Our Team
W. Todd Menke
President
Wendemen Group, Inc.
Todd Menke has built his career around the concept of servant leadership. By recruiting teams of real estate management, design and construction professionals, he has created a dynamic real estate organization that adds value and vision to his client’s projects. As the Founder of Wendemen Group, Inc., Menke has made it his mission to build and support teams of professionals who share his passion for creating a legacy of profitable experiences for their clients, partners and team members. Menke’s extensive experience as a developer and contractor for his own accounts and for third-party clients has served as a foundation for the creation of the Wendemen Group as a full service civil engineering and construction organization.
While in college, Menke was recruited by C&S Bank and joined their Management Training program in St. Petersburg, Florida. After two years in commercial banking, he began his career in real estate development as a Project Manager for Gulfside Properties working exclusively on a power shopping center project in Venice, Florida. He was responsible for overseeing construction management and leasing activities and during that time received valuable experience working with national and regional tenants on site selection, engineering and construction activities. After several years in commercial development and construction, Menke expanded his real estate horizon in 1996 to pursue a new career in residential development, construction and sales. After working with a Sarasota builder and developer for 4 years, Menke then teamed with David Hunihan in 2000 to start their own homebuilding company, Fidelity Homes. After their first year of operations, Menke and Hunihan received national recognition when the success of their homebuilding company and their “Total Quality Management” practices were profiled by Professional Builder magazine in a year-long monthly series. In 2003, Menke made the decision to sell his share of Fidelity Homes in order to focus exclusively on land development and commercial real estate opportunities in association with his father’s development company. As the Florida market expanded for residential and commercial real estate, Menke saw an opportunity to provide value-added development services to the marketplace. In 2005, Menke moved his office headquarters to the Northern Trust Tower in downtown Sarasota and began to organize the FMO Companies to provide development, engineering and construction services under one roof. His client list includes some of the regions top real estate development companies as well as regional and national retailers and restaurant chains. Today, Menke serves as President of the Wendemen Group, including its subsidiaries, Wendemen Engineering, Inc. and Wendemen Construction, Inc.
Menke earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Florida. He was a member of Florida Blue Key and the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and he served in several key leadership positions on campus, including President of Sigma Chi. Todd is a Licensed Real Estate Broker and a Licensed General Contractor in the State of Florida. Menke is also an active member of ICSC and the NAHB.
Menke currently resides in Sarasota, Florida with his wife and their three children.
Ryan E. Hirstein
President
Wendemen Engineering, Inc.
Ryan Hirstein was born to be a developer’s engineer. His uncanny ability to understand what is important and what is urgent combined with his highly refined civil engineering skills produces the highest quality work in the most efficient space of time. On top of those time sensitive skills, Hirstein has built his career around solving difficult problems and communicating real solutions through relentless determination and engineering acumen. After many years of serving on a team, Hirstein was asked to build a team when he joined Wendemen Engineering. With the same determination that gained him his reputation as one of the premier civil designers in Southwest Florida, Hirstein went about the business of building a team of Professional Engineers and Designers who now comprise the Wendemen Engineering team. Under Hirstein’s leadership, Wendemen Engineering has become a mirror image of himself, which is to say that it is now a dynamic production engineering firm that boasts a client list of national retailers and regional developers. Today, Hirstein serves as the Vice President of Wendemen Engineering, Inc., which is the engineering services division of Wendemen Group, Inc. As the Team Leader for Wendemen Engineering, Hirstein directs a staff of Professional Engineers and Designers who utilize the most cutting edge technology to provide a myriad of engineering and permitting services for regional and national clients.
Prior to joining Wendemen Engineering, Hirstein was employed for fourteen years with Florida Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc. His background includes civil design, drafting, and site evaluations for projects ranging from individual out-parcels to large-scale distribution centers, shopping centers and roadway infrastructure projects. His experience also includes proficiency in AutoCAD and applicable land development packages. Hirstein received his A.S. degree at ITT Technical Institute.
Hirstein currently resides in Sarasota, Florida with his wife and their children.
Mark S. Card
President
Wendemen Construction, Inc.
Mark Card’s enthusiasm for construction is only matched by his dedication to team building. In an industry filled with inconsistent management styles, it is Card’s steady leadership style that is a magnate for construction management talent. Early in his career, Card learned that a project’s success was largely dependent on the quality of one’s trade partners and the project managers. This understanding has helped him to create a business model that is the foundation for his success. With fairness, trust and strong communication as his cornerstones, Card has built a career of accomplishments that has made him the “Builder of Choice” in every market that he has worked in. Card combines his working knowledge of industry “best practices” along with an extensive catalogue of professional experiences to offer practical solutions to almost any construction project. From competitive bids to value engineering, Card is always focused on meeting and exceeding the client’s project goals to produce the highest quality construction experience that yields the best possible financial results for his clients.
Mark began his construction career at a very young age, working for his family’s construction business. He continued his construction career while attending college and with his college degrees and years of experience, earned a position with the largest general contractor in the nation in 1990, Turner Construction. Mark was responsible for many large and high-profile healthcare, higher education, multi-family, and industrial projects throughout the country. Having successfully grown the Turner Construction office in Nashville, TN, Mark was tapped to grow several other construction offices throughout the southeastern United States until he relocated to Florida in 2006. Today, Card serves as the President of Wendemen Construction, Inc., which is the construction services division of Wendemen Group, Inc. As the Team Leader for Wendemen Construction, Card directs a staff of Project Managers and Superintendents who provide a myriad of general contracting and construction management services for regional and national clients. Under Card’s leadership, Wendemen Construction has become a leading contractor in Southwest Florida that boasts a client list of national retailers and regional developers.
Mark attended Bowling Green State University and received a B.S. in Construction Management and in Architectural/Engineering from the College of Technology.
Card currently resides in Sarasota, Florida with his wife and their daughter. They have a grown son who attends college in Maryland.
Ken Knapp
Chief Financial Officer
Wendemen Group, Inc.
Ken Knapp’s career history offers a wealth of financial and accounting management experiences that are the keys to his success. His professional involvement in the real estate development and construction industry has forged a passion for creating, managing and communicating “The Deal”. Through a variety of operational and financial management roles, Knapp has developed an impressive catalogue of skill sets including financial and economic analysis, accounting and financial management and loan procurement expertise. His financial talents are equally matched by his ability to organize and communicate even the most complicated deal structures.
Early in his career, Knapp worked as a Controller for a successful private health club franchise in New York City, where he was an integral part of the financial growth and expansion plans. After several years of successful growth, Knapp was recruited by Tritec Real Estate Company in East Setauket, NY to provide financial management expertise to their organization. At Tritec, Knapp was exposed to a full service real estate company providing development, construction and property management services in the Tri-State Area. While working at Tritec, the company averaged $60 million in annual revenues acting as a general contractor or construction manager. Real estate development and construction projects included educational, professional office, medical, industrial and multi-family. Under his direction, the accounting team managed over 1 million square feet of commercial office space. After five successful years, Knapp made the decision to relocate his family to Bradenton, Florida. Today, Knapp serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Wendemen Group, Inc., where he has primary responsibility for financial reporting & accounting services, project financial analysis, lender relationships and coordination of all closings. These services and responsibilities extend to Wendemen Engineering, Inc. and Wendemen Construction, Inc., as well as third-party clients. Knapp is also the senior advisor to the Company’s President, Todd Menke and provides counsel on a variety of corporate and project strategies.
Knapp earned a B.A. in Accounting and Economics Management from Ohio Wesleyan University.
Knapp currently resides in Bradenton, Florida with his wife and their two sons and two daughters.
