Dan Workman

President

Dan Workman was born and raised in Sierra Vista. He attended Salt Lake Community College and The University of Arizona, where he played baseball and studied Business and Regional Development. While at the University of Arizona, Dan met his wife of 13 years, Sarah. 

Dan is the General Superintendent for his family's businesses, R.L. Workman Homes and R.L. Workman Construction. He has assisted with the building of over 500 homes and worked on various non-residential projects such as various historical renovations on Fort Huachuca and a CVS Pharmacy. In these roles, Dan seeks to provide quality construction at a reasonable price.

Dan is eager to learn how he can serve his community in this position.

David Fennell

Vice President

David Fennell was born in Bisbee and grew up in Sierra Vista.  After attending and graduating from Buena High School he would go on to work in the Oil Field Industry in North Dakota for 2 years, before returning home and working for Cochise Environmental. David is currently a Water and Mold Remediation Specialist at Cochise Environmental and has been with the company for over 2 years. 

With the goal in mind of helping and serving the people in Cochise County, he attended and achieved multiple certifications. While assisting in his companies growth, David has been able to and will continue to help better preserve his community. 

Michelle Absalon

Secretary

Michelle Absalon was born in Phoenix, AZ, and grew up in Sierra Vista, AZ. She graduated from Buena High School Class of 1995, and received her Associate's Degree in Nursing in 2005. Michelle is an Arizona native, however lived in Las Vegas for one year, where her daughter Ryley was born in 2009. 

After 26 years in the medical field, 15 of them as a Registered Nurse, Michelle was ready for a change. In March 2022, she started working for the Southeastern Arizona Contractors’ Association as the Office Administrator and Marketing Director. She is also the event manager for SACA and serves as the board secretary. In May 2022, Michelle started working for Cochise Family Advocacy Center Lori’s Place as the Marketing Director, Community Outreach Coordinator, and Events Coordinator. In September 2024, Michelle added the title of Office Manager for Lori’s Place to her list of roles at work. She continues to work for both organizations and manages their fundraising events.

Michelle has organized and hosted several fundraisers, including the Lori’s Place Annual Golf Classic, Faith and Blue with SVPD and Interdenominational Christian Ministries, the SACA Annual Charity Golf Classic, and the SACA Speaker Series Luncheons. She has done interviews on KWCD, Canyon Country, Cool FM, Cool FM Online, and KOLD News.

In her spare time, Michelle loves working in the yard, rock hounding, hiking in the Huachuca Mountains, riding horses, fishing, spending time with her family and friends, and going to concerts and local music events with her significant other. She also helps maintain the property at Lori’s Place and a few properties for her dad. 

K. Michael Rutherford

Treasurer

Mike Rutherford is the President of Rutherford Diversified Industries, Inc.   Rutherford Diversified Industries, Inc. is a General Engineering Contractor currently engaged in fiber optic and outside plant construction in seven western states.  RDI also does dirt work, paving and subdivision utilities in the southern Arizona area.  Mike is also a partner in Groth, Rutherford & Scott, LLC, which has several office buildings in Sierra Vista.  In 2015 he built the Cochise Family Advocacy Center (aka Lori’s Place) in Sierra Vista, which provides forensic exams, forensic interviews, advocacy and counseling for victims of sexual assault from children to adults and is currently the Board of Directors President.  He is Past President of the Southeastern Arizona Contractors Association and currently Treasurer.  Mike is the representative for SACA to the Registrar of Contractors Industry Advisory Council.   His committee involvement includes the SACA building committee, and the SACA newsletter. Mike, currently, chairs the Building Code Advisory & Appeals Board for Cochise County and recently became a board member on The Cochise Water Project.  He has served on the City of Sierra Vista Industrial Development Authority.  In his spare time, he is also the President of the Arizona Folklore Preserve Board of Directors, located in Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains, which provides live music 40+ weekends a year.  

In 2009, The American Business Defense and Advisory Council, by Newt Gingrich, awarded Mike the Entrepreneur of the Year award for the State of Arizona.

In 2015, The Arizona Hall of Fame Society, awarded Mike the Copper Eagle Award for “outstanding patriotism and a unique combination of leadership and compassion whose actions warrant high recognition for services rendered to the Arizona veteran’s community.”

His company built the Historical Soldier Relocation Project. This is a “period” cemetery within the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery where victims of the Civil War battle at Picacho Peak Arizona are interred.

In 2019, his company built the Gold Star Mothers monument in the Southern Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Sierra Vista.

Nathan Hodges

Board Member

Nathan Hodges has a long history in Cochise County.  He grew up in Bisbee and graduated from Bisbee High School.  After high school, he enlisted in the United States Navy, spending four years stationed on the USS Briscoe.  After finishing his enlistment, he returned to Cochise County and went to work for Cox Communications in Sierra Vista.  In 2004, Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative advertised an opening for an apprentice lineman and Nathan jumped at the chance.  He worked his way through the lineman apprenticeship program, becoming a Journeyman Lineman and then a foreman.  Looking for continued growth and toward future opportunities, he attended school at night and on weekends, earning his associate and bachelor’s degrees in business from the University of Phoenix, he then earned his master’s degree in business administration from Arizona State University in 2015.  In 2019, Nathan was promoted to the position of Vice President of Operations at SSVEC. 

Dale Porter

Board Member

Dale Porter is the Assistant Dean of Business and Technology at Cochise College. Dale is a recent immigrant to Arizona, and previously was the program director of the Construction Management program at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Dale is married and has two grown children.

Prior to his academic life, Dale worked for the U.S. Army as a civilian and spent nearly a decade living in Germany. Dale’s construction background began in the family business of excavation, and he was also a self-employed draftsman.

Kevin Wilusz

Board Member

Kevin Wilusz was born and raised in Connecticut before moving to Arizona and graduating from University of Arizona for Civil Engineering and is a Registered Professional Engineer in both Arizona and Nevada. Six years of construction work with Kiewit led to numerous projects from Kansas to New Mexico to Washington, to Colorado and Utah. Next was six years in Montana with a crushing and paving contractor who eventually was absorbed by a large international aggregate firm. This then led to fourteen years working overseas with ten years in Afghanistan, one year in American Samoa and the down time in Thailand where he met his wife and where she currently resides with their two young children awaiting visas to be approved.

Since October 2018 Kevin has worked for KE&G Construction as a project manager/estimator in their Sierra Vista office. Active participation with the local community via Toys for Tots, Salvation Army and assorted food drives was a large selling point in joining the organization and being a member of a community, not just a resident. Participating in SACA will be a great opportunity to serve the Sierra Vista community and continue their great traditions of community outreach.