Byrne Construction Services
Fort Worth, TX 76110
Locations
Byrne Construction Services
Chief Operating Officer
Key Contacts
Owners, Principals & Senior Executives
Elias Najjar's Bio
Elias Najjar joined Byrne in 1995 as an integral part of the ownership team when John Avila purchased the company. Elias’ storied career began in estimating and eventually lead him to his role as Executive Vice President before becoming Vice Chairman.
As Vice Chairman, Elias acts as a liaison between Byrne’s board of directors and the management team. He is responsible for taking our strategic objectives and establishing specific business goals and objectives while providing oversight to Chief Executive Officer Matthew Avila in carrying these out.
Elias’ reputation in the industry for outstanding estimating abilities and command of structural engineering is unsurpassed.
Jason Potter's Bio
Jason Potter graduated from Howard Payne University in 1987 with a degree in Accounting and joined Byrne in 2001.
As Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Jason is responsible for developing, implementing, and managing the company’s finance and accounting functions. Jason, as a licensed CPA, ensures that financial operations are carried out in conformance with generally accepted accounting principles. Jason has departmental responsibilities over both corporate and project accounting and is responsible for managing the company’s banking and surety relationships.
Jason lives with his family in beautiful Glen Rose, Texas.
John Avila, Jr.'s Bio
John Avila became Byrne’s majority stockholder in 1995 after a distinguished career as a senior executive at several of the nation’s top commercial contractors. John retired as a Brigadier General from the United States National Guard after completing 32 years of service. John is a 1974 graduate of the University of Texas and 1997 graduate of the United States Army War College.
As chairman, John Avila, Jr. manages and provides leadership to the company’s board of directors. Avila is responsible for maintaining the company vision, mission, and core values and for establishing the company’s strategic objectives from year to year. Avila’s 40 years of experience as a senior-level executive for several of the nation’s top commercial construction firms has contributed to Byrne’s reputation as one of the most highly regarded contractors in the industry.
Throughout his career, Avila earned the respect of his competitors, the building industry and the community. He brought a legacy of his own to everything he accomplished, as a family, a scholar, a Brigadier General, a philanthropist and a businessman.
Avila’s community involvement includes prominent positions of leadership: Commissioner for the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife, Chairman of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and President of the Tarrant County Mental Health Foundation, along with numerous notable board positions and volunteer activities. John has a strong opinion when it comes to community involvement. “Every business has an obligation as corporate citizens to give back to their community,” he says, “Twenty percent of the people in the community that give of their time have no more additional spare time than the eighty percent that do not. Your business should be a role model to the public.”
Martin Lehman's Bio
Martin Lehman joined the Byrne Team in January of 1996 after graduating from Texas A&M University with a degree in Construction Science. In the last 22 years, he has risen through the operational ranks of Byrne and now is responsible for day to day operations as President of our North Texas Office.
Martin’s career with Byrne has been focused on building quality projects for our clients such as Texas Christian University, Texas Instruments, Frito-Lay, DFW International Airport, Texas Health Resources, and numerous municipalities and cites throughout our North Texas Region. This diversity in projects means Martin brings on the job experience to each project type we pursue.
The details matter to Martin. He brings a focused energy and drive to provide unmatched customer service to every project and client we work with.
Martin comes from a large extended family raised here in North Texas and enjoys spending time with them coaching his children’s sports, backpacking, fishing, hunting, and golfing. Giving back to the community is very important to Martin. As an Eagle Scout, he is very involved in Boy Scouts as a Scoutmaster helping to encourage and develop the character of young men by providing opportunities for them to lead and work with their peers
Matthew Avila's Bio
Matthew Avila joined Byrne in 2006 and currently serves as the company’s chief executive officer. Prior to being named the CEO, Avila was chief of legal affairs and directed the company’s risk management, contracts, and insurance programs. He completed his undergraduate work at the University of Texas at Austin and received his law degree from Texas A&M University School of Law. He is a licensed construction attorney in the state of Texas.
Prior to joining Byrne, Matthew received a Ph.D. and worked extensively in the medical field as a research scientist. From his research experience, he has brought an analytical data-driven systems approach to the company’s strategic planning and day to day operations. That combined with the team’s emphasis on building strong relationships with Byrne’s clients through the dedicated work of a highly-trained and effective staff of construction professionals, has helped maintain and enhance Byrne’s reputation as an industry leader.
