Tempe CEO receives recognition as a 2024 Phoenix Titan

Titan CEO and sponsor Wipfli LLP announced the CEO of Sun State Builders Mike Forst made it as a 2024 Phoenix Titan 100, a program that recognizes Phoenix’s Top 100 CEOs & C-level executives.

According to a press release, these executives are the area’s most accomplished business leaders in their industry using criteria that include demonstrating exceptional leadership, vision and passion.

Collectively, the 2024 Phoenix Titan 100 and their companies employ over 105,000 individuals and generate over $34 billion in annual revenues, the release stated.

This year’s honorees will be published in a limited-edition Titan 100 book and profiled exclusively online. They will also be honored at an awards ceremony held Thursday, Sept. 26, at the Chateau Luxe.

“We appreciate the lasting impact each leader has made, and continues to make, in building organizations of significance both here in Arizona and abroad,” Ryan Lindsay, partner at Wipfli, stated in the release.

President of Titan CEO Jaime Zawmon explained that the Titan 100 are changing the way business is done in Phoenix, saying that these leaders have a distinguished reputation in their respective fields.

“We proudly recognize the Titan 100 for their efforts to shape the future of the Phoenix business community. Their achievements create a profound impact that makes an extraordinary difference for their employees and clients across the nation,” Zawmon stated in the release.

After graduating from Northern Arizona University, Forst began his career at Sun State Builders when he was hired as a superintendent and project manager 24 years ago, the release detailed. During the last two decades, he’s risen as a design-build general contractor, working in all areas of the business.

In 2020, he was given the opportunity to become a partner, and in January 2024, Forst was promoted to CEO, stepping into the position held by Sun State Builders’ Founder Jim Chamberlain who led the company for 50 years.

Since he was named partner, revenue and profits doubled, and the company increased its staff by approximately 15%, the release stated.

“I am extremely fortunate to learn from some incredible mentors and to work with a great team of people,” Forst stated in the release. “It is largely thanks to them that I am able to do what I do.”

Forst will be recognized at the Titan 100 awards in September at the Chateau Luxe.