About Us

Since 1981, Venture West has developed distinctive commercial and retail properties. As the largest Southern Arizona developer of offices, the company has a proven record of creating environments where businesses thrive. Profiles of the firms’ management team follow.

NEIL R. SIMON, PARTNER
Neil received his BA in 1973 from Yale University, and received an MBA from Harvard in 1976. Neil has worked as a securities analyst at Standard & Poor’s and from 1976 to 1979 he worked as a consultant with The Boston Consulting Group which provides corporate strategy assistance to Fortune 500 companies. Neil has been a partner of Venture West since it was organized in 1981, and has served as CEO of Peter Piper, Inc. from 1998 to 2004. Neil is primarily responsible for identifying and financing new projects for Venture West.

FRED D. STEINIGER, PARTNER
Fred received his BS in construction engineering in 1969 from Arizona State University. His early experience in general contracting included work in institutional and industrial construction with such clients as Standard Oil, General Motors, and Pacific Telephone. From 1977 to 1987 Mr. Steiniger was a partner in the Empire West companies and was responsible for the design and construction of more than $250 million of residential and commercial projects, including 8,000 apartment units throughout the southwestern United States. Fred has been a partner of Venture West since December 1990. Fred is primarily responsible for overseeing all development and construction activities for Venture West.

JORDAN S. SIMON, VICE PRESIDENT
Jordan received his BS in business in 1984 from the University of Arizona and an MBA from the University of Southern California. Prior to joining Venture West in 1988, Jordan managed more than two million square feet of commercial real estate, including 2,000 apartment units.  He is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Southern Arizona Better Business Bureau.   He is a past president of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Greater Tucson and is co-author of two books – “Estate Planning for Dummies” and “The Computer Professional’s Guide to Effective Communication.” Jordan is primarily responsible for property asset management as well as sales for Venture West.

CATHERINE A. COMPAGNO, VICE PRESIDENT - FINANCE
Catherine received her BS in both accounting and finance in 1990 from the University of Arizona. A member of the Arizona Society of CPA’s, she joined Venture West in February 1990. Catherine prepares corporate financial statements, reviews monthly cash flows, cost reports and construction draws. She is also responsible for maintaining all banking and lender relationships.

STAN SPEARS, VICE PRESIDENT - CONSTRUCTION
Stan received his BS in business in 1978 from Arizona State University. He has over 30 years construction experience which includes public projects in most states as well as Europe and the Middle East.   Stan has been the qualifying party for general contracting licenses in 17 states nationally and construction entitlements internationally.  International projects include Dubai,  Ryaid, Saudi Arabia, Cairo, Eilats, Tel Aviv, Rodderdem, Paris, London, Werpetel, Germany, Genoua, Athens and Mexico City. His responsibilities include design, construction, equipment and manpower mobilization, project preparations and management.   Project contracts ranged from one to thirty-five million dollars.  Stan joined Venture West in 1999.  He is primarily responsible for direct management and design of all construction related projects.


KAREN A. FARRELL, SALES MANAGER
Karen received her BS in accounting in 1981 from the University of Arizona. She is a member of the Arizona Society of CPA’s. From 1981 to 1984, Karen worked in the Tucson office of Coopers & Lybrand where she attained the level of audit senior and provided accounting services to clients in the areas of real estate, mining and health care. She joined Venture West in 1984 as controller and attained the level of Chief Financial Officer.   In 2004, Karen obtained her real estate license and is now primarily responsible for office building sales and leasing.

JOHN W. BERG, CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGER
John studied HVAC, Roofing Systems, Parking Lot Maintenance & Asbestos Management at Mountain State Technical Institute in the early 1980s. Since joining Venture West in 1990 he has supervised more than 50 restaurant projects in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah, and Nevada, and has supervised construction of office buildings and tenant improvements.

RACHEL GEORGE, PROPERTY MANAGER
Rachel received her BS in Social Psychology from Park University in 1992. She joined Venture West in February 2002. Ms. George currently manages over 1,2600,000 square feet of commercial real estate in Tucson, Phoenix and Oro Valley, Arizona.

KATIE HARRIS, PROPERTY MANAGER
Katie joined Venture West in 1997, receiving her BA in 1991 and her Juris Doctorate in 1994, both from the University of Arizona. Katie currently manages over 500,000 square feet of commercial real estate in Tucson, and Oro Valley, Arizona.

JULIE NILES, PROPERTY MANAGER
Julie joined Venture West in January 2008.   Julie received her BA in Business Management from University of Phoenix in 1988.  She became a licensed real estate broker in 2004, and has worked in the real estate industry for almost 30 years.  Julie is well versed in leasing as well as property management.  She currently manages approximately 900,000 square feet of commercial real estate in Tucson, Nogales, and Thatcher, Arizona.