Because It's The People That Make Up A Company
Matthew Ritt joined Dempsey Construction in 2024 as a Project Engineer. Originally from the East Coast, Matt graduated from Michigan State University in 2022 with a degree in Construction Management following his 5 years in the Navy. In his free time, Matt enjoys exploring Southern California, spending time with his dog, and traveling.
Max joined Dempsey Construction in 2025 as an Assistant Preconstruction Manager. Born and raised outside Washington D.C., Max graduated with a degree in Environmental Science from the University of Mary Washington in Virginia. His career naturally progressed towards construction management and estimating. Max’s resume includes experience in civil, public works, and commercial construction. Max resides in San Diego, where he fully embraces the year-round outdoor lifestyle. In his free time, he enjoys surfing, slacklining, rock climbing, juggling, and playing music.
In her role as Senior Project Coordinator, Merissa assists the project management teams in marrying the worlds of ownership, subcontractors and our own internal personnel. Merissa graduated from Hofstra University with a B.A. in Psychology and has been with DCI since 2014. Merissa is motivated by seeing the work we do come to life and hearing the good praise from the clients we work with. It is her goal to give our clients an honest class “A” service and assure them that they can count on us. Merissa is a proud New Yorker and a huge fan of the NY Giants!
As the Director of Marketing, Michaela oversees proposal development and execution, marketing strategy, brand development and management, public relations, digital content, and events. Michaela brings nearly 20 years of experience to her position and has worked with numerous tech start-ups, real estate developers, and top-tier commercial brokers. She currently holds a CMPS certification and California real estate license. Michaela lives in Encinitas with her husband, daughter, and golden retriever.
Chapman University: Bachelor of Arts, Public Relations and Advertising with a Minor in Entertainment Marketing Loyola University of Chicago: Master of Business Administration, concentration in Marketing
Member, Society of Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), San Diego Chapter Member, American Marketing Association (AMA), San Diego Chapter
Natalie joined Dempsey Construction as a Project Coordinator and assists the project management teams. Natalie lives in Carlsbad with her fiancé and golden retriever. In her free time, she enjoys riding her bike and exploring around town. She also loves going on hikes and spending time with friends and family.
Nate is a seasoned construction professional who has worked on various commercial and residential projects. Nate began his career as a general contracting laborer for R.G. Smith Construction. He progressed rapidly to carpenter foreman and assistant superintendent due to his experience, customer service, attention to detail, and management skills. As a superintendent, Nate has been responsible for overall job site supervision of subcontractors and the crews, project scheduling, coordination with city/county agencies, occupied project logistics, site safety, and quality control. Nate specializes in occupied renovations because he understands building from start to finish. Working as a general contractor for the entirety of his career has given him a plethora of knowledge that he is able to apply to difficult logistical projects and complicated construction processes. Nate’s interests include golfing, fishing, painting, guitar playing, camping with his girlfriend, and boxing.
Nick Alford is Vice President & Principal at Dempsey Construction, Inc. Nick’s responsibilities include managing internal operations as well as overseeing/managing all opportunity sourcing, including the development of strategic and tactical plans in pursuit of both internal and external growth initiatives. Prior to joining Dempsey Construction Nick spent 15 years specializing in commercial real estate brokerage throughout the Southern California region. Nick began his career at Flocke & Avoyer Commercial Real Estate in San Diego, specializing in representing developers in the full spectrum of ground up development projects, including land acquisition, site planning, entitlements and lease up. Most recently, Nick was a Director at Cushman & Wakefield in San Diego. At Cushman & Wakefield Nick was a senior member of a large brokerage team that specialized in the leasing and sale of shopping centers throughout Southern California. During his career at Cushman & Wakefield, Nick was instrumental in growing his team into one of the most dominant retail teams in Southern CA. When joining the firm in 2003 the team consisted of seven members controlling approximately 5M square feet in San Diego County. During his tenure and leadership as a senior partner, Nick’s team grew to 17 people located in San Diego, Irvine and Los Angeles, and exclusively represented over 150 commercial properties, or approximately 13.5 Million square feet, and handled over $1Billion of commercial investment sales. Nick lives in San Diego with his wife and 2 young children and spends any free time with his family at the beach, fly fishing, on a paddleboard or exploring Baja.
BA in History, Tufts University, Boston, MA
ICSC – Member and San Diego Committee Member NAIOP – Member BIA – Member
Nicholas (Nico) graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2021 with a B.S. in Construction Management and joined Dempsey Construction as a Project Engineer shortly after. Nico’s role as a Assistant Project Manager at Dempsey allows him to be involved in project management, preconstruction and field management. Nico enjoys the challenge of planning and running a successful project while maintaining great relationships with trade partners. When not at work, Nico enjoys surfing, playing adult softball and cooking for friends.
Parker Lester joined Dempsey Construction in 2023 as an Assistant Project Manager. Originally from Washington, Parker graduated from Washington State University where he majored in Construction Management. Following several internships during school, Parker joined a large GC in the Northwest where he worked his way up to APM, building an impressive resume of large, ground-up office projects. Parker enjoys spending time with friends and doing anything outdoors in his free time.