Brandon Holmes is a man without a true home. But wherever his assignments as a Haskell Project Superintendent take him, he’s sure to connect with fellow team members, build relationships and make sure the crew and contract partners revel in their own success.
Holmes, a 27-year-old Jacksonville, Florida, native spent two internships with Haskell while attending the University of Florida. He joined the company upon graduation and has lived out of a proverbial suitcase since.
“I call Jacksonville home, but I’m not ready to make it a permanent residence while I focus on my career in the field.",” Holmes said. “I live wherever the project is. Complete that one and I pack up all my stuff and move to the next one.”
Holmes has been immersed in Haskell’s Assistant Project Manager – Construction (APMC) program for four years. Since graduating with a degree in Construction Management, Holmes has lived and worked on projects in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Bradenton, Florida; Newark, New Jersey; Perry, Georgia; and currently resides in the Charlotte, North Carolina suburb of Rock Hill. He’ll soon relocate to Winchester, Virginia, about an hour west of Washington, D.C.
“Just the East Coast,” he said. “I’m not a West Coast guy.”
Assistant project managers handle the business of construction projects, including subcontractors, preparing bid packages, analyzing the scope of a design, constructability and cost changes and working with accounting to process all payments. Project superintendents typically are tradesmen who climb the field management ladder through the foreman and assistant superintendent ranks.
The Assistant Project Manager – Construction program takes project management-track team members and gives them the construction experience necessary to become a superintendent and lead a job site. APMC-track professionals commit to eight years in the field leading construction projects before having the option to return to the project management path, most likely out of Haskell’s Jacksonville headquarters.
The new destinations have been exciting for a young superintendent, but he said interacting with all types of people on the job site is even better.
“Even when I was an intern with Haskell while in college, I was open to helping whatever project needed another set of hands, and that really helped me get my name out there at a young age,” Holmes said. “I just took to it so well. I was able to communicate with a lot of guys in the field. I could wear the project management corporate hat, but I could also go talk to the trades pretty effectively.”
His current project is E & J Gallo Winery’s East Coast production facility and distribution center in Chester County and Rock Hill, a 1.4 million-square-foot facility over more than 300 acres, where it was necessary to move 2 million cubic yards of dirt. The project has been on time at every phase and is drawing to a close.
Holmes’s effort to organize Friday afternoon cookouts to celebrate a week’s work well done is a perfect example of why he is the recipient of Haskell’s Living the Values Award, which is given quarterly to those who consistently display Haskell’s core values of Team, Excellence, Service and Trust.
“Work consumes a huge portion of Brandon’s time as he spends most of his days out of town on project job sites,” writes his Living Values Award nominator, Project Manager Efrahm “Eddy” Kassab. “However, he still finds time to build relationships by organizing team-building activities for those on his team. He goes out of his way to make sure everyone is having a great time and communicating with those that they don’t typically interact with. This helps foster organic relationships and pays huge dividends as team members work collectively as the lifecycle of the project progresses. There is no one more deserving of the LTV award than Brandon.”
“Hearing good things from your superiors and coworkers always is a great thing,” Holmes said.
Haskell is hiring! Explore the many options available to join a growing company where the Core Values of Team, Excellence, Service and Trust inspire everything we do.
