Van Winkle Construction

Shane is the third generation in his family to work in the construction industry. Having grown up in Dalton, GA and worked in the field at his father’s construction company, Shane accepted the position at Van Winkle Construction in 1992 after earning his bachelor’s degree at Oglethorpe University. Shane’s adaptability led company management to quickly elevate him to Project Engineer where he worked on several important projects including the Anheuser-Busch Can Plant and Holy Spirit Catholic Church. In addition to his Project Engineer duties, he took time each week to initiate Van Winkle’s marketing efforts. Those efforts resulted in new work for the company and he was promoted to Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. Shane was made an equity partner in the company and today he oversees all sales, marketing and promotional initiatives.

Charlie Gwynn joined Van Winkle Construction as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2002. Charlie’s 17 years of experience prior to joining us include serving as CFO of two other general contracting companies as well as performing the duties of accountant and tax analyst. Today, he supervises Van Winkle’s accounting department and is responsible for maintaining accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, financial statements, and balance sheets. He also supervises annual financial statement audits and coordinates with worker’s compensation and general liability auditors. Charlie holds a B.S. in Finance from Florida State University, is a Certified Public Accountant, and is an active member of the Georgia Society of CPAs.

Ed grew up in Atlanta and, like his father and grandfather, graduated from Georgia Tech. Ed started at Van Winkle Construction in 1978 but not in the office. One of his first jobs was jackhammering overhead structural concrete beams at one of the company’s projects at Grady Hospital. Ed later worked as a member of our Surveying Crew, Project Engineer team and was eventually promoted to Project Manager. Running projects like the Saturn Plant in Springhill, TN; Anheuser-Busch Can Plant in Rome, GA; The Church of the Apostles sanctuary and various expansions to the General Motors Doraville Plant prepared Ed to take the helm of the company in 1998. Ed had learned the business from the bottom up, and today he oversees all Estimating and Preconstruction operations of the company and takes an active role in formulating price proposals. Because of his knowledge of construction and his customer-service orientation, Ed takes a personal interest in each project the company undertakes.

Kenneth Barnett joined Van Winkle Construction in 2002 and has over 22 years of experience in the construction industry.  As Chief Operations Officer, Kenneth is responsible for the overall daily operation of the company and making sure that our projects are staffed correctly.

Mr. Barnett graduated from Southern Polytechnic State University with a bachelor of science degree in Construction and serves on the Construction Industry Advisory Board for SPSU (now KSU).  He is a member of AGC and AIC.

Willie joined Van Winkle Construction with 35 years of experience in construction, holding several positions with other companies from Project Engineer to Vice President . He worked on prominent projects such as the Renzo Piano addition to the High Museum of Art, Genomic Science Building at UNC Chapel Hill, Bank of America Headquarters in Charlotte and The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island. Willie ensures that all necessary resources and systems/procedures are implemented with the team members. He graduated from New Jersey Institute of Technology with a BS degree in Construction Management.

An Atlanta native, David graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in Engineering Science and worked in the construction industry for nine years prior to joining Van Winkle Construction in 1987. David has operational responsibility for projects and has overseen some of the company’s most prestigious work including: Oglethorpe University Library addition, Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Decatur City Hall, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, Dorm Renovations at Clark Atlanta University and Margaret Murray Washington Hall at Tuskegee University. In addition, David also supervises Van Winkle Construction’s safety program and coordinates all safety training and reporting.