversee the successful launch of a new training and call center in Orlando, Florida, which—with his support—grew from 25 employees to over 500 in less than two years.

Leo brings with him extensive experience in finance, accounting, leadership, sales, and customer service. In his personal life, Leo enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons, traveling, reading, and playing soccer.

Pam Meier rejoined Highmark in February 2021 as Facility Development Manager. Her primary responsibility is the coordination of activities and documentation associated with facility development, from early due diligence through underwriting, real estate closing, construction, and project closeout, until the certificate of occupancy is awarded.

Her prior role for three years at Highmark was as Transaction Manager, where she was the point of contact for all document management related to property acquisition, real estate closings, and leases. Ms. Meier brings additional experience as a real estate paralegal from her work at one of the largest law firms in the Western United States, where she focused on commercial real estate development.

Ms. Meier has a BS in Architectural Studies from the University of Utah and an AAS in Paralegal Studies from Salt Lake Community College. She is a member of the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network.

Pat Alcorn joined Highmark in July 2019 as the Director of Facility Development. His key responsibility is to work with clients from conception, through construction, into occupancy, and beyond.

Prior to joining the Highmark team Mr. Alcorn’s career has served the educational construction industry for nearly 20 years. Mr. Alcorn has a master’s degree from the University of Utah in Civil Engineering. The first several years of his career focused primarily on structural design of elementary, middle, and high school educational facilities. After gaining a love of seeing buildings constructed and occupied for their intended use, he switched employment to a major contractor in the state of Utah that focused on building these educational facilities that he used to engineer. Mr. Alcorn continued to work with clients, architects, and design engineers for the next 11 years focusing on new K-12 educational facilities, complicated occupied remodel/additions, and historical restoration projects. The last phase of his career before joining the Highmark team was with a city public works department in Utah. This helped close the full circle from concept, engineering, construction, and ownership.

Mr. Beausoleil joined Highmark in September 2011. As Vice President of Business Development, Patrick leads our market entry and “first call” efforts with school boards, authorizers, management companies, industry associations, and school founders.

He is responsible for assessing market topography; analyzing school budgets; assembling relevant data; monitoring legislation; and extending that first hand of friendship to prospective clients. His early role assists the team in developing effective and appropriate customer solutions. Professionally, he is passionate about fact finding, data analysis, process improvement, and demystifying facility development for school founders and boards.
Prior to Highmark, Patrick served as the Director of Business Development for the largest builder of charter schools in the nation. And before that, he served the same role with a Midwest regional design/builder, expanding the firm’s reach into numerous states on both public and private projects. Before entering the charter school space, he was an English teacher and corporate trainer. His teaching resume includes US and Japanese universities, community colleges, and corporate training for several Japanese industry giants such as Toshiba, Hitachi, NSK, and Taiho Pharmaceuticals.

Patrick holds Bachelors’ degrees in English and Psychology from Grand Valley State University in Michigan and an MA in English from Indiana State University.

Patrick is a Life Member of the National Rifle Association and is passionate about Second Amendment rights. His other loves include amateur mycology and growing heirloom tomatoes, exotic pumpkins, hardneck garlic, and just about anything that can be planted, picked, and pickled.

Suzanne Metzgar brings a passion for improving educational outcomes for all students.

As Director of Portfolio Management, Suzanne brings a broad understanding of the needs and requirements of investment partners. Coupled with a focus on the viability and sustainability of charter and private schools, she offers a creative problem-solving approach to risk analysis and mitigation when developing and financing facilities.

Suzanne has more than a decade’s experience in the charter school sector. As a founding board member of two successful public charter schools, she has unique insights into charter development, operations, academics, governance coaching, board performance, community outreach, financial management, and enrollment best practices.

Before joining Highmark in 2019, Suzanne worked for Bluum, an Idaho non-profit launching and expanding high-performing schools, both public and private. She also served as Director of Member Services at Idaho Charter School Network, a charter school policy and advocacy organization.

Suzanne holds a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership from the University of La Verne. She loves to cook for family and friends, travel to find adventure and learn about new cultures, and explore the great outdoors, especially in Idaho where she lives.

Mrs. Sweeris brings to Highmark School Development an extraordinary blend of construction and financial expertise. Before joining Highmark in July 2011, she spent the past 5 years with Bouma Construction, specializing in the areas of pre-construction and land use. In her most current 3 years, she supported Highmark as a Design-Build Project Developer, assisting in over $50MM in construction projects. Tammy brings to Highmark a passion for educational construction with over 300 projects completed, spanning more than 25 years. She started her career in finance/credit and transitioned her expertise to the construction industry where she served as CFO, while focusing on project management, business development and operations. As Sr. Vice President, she focuses on all real estate acquisitions, associated legal documents, due diligence, and facility programming, as well as manages different processes needed to provide facilities that appropriately serve the programming needs of our various charter school clients. She will continue to mitigate asset risk by supporting our end-users with proper facility care.

Tammy’s vast experience in educational facilities allows her to assist our clients in proper space utilization ensuring programming and vision are brought to reality. Her credentials also include US Department of Labor OSHA instructor, ACCE Construction Management Accreditation Visiting Team Member and active participation in many construction industry related organizations. Her other past projects include hospitals, public libraries and public works projects, which enhance her ability to work with the various municipalities associated with project development.

Tina Smith joined Highmark School Development in March of 2018 as the Director of Portfolio Management. Together, she and the Portfolio Management team analyze key data points to assess the academic, financial, operational, and governance capacity of potential charter school clients to help Highmark develop high-quality partnerships.

Tina and her staff also monitor performance, stability, and compliance of existing clients. In this role, they interact closely with school boards, school leadership, and charter authorizers, thus ensuring high-quality outcomes and strong client relationships.

As a former educator, founding team member—and board chair—of a successful charter school, and most recently as the Chief Operations Officer at the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, Tina brings over a decade of hands-on charter school experience to the Highmark team. Her knowledge of charter development, policy and procedural systems, academic programs, school expansion, facility construction, and strategic development combine to provide a multi-faceted perspective to Highmark and its clients.

She is passionate about helping charter schools create sustainable processes and systems that drive school and student success. To that end, she has provided governance training, technical assistance and mentoring for new and existing board members and administrators. Tina has presented at charter school conferences in Utah, Colorado, Nevada, California, and Tennessee.

Tina holds a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in Humanities with a minor in French. She loves camping, hiking, reading, cooking, and canning. She resides in Eagle Mountain, Utah with her husband and her four children.

Wilford Puertas joined the Highmark team in February 2016 as the Accounting Manager. As part of the accounting team he oversees the accounts receivable of the company, he also helps in the collection and maintenance of financial data for Highmark School Development and associated project companies. Prior to joining Highmark, Wilford spent 7 years working in the airline industry as a Product Coordinator for the marketing department. As a Product Coordinator he worked directly with business partners coordinating the implementation of their contracts and promotions onto the airline website. Mr. Puertas also has more than 8 years experience in the car retail industry. Wilford holds a Bachelors degree from the Brigham Young University in Latin American Studies, he loves spending time outdoors with his family, he enjoys sports but he has a passion for soccer. He tries to be a positive influence to his peers. He spent 2 years on a service mission in Peru.