A Century of Excellence - Building the Future
Jerry Crawford, Vice President & General Manager, Turner Construction Company
This year, Turner Construction Company commemorates the firm’s 100th anniversary of building in Texas. Over the past 100 years, Turner has built many iconic buildings and established itself as one of the state’s most recognizable and trusted builders. In 1919, Turner embarked on its first project in Texas for the Humble Oil Company — now called ExxonMobil. Today, Turner Texas has offices in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. With more than 600 full-time employees, Turner’s Texas region has accomplished high-level projects as a leading builder, ranked first in most major market segments of the building construction industry.
Turner’s Dallas office has completed projects for notable clients such as McKesson Corporation, Frito-Lay North America, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), Baylor Scott & White Health, Verizon Wireless, KPMG, Toyota Motor North America, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Hewlett Packard, and Omnitracs (just to name a few), as well as public sector clients including Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the City of Dallas, Dallas ISD, Dallas County Community College District, and the University of Texas at Dallas. Most recently, we wrapped up a project for the University of North Texas Dallas College of Law – a $40 million restoration of the historic 107,000-square-foot, five-story Municipal Building/Dallas City Hall, where Lee Harvey Oswald was shot and killed after the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy. The restoration provides state-of-the-art flexible classrooms, seminar rooms, instructional laboratory spaces, an expanded law library, on-site clinic resource center, faculty and administration offices, and other support areas for students, faculty, and staff.
As I reflect on the impact Turner has been fortunate to make in the region, the Dallas Regional Chamber stands out as a major catalyst in many of our successes. We recognize that these achievements aren’t made without the community partners and relationships developed through the outstanding programs and community opportunities that the DRC provides. In fact, both of our slogans deliver a similar message – “Building Tomorrow Together” (DRC) and “Building the Future” (Turner) – showing alignment in the values our organizations were built on and the vision we have for the future of our companies and our community. Together, the DRC and Turner are “Building the Future of Tomorrow Together.”
While Turner benefits greatly from our membership with DRC, perhaps the most impactful program the DRC provides to our employees is Young Professionals (YP), Leadership Dallas (LD), and Leadership Dallas Alumni (LDA). Many of our employees that have graduated from LD have enjoyed long-lasting friendships and relationships with their classmates. We appreciate the commitment the DRC has toward providing economic growth and corporate citizenship through this program. Community awareness sparks interest in a more ambitious approach by encouraging and strengthening relationships, and more importantly, giving back to the community.
Turner’s core purpose is making a difference in the lives of our people, customers, and community. One way Turner gives back to the community and our industry is through our commitment to increasing the economic development of minority and women-owned firms. The Turner School of Construction Management (TSCM) is the oldest community outreach program in Turner’s history. It was initiated in 1969, one year after our Affirmative Action Department was created, and became an opportunity to develop strategic business relationships with minority and women-owned firms. The program is designed to prepare small, minority and women-owned contractors for contract procurement opportunities and has been uniquely designed to enhance the technical, administrative, and managerial skills of minority and women businesses in order to make a profit and build a reputation for efficiently managing construction projects. Individuals enrolled in the program gain insights and meaningful tools that help them expand their economic opportunities and develop new, strategic business relationships.
We invest in our people by providing them the opportunity to excel and pursue the best paths for their personal fulfillment and success — Turner is committed to “Building the Future of Texas.” As we continue our celebration throughout the year, with a number of events to show appreciation for staff members as well as a reinvigorated approach to community service, I would like to take this moment to express my appreciation to our community partners, and most importantly, our relationship with the Dallas Regional Chamber.
In the spirit of this year’s milestone, thank you to all employees, past and present, for your hard work and contribution to Turner’s success in the great Lone Star State!
For more information, please reach out to me at jcrawford@tcco.com.