Al Neyer, one of Greater Cincinnati’s most active commercial real estate developers, has named a president and expanded its executive team to allow for future growth.

Downtown-based Al Neyer named Dan Ruh as president of the commercial real estate developer and design-builder, effective immediately. Ruh, who was most recently executive vice president and Cincinnati market leader, takes the president role from Molly North, who will remain as chief executive officer.

For Ruh, the promotion puts him in a position to mentor the company’s future leaders, while continuing to push Al Neyer’s sales-drive culture.

“This is about putting the right structure and team in place,” Ruh told me.

In his new position, Ruh will be responsible for top line production, identification of new markets, entrenchment in new and existing markets and the execution of Al Neyer’s development business. North said Ruh has the experience and knowledge, as well as the humility to share them with the younger talent at Al Neyer.

“He does it with zero ego, which is a real pillar for our success as an organization,” North said.

In addition to Ruh’s promotion to president, Al Neyer has restructured several key leadership roles to align the employee-owned company with its long-term growth strategy.

Ryan Reardon, vice president of real estate development, has been promoted to senior vice president of real estate development, a role in which he will join Al Neyer’s leadership team to oversee development activities across the company’s footprint. John Bumgarner, senior vice president of design-build, has been appointed to the new role of senior vice president of business development. He will build on Al Neyer’s presence in Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, Louisville and Indianapolis. Finally, Steve Rizzo, vice president of field operations, has been appointed as vice president of design-build in Al Neyer’s Cincinnati market.

“It’s meaningful for me to step up when my teammates are stepping up with me,” Ruh said.

North said growing companies like Al Neyer need a lot of leadership coming from more than one leader. They need leaders throughout all levels of the organization.

“All these changes, not just Dan’s appointment, are going to help us further entrench ourselves in these markets and bring people up faster,” North told me. “It’s very exciting to be leading and part of a company that is growing so rapidly and in so many different ways.”

Al Neyer has been growing at a rapid pace in recent years. Since becoming employee-owned in 2014, Al Neyer has grown to 124 employee-owners from 43. Revenue also has jumped, climbing last year to $253 million. That’s up from about $48.2 million in 2014, growth of roughly 425%.

North said Al Neyer expects to add between 40 and 50 employees in 2021. It’s a challenge to hire, on-board and get that many people into full production each year.

“That creates a need for good management and solid leadership,” North said.