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CONSTRUCTION, ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING |
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Page 3 of 5
Harold “Hal” Turner Jr. finds common goals vital to success
By Shelia Watson, Contributing Writer
Not many will admit to being glad that farming is such difficult work, but Harold “Hal” Turner Jr. is grateful for the perennial struggles of the field. If not for the precarious nature of agriculture, which causes much hand-wringing for farmers, Turner might not have found his true calling.
“I was the first member of my family to leave the farm,” Turner said. “We’ve had a family-operated farm for 250 years—it’s even on the bicentennial registry—but with the slowdown in the farming industry, I decided to go to Clemson and get a mechanical engineering degree and take the family in a different direction.”
That direction led him into engineering and construction management with a few companies before joining his cousins at Thompson Industrial in 1999 to lead the commercial building division, Turner Thompson Construction, as vice president.
“We started with an 8-by-8 office trailer and no employees, but we had good financial resources, plus we had a lot of determination and a really good work ethic that came from growing up working on the farm,” he said. “I really think that’s one of my biggest assets, because when you grow up farming, you learn to keep on keeping on and to never let go of your dreams and goals.”
That work ethic has served Turner well. Thompson Turner Construction has grown its revenues to $46 million this year, while parent company Thompson Industrial reached more than $100 million.
Thompson Industrial has 650 employees, and the company is involved with the pulp and paper, pharmaceutical and steel industries. Thompson Turner Construction is licensed to do general contracting work in 14 states throughout the Southeast. Turner said the work is primarily commercial construction for the public sector, such as municipal projects and schools.
“We just did the Columbia Metro Convention Center, the baseball stadium at Patriots Point for the College of Charleston and Keenan High School. And we’re in the middle of the new basketball arena for the College of Charleston,” he said.
He attributes his success to having good people work for him and remembering those who stood behind him.
“It’s really important to be loyal to people who have helped you over the years,” he said. “Nobody gets there alone. People gave me a chance when they saw I had what it took but didn’t know how to get there, so I try to invest in young folks coming out of college and out of high school, encouraging them in their education and telling them what it’ll mean for their career.”
His core belief of providing value and quality to construction projects serves as a role model as well.
“So often, many general contractors look at the bottom line instead of looking at what the stakeholders of the project want and looking at the common goals,” he said. “It’s vital to have everyone know what the expectations are so a quality product can be delivered.”
Turner participates on several construction boards including Carolinas AGC, Association of General Contractors and Columbia Contractor’s Association, and serves as finance chairman of the Sumter YMCA.
“I think most of my success comes from the fact that I really enjoy building things,” he said. “Farming is a tough business. In construction, you’re more in control of your destiny, and you don’t have to worry so much about the weather. In farming you have about 10 percent control of where you’re headed.
“For me, construction has always been my dream. A bad day in the construction business is better than most days on the farm.”
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