Avila is active in the Fort Worth community, having served on the boards of the Mental Health Association of Tarrant County, The Art Station, Fort Worth Sister Cities International, Project Fort Worth Talks, and the Depression Connection Team. He has also served on the FWISD Human Relations Committee. In May of 2013, he was elected to the FWISD Board of Trustees representing District 8.
Matthew is a member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) and is active in the Fort Worth Chapter.
Dr. Avila is a 14-year resident of Fort Worth, living in the Berkeley neighborhood with his wife and two children. He and his family enjoy sailing and spending time at the family ranch. Eagle-eyed music fans may see him on the weekends playing a local gig with his band KYSER.
Paul Avila's Bio
Paul Avila joined Byrne in 2005 and serves as Chief Operating Officer coordinating the systems, practices, and policies between Business Development, Marketing, Estimating, Virtual Design and Construction, Accounting, Operations, and Administration to ensure continued growth and improvement in the company’s day to day operations. Paul is a 2002 graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in Construction Science.
Paul grew through the estimating ranks and continues to take an active role in maintaining strong relationships throughout the subcontractor community.
Paul’s career has focused around teamwork and collaboration. He makes it a priority that our clients along with Team Byrne feel a part of the Byrne Family. In addition to overseeing project pursuits and preconstruction, Paul continues to promote our culture as a family-owned company. His passion for Byrne has left a lasting impression on nearly all aspects of Byrne life.
Paul serves on the board of the Byrne Foundation and directs many of our philanthropic efforts in the community including the Byrne Charity Golf Tournament which benefits The Art Station.
Paul is an avid hunter and outdoorsman. He and his family spend as much time as possible managing the family’s Rolling A Ranch. When the weather keeps him in town, he can be found brewing craft beers with his homebrew club.
Tony Battle's Bio
Tony Battle Joined Byrne in 2005 and is responsible for the day to day operations of the company based in our South Texas Office. Tony is a graduate of The Ohio State University and Texas A&M University with degrees in Construction Management and Construction Science.
Tony has built landmark projects throughout the state including the Woodlands Waterway Marriot, the Hotel Contessa, SAIA’s Terminal B, and the Lila Cockrell Theatre. With a diverse background in Healthcare, Industrial, Municipal, Aviation, Aquatics, and Corporate Office he is well suited to lead our team in South Texas for a varied group of clients. Tony is quality driven and customer focused and believes that each client deserves the effort necessary to make their construction project the absolute best experience possible.
Serving on the boards of the Catholic Charites and the Greater New Braunfels Economic Development Corp. along with a lengthy history of public service in his home town of Bandera, Tony is very involved and passionate about the communities that we live, work, and build.
Tony is an avid rancher and outdoorsman. He enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids on his wife’s family-run dude ranch, the Mayan. When not at the ranch he enjoys fishing in the coastal bend and hunting the wide-open space of the great state of Texas. Though originally from England, Tony wasted no time finding his place in the world at a young age and is now Texan through and through.
Estimating, Purchasing & Preconstruction
Lee Howell's Bio
Lee Howell joined Byrne in 1997 after graduating with a degree in Construction Science from Texas A&M University and leads our estimating team as Vice President and Chief Estimator.
Having begun his career in operations, Lee made the move to estimating in 2005, and has since pursued his passion for working with clients and designers as part of the preconstruction process. While Lee has a long history of managing hard bid estimates, he truly loves his job when assisting the team on CMAR projects as the group works together at each phase: from concept, schematic design, design development, and on through to the construction phase. His goals, and that of his Byrne estimators, are to maintain good communications and awareness of the scopes and budget for all members of the project team at each phase.
Lee has led preconstruction and estimating efforts on a wide variety of project types and sizes ranging from $1 Million to the $150 Million Dallas County Records Complex.
Lee is an active board member for the YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth. He has graduated from the Leadership Fort Worth program emphasizing community stewardship, and is a recipient of the Fort Worth 40 Under 40 award for achievements and volunteer work. Lee is also an active member and volunteer with his church group.
Lee spends his spare time outdoors with his family and friends whenever possible. He frequently camps throughout the state of Texas, and greatly enjoys hiking, biking, hunting, shooting, and fishing.