Palomar College Honors Local Heroes in Second Community Showcase<\/a> (Palomar News)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\nESCONDIDO \u2014 As a business leader, Brian Cahill has left his mark on the physical landscape of Southern California like few others have: at Palomar College alone, he was involved in the construction of the Humanities building, the rebuilding of the Howard Brubeck Theater, and the access road and temporary campus in Fallbrook.<\/p>\n
During Palomar\u2019s Community Showcase on Dec. 12, Cahill, the California Division President of Balfour Beatty Construction, received the 2019 Comet Award for his philanthropy on behalf of the Palomar College Foundation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to California in 1982 as a veteran\u2014I spent five years in the Navy, I had a Vietnam-era GI Bill in my pocket, and \u2026 after five years, I was ready to go back to school,\u201d Cahill recalled in his acceptance speech.<\/p>\n
He shared that enrolling in a local community college helped him make the transition from military to civilian life, and added that he counts Palomar\u2019s 4,300-plus military-affiliated students among its most significant impacts in the region.<\/p>\n
Cahill is an experienced deep sea diver and pilot, and lives in Valley Center. As a philanthropist, he helped coordinate the construction of the new Ronald McDonald House at Rady Children\u2019s Hospital in 2008, later joining the Board of Trustees and serving as Chair. His efforts have also greatly benefitted Junior Achievement of San Diego and Imperial Counties, an organization that prepares young students to compete in a global economy, understand business, and pursue entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be difficult to overstate the impact of Brian\u2019s philanthropic engagement in San Diego County,\u201d said Stacy Rungaitis, Executive Director of the Palomar College Foundation. \u201cAt Palomar, we have been extremely fortunate to have Brian involved in the Foundation for over a decade. During this time, Brian started and has continued to help build the annual President\u2019s Invitational Golf Classic\u2014the Foundation\u2019s largest fundraising event every year.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a leader on the Foundation\u2019s Golf Committee, Cahill has helped raise more than $1.5 million to benefit students through scholarships, textbook assistance and emergency grants.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of golf tournaments in San Diego County. There are not many that raise close to $250,000 per event,\u201d Cahill said, honoring the dozens of people in attendance at the Dec. 12 event who have also participated in the annual golf tournament.<\/p>\n
Balfour Beatty Construction is ranked as the fifth largest educational builder in California. Managing more than $650 million annually, the company\u2019s California Verticals Division has over 300 employees and has helped overhaul campuses across San Diego County.<\/p>\n
Cahill is currently leading planning and pre-construction for the next phase of Palomar\u2019s Fallbrook Education Center project off Interstate 15 in Fallbrook.<\/p>\n
Concluding his acceptance speech at the California Center for the Performing Arts in Escondido, Cahill recalled a recent trip to Pomerado Hospital to pay a visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI noticed that the nurse was just great. I said, \u2018Where did you get your training?\u2019 and she said, \u2018Palomar College.\u2019 On another visit, I was in the elevator with two nurses and I said, \u2018Where did you get your nursing education?\u2019 Again, they said, \u2018Palomar College.\u2019 I live in Valley Center, this is our local college, and it is a very important institution in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A long-time North County resident and construction-industry leader, Cahill received the award at the recent Palomar College Community Showcase Related: Palomar College Honors Local Heroes in Second Community Showcase (Palomar News) ESCONDIDO \u2014 As a business leader, Brian Cahill has left his mark on the physical landscape of Southern California like few others have: at… \u00a0Continue Reading: Brian Cahill presented with Palomar\u2019s 2019 Comet Award<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10413,"featured_media":3887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,9,23,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-carousel","category-features","category-home","category-slider"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBrian Cahill presented with Palomar\u2019s 2019 Comet Award - 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