Four local commercial real estate firms have recently made new hires. Here’s a look at personnel shifts within the industry:

• Curt Hefner has joined Becknell Industrial as senior vice president of investments. He previously was with Duke Realty. In his new role, Hefner will focus on securing new development opportunities across the country. Becknell owns about 90 properties totaling 8 million square feet and specializes in build-to-suits for single-tenant, build-to-suit customers.

• Jonathan Tobolowsky, previously with The Weitzman Group, has joined Urban Partners, led by Robert Bagwell. Tobolowsky will focus on assisting with retail leasing in the West Village district and developing a tenant representation program.

• Julie Hirschfield has joined SRS Real Estate Partners as research consultant. She joins the company from Navigation Solutions, where she was a GIS data coordinator. Janie French has also joined the firm, as senior business development manager. French previously was director of communications for UCR.

• Kendall Shiffler has joined UCR as corporate director of marketing. She previously was marketing communications director at PegasusAblon.