Eric Elkhas joined HNTB Corp. as government relations director for the firm’s Great Lakes division. Elk is the former chief of staff of former Illinois U.S. Senator Mark Kirk. Elk will work in HNTB’s Chicago office and direct the firm’s government relations plans for Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Beth McCluskeyhas joined AECOM’s Chicago office as associate vice president and director of business development for transit and freight rail in AECOM’s Chicago office. McCluskey has more than 20 years of experience in the Illinois transportation market, including work at Metra, the Regional Transportation Authority and the Illinois Dept. of Transportation.

Skanska recently promotedJeff Smokerto vice president of preconstruction in its Cincinnati office. Smoker was previously a Skanska project executive and specialized in construction management of health care and commercial construction.

Jared Weismantelhas joined Stantec’s Minnesota office as a senior industrial architect to support the growth of Stantec’s transit buildings practice in North American markets.

Jasminn Joneshas joined Kwame Building Group Inc. in St. Louis as a project engineer. Her first assignment at Kwame is managing submittals on the firm’s $450-million SSM St. Louis University Hospital project.