Departments

Construction Administration - Faisal Ahmed

Business Development - Garry Swords

Office Management - Devika Sukhdeo

Staff Architect - Sergio Neissen

Field Management - Asif Ahmed

Interior Organization - Tiffany Ross

Team

Faisal Ahmed

FAISAL, CEO & founder of Accolade Construction Group, was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh. His international education lead him from Bahrain to the University of Southern Colorado, in August 1987, to pursue his studies further. After three semesters he decided to take a year and go into the work force, where he became assistant manager at Target Stores in Atlanta. Finding himself majoring in accounting at St. Johns University, New York, for the next year, FAISAL also worked at Assistant Project Manager at Mascon, Inc. Construction. He remained at Mascon, Inc. from 1990 to 1994, within which time FAISAL dedicated his full attention to growing the business with his expertise and contributed to augmenting annual sales from $150,000 to $3,000,000.

In 1995, FAISAL seized the opportunity to leverage his experience at Mascon, and, as the Chief Operating Officer, he joined Brender Hecht Associated, LLP. In this capacity, FAISAL managed and controlled the day-to-day operations of a multi-million dollar general contracting and construction management firm. Brender Hecht Associated operated large-scale projects, both in the public and private sectors. FAISAL served as COO for two years in which time he successfully oversaw and completed projects of up to $5 million.

In 1998, armed with invaluable hands-on experience and extensive client contacts, FAISAL drew on his entrepreneurial spirit and started his own construction firm, Intex Construction, Inc. Intex Construction grew with force and has expanded into the newly named Araco Construction. Since its inception, Araco has shown remarkable growth and expansion potential. This in turn lead to FAISAL’s most current achievement, Araco’s sister company, Accolade Construction Group.

Garry Swords

GARRY SWORDS has, over his 30 year career, held key executive positions with the most prestigious and recognizable real estate developers and construction companies in New York City. During that time he has taken the lead in either the initial development or re-development of over 45 high profile multi-family for sale and rental properties. Mr. Swords’ disciplines include marketing of new developments, repositioning of acquisitions to new markets, property design, renovations and upgrades, long term planning for property appreciation, acquisition analysis, property management, real estate operations and construction management. Mr. Swords’ expertise in real estate operations and construction gives the team an individual who can grow the value of an acquisition with a process that begins before closing. As a corporate strategist, Mr. Swords has successfully expanded the operations of companies into new markets and has created exponential portfolio and revenue growth.

A firm believer in quality of product and operation of such, Mr. Swords is ISO 9000 trained and a certified auditor of the system. As a member of the Real Estate Board of New York and the New York Building Congress he maintains close contacts and is active within the real estate and construction industry. GARRY holds a degree in Construction Management from NYU.

Devika Sukhdeo

DEVIKA is originally from the country of Suriname. She is a native of the city of Paramaribo, where she was born and raised. Since her early schooling, Devika was planning for success in the management field. Devika specialized her schooling in administration and concentrated her studies in bookkeeping. At the age of 24, she began her career with a lucrative international shipping company as the lead assistant bookkeeper and progressed with that company for the next ten years.

DEVIKA’S flourishing career eventually brought her to the United States, where she continued to expand her career options into the construction field. Her international experience and industry knowledge has lead her to remain successful in the construction business for the last eight years. Devika is now Executive Administrative Director for Accolade Construction Group.

Sergio Neissen

SERGIO is currently a Senior Associate at Perkins & Will, a prestigious international architectural firm, where he specializes in higher education projects. Previously, SERGIO worked as Senior Associate, Project Architect at HLW International, where he was responsible for a new 17 story office building,(core & shell and interior design coordination) for the United Nation Federal Credit Union in Queens, NY. In addition, since 2000, SERGIO has designed and overseen construction on numerous showrooms in the Garment District in New York City. During his 20 year career he has designed residential and commercial projects, including child-care centers and low-income housing developments.

SERGIO received his Architectural Degree from the School of Architecture, U.M. in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a Registered Architect, licensed in the states of New York and New Jersey. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects and is a LEED certified professional.

Asif Ahmed

ASIF’s extensive engineering credentials and unique education background now finds him as Accolade’s Chief Field Operations Director. From Bangladesh, ASIF’s international education foundation commences with the completion of Aviation High School in 1995, to his multiple engineering degrees from LaGuardia Community College & Staten Island University. His resume boasts a licensure in Aviation Mechanics with FAA, Lead Aircraft Technician, and status as part of the Continental Airlines Organization.

ASIF’s technical insight has directed our field management department to exceptional standards and productive functioning. His detailed nature has been a part of Accolade since its establishment and his dedication to this company’s success has been an integral part from the beginning.