Arizona Technology Council Elects Raytheon and Western Alliance Bank Leaders to Board of Directors

PHOENIX - Amzeal -- The Arizona Technology Council today announced Mike Anderson, senior vice president of Engineering for Raytheon, a business unit of RTX Corp., and Matthew Benidt, head of Community Banking at Western Alliance Bank, were appointed to its board of directors at the Council's Oct. 29 quarterly board meeting. Both will serve three-year terms through Oct. 31, 2029.

The Council also announced the election of the following 2026-2027 board officers, each serving a one-year term ending Oct. 31, 2027:

• Chair – Christine Boles, MC Consulting Services LLC
• Vice Chair – Kurt VandenBussche, Honeywell Aerospace
• President and CEO – Steven G. Zylstra, Arizona Technology Council
• Secretary – Jonathon Talcott, Buchalter
• Treasurer – Eric Lewis, EY

"We are thrilled to welcome Mike Anderson and Matthew Benidt to the Arizona Technology Council's Board of Directors," said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Council and SciTech Institute. "Mike brings extraordinary leadership in engineering, advanced technology and national defense, overseeing 28,000 engineers at Raytheon and helping drive innovation in areas critical to Arizona's aerospace and defense industry. Matthew brings more than two decades of financial services leadership, with deep expertise in commercial banking, small business growth and digital innovation. Together, they offer complementary perspectives on two essential drivers of Arizona's technology economy: developing groundbreaking technologies and providing businesses with the financial resources and expertise they need to grow. Their experience, leadership and commitment to Arizona will be tremendous assets as we work to strengthen our innovation ecosystem, support our member companies and advance the state's position as a national technology leader."

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The Council also appointed the following five directors to additional three-year terms through Oct. 31, 2029:

• Sheila Kloefkorn, KEO Marketing
• Eric Lewis, EY
• Eric Miller, PADT
• Carol Stewart, Tech Parks Arizona, The University of Arizona
• Sandra Watson, Arizona Commerce Authority

The directors serve advisory and fiduciary roles by representing the interests of the state's technology industries in the Council's strategic planning and ongoing operations.

The biographies of new board appointees are below:

Mike Anderson, senior vice president of Engineering, Raytheon

Anderson oversees a team of 28,000 engineers developing new technologies and enhancing existing capabilities across Raytheon's strategic business units. Raytheon, a business unit of RTX, specializes in integrated air and missile defense, advanced sensors, space-based systems, hypersonics and effectors. Anderson brings more than 25 years of engineering, technology development and program execution experience to the role.

Previously, Anderson was vice president at Collins Aerospace, leading Engineering & Technology for the Mission Systems strategic business unit. He also served as executive director of Central Engineering Services for Mission Systems, with responsibilities including engineering excellence, product design services, digital engineering and integration projects. He earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics from the University of Iowa and a master's degree in business administration from Iowa State University.

Matthew Benidt, head of Community Banking, Western Alliance Bank

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Benidt is a financial services executive with more than two decades of leadership experience across commercial banking, consumer banking, small business banking and wealth management. At Phoenix-headquartered Western Alliance Bank, he leads enterprise client service delivery for the commercial bank, overseeing its branch network, in-person and virtual service teams, and operating platforms supporting client engagement across business lines.

Benidt also leads the bank's small business client segment, driving deposit, treasury management and lending growth. He led development of the bank's digital business account opening platform and has helped launch specialty deposit verticals. Before joining Western Alliance Bank, he held chief experience officer and chief retail officer roles at two credit unions and was a senior vice president at Bank of America. He serves on the advisory board for Grand Canyon University's Colangelo College of Business and the board of the Arizona Bankers Association, and supports operations for the WM Phoenix Open.

Companies represented on the Arizona Technology Council Board of Directors include:

Arizona Commerce Authority; Air₂O; Alerion Capital Group; American Express; Arizona State University; Arizona Western College; Avnet; Benchmark; Buchalter; Edmund Optics; EY; Grand Canyon University; Honeywell Aerospace; IBM; Immedia; Intel; Iron Mountain; KEO Marketing; Marcus Engineering LLC; MC Consulting Services LLC; MSS Technologies; Northern Arizona University; PADT Inc.; Paragon IT; QTS Data Centers; Quarles & Brady; SRP; TBL; Tech Parks Arizona, The University of Arizona; Translational Genomics Research Institute; The Ele Group; The University of Arizona; and Verrus.