Meet the Team
Founder & President
Michael Essrig
With more than 33 years of specialized expertise, Michael Essrig—Founder and President of ETC Building & Design and Safe-T-Proof™—has been at the forefront of healthcare construction, seismic retrofitting, and the advanced design of the patented Safe-T-Proof™ earthquake fastening systems. Under Michael and his colleagues’ leadership, ETC has delivered over 1,000 hospital tenant improvements, ground-up, and seismic retrofitting projects across California and Washington. From hospitals to life science laboratories, the ETC team consistently brings innovation, precision, and deep industry knowledge to every project. Renowned for tackling complex challenges with confidence, ETC has earned a reputation as one of the West Coast’s leading firms in healthcare and life science construction.
Chief Executive Officer
John Mentzer
After traveling around the country building ground up hospitals in Tennessee, Florida, Michigan & Massachusetts for a national Healthcare GC, John settled in Los Angeles in 1998 to begin his HCAi/OSHPD building career. In an effort to learn more about California healthcare construction, John earned his GC License (B-804159) and passed the OSHPD Inspector Certification Exam (A-20169), which added value to the projects he successfully completed, especially on the SB1953 retrofit work. John met Mike while working together on a successful SB1953 retrofit program for a large healthcare provider, which led them to team up and focus on delivering SB1953 projects economically and efficiently to many clients. Since that time, their partnership has grown ETC and Safe-T-Proof to be the preferred provider of SB1953 design/build services and premier fastening solution product line in the country.
Director of Construction
Josh Miller
Josh Miller has been with ETC since 2014, and has an extensive understanding of all phases of construction and 29 years of real world experience. This includes experience in ground up new construction, tenant improvements, restoration, and structural retrofit under the guidance of HCAI, including Design-Build and surveys to assist in NPC/SPC plan development. He has successfully managed projects ranging from $250K – $86M for the US Navy, HCAI, DSA, DGs and JHA. Josh currently leads the ETC Field and Supervision staff to ensure the successful completion of all projects, all while showing a passion and commitment to following our core values: “Kindness and Compassion, Building a Better World”. ETC believes that construction and upgrades being performed should always be to enhance patient care and services and not to hinder them, this is echoed in the way that Josh manages and coordinates the projects at the field level, ensuring a peaceful environment for patients and a smooth on time and on budget delivery for our clients.
Director of Project Management
Ahmad Al-Khalidi
With over 10 years of experience in project management and healthcare construction, Ahmad Al Khalidi is a results-driven leader specializing in delivering healthcare projects on time and within budget. As a Director of Project Management, he has successfully overseen multimillion-dollar healthcare construction projects across California, ensuring compliance with OSHPD/HCAI regulations and industry best practices. Ahmad brings expertise in strategic planning, risk mitigation, contract negotiation, and stakeholder coordination, working closely with healthcare executives, architects, engineers, and contractors to optimize project outcomes. With a deep understanding of design-build, and integrated project delivery (IPD) methodologies, he enjoys leading teams, streamlining workflows, and implementing innovative solutions to enhance operational efficiency in highly regulated environments. Ahmad holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical – Mechanical Engineering, and a project management certificate from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Project Executive
Matthew Burns
Matthew Burns has 22 years of experience managing complex healthcare construction projects throughout the facility from the front to the back of the house. His experience as an owner and general contractor leads him to envision and deliver the best project outcomes for all stakeholders. His ability to communicate and develop consensus between owner, designer, and the construction team has led to success on Design-Build and Design-Bid-Build projects. Matthew has developed teams and processes for managing multi-facility program initiatives for clients. He understands the special requirements of working in occupied facilities and ensures the projects are completed in the best interest of his clients. Matthew has earned the designation of Associate Design-Build Professional™ from the Design-Build Institute of America.
Marketing Manager
Lori Copeland
A Southern California native, Lori brings over 35 years of customer and client service expertise to her role at ETC. With a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a focus in Marketing, she has been an integral part of the team for more than a decade. Lori leads marketing and proposal development efforts, while also managing special projects and corporate events. Known for wearing many hats, she is a trusted resource to the executive team and a go-to for the entire company.
Senior Estimator
Mark Parks
With over 35 years in healthcare construction, Mark brings unmatched expertise to his role as Sr. Estimator at ETC Building & Design. Mark provides conceptual budgeting to aid clients in decision-making and planning. For bidding, he utilizes his job knowledge, experience, and subcontractor relationships to provide complete scope coverage and value to the Owner. His commitment to quality, precision estimating, and on-time on-budget delivery makes him a key force behind ETC’s success. Mark is also a LEED Accredited Professional.
Senior Project Manager
Mindy Bryant
Mindy Bryant is a Senior Project Manager at ETC with over 20 years of construction experience, providing senior-level oversight across multiple project teams. She specializes in Design-Build delivery within occupied healthcare facilities, where she excels at managing complex, phased construction with a focus on patient safety and operational continuity. In addition to project management, Mindy provides detailed estimating services to support early planning and informed client decisions. She is a DBIA Associate and an active member of the Association of Medical Facility Planners (AMFP). Known for her practical, people-first approach, Mindy played a key role in creating ETC’s Volunteer Time Off (VTO) policy, helping the company live out its mission of Kindness and Compassion, Building a Better World by creating opportunities to give back to both local and global communities.
SAFE-T-PROOF™ Division
Vice President
Teresa Soza
Teresa Soza has been with SAFE-T-PROOF™ from its humble beginnings in 1993 as its first employee and she has grown with it ever since. Always a strong representative of the disaster preparedness products sector, she began by assembling parts & products, moved up to product installation, and is the currently VP of Projects at SAFE-T-PROOF™ which oversees Fastening Services for hospital, laboratories, businesses, and homes. She has worked with many Fortune 50 companies, hundreds of hospitals, and leading life science companies. Over her career, Teresa has secured hundreds of millions of dollars in equipment and a priceless amount of research, and is widely considered a pioneer of the industry.
Director of Operations
Jon Taylor
After almost a decade in the military and in law enforcement, Jon is no stranger in risk assessment and disaster preparedness. He decided to take his passion for helping and serving others and focus on continuing that mission through a career at SAFE-T-PROOF™, which has the same mission. After earning several certifications, including his OSHA 500, Jon hopes to continue learning the ins and outs of disaster preparedness and eventually become an expert in the field. Always expanding his knowledge base of non-structural fastening and earthquake preparedness, he is passionate about sharing this knowledge with others.