ROCHESTER, N.Y. — SWBR Architects announced that its board of directors has elected Thomas R. Gears as the firm’s new president and CEO, replacing David Beinetti, who has been elected chairman of the board.
Gears is a licensed architect, LEED green associate, and has served as a principal and board member at SWBR since 1996. He assumes the president and CEO role effective immediately.
The leadership transition is part of the architecture firm’s strategic growth plan, according to an SWBR news release.
Gears joined SWBR Architects in 1985 as a summer intern. He became a full-time employee in 1987, worked his way up to principal in 1996, was promoted to VP in 2007, assumed the role of CFO in 2010.
“Tom has demonstrated thoughtful leadership and a thorough understanding of SWBR corporate matters, client relations, culture, community and corporate oversight, and meaningful design, all with an entrepreneurial spirit, agility, efficiency and competency,” Beinetti said in the release.
Beinetti, who has been with SWBR for nearly 40 years, will continue his role as principal and chief marketing officer, with a focus on strategic growth and business development. He was elected president of SWBR in 1998, having previously served as architect, principal, and project manager since 1979. In addition to urban development, he has devoted much of his career to university clients, such as Roberts Wesleyan College, Monroe Community College, Nazareth College, and the University of Rochester, the release stated.
SWBR Architects, based in downtown Rochester and founded in 1969, is an 89‑person architecture, structural engineering, landscape architecture, graphic design, and interiors firm. It also has an office in Syracuse’s Armory Square.
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Photo credit: SWBR Architects
