Austin Commercial

Bernard Hewett serves as executive vice president of operations for Austin Industries, and was named president of Austin Industrial in 2020. He brings significant leadership experience, previously serving as senior vice president of operations at Austin Commercial and president of Austin Bridge & Road. Since joining Austin in 1982, Bernard’s experience includes serving in estimating, project management, and project executive capacities for projects across the U.S. A significant part of Bernard’s service includes working closely with teams at each operating company to make improvements to process, platforms, and people systems (3P). In 2005, Bernard helped to commission Austin Industries’ Leadership Development Group and has served to develop current and future leaders across the enterprise.

CREDENTIALS

Bernard earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and completed the Texas Executive Education Program for General Management and the Institute for Managerial Leadership.

Mr. Brown is president of Austin Commercial, one of the largest commercial contractors in the United States. Mr. Brown most recently served as Senior Vice President of Austin Commercial, after a period as President and CEO of TEXO, a commercial contractors association affiliated with the national Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). He joined Austin Commercial in 1998, and during his time he has held positions such as Director of Human Resources and the Director of Marketing and Business Development

Mr. Walls is president and CEO of Austin Industries, the parent company to Austin Commercial, Austin Bridge & Road and Austin Industrial. He began his career with Austin Commercial in 1980 as a project engineer. He advanced to become one of Austin Commercial’s premier field project managers before being named vice president and director of operations in 1988. He has served as president of Austin Commercial and president of Austin Bridge & Road, in addition to his current CEO position. Mr. Walls currently serves a co-chair on the commission leading implementation of the Safety Certification for Transportation Project Professionals™ (SCTPP) program. He also serves as a trustee of Baylor Scott & White Health Care System.

CREDENTIALS

Mr. Walls holds a B.S. in Construction Technology from the University of Houston, an M.S. in Building Construction from Texas A&M University, and a Ph.D. in Leadership from Dallas Baptist University.

Joe McLaughlin is Chief Financial Officer of Austin Industries. He began his career at Austin in 2002 and has held several financial management roles, most recently serving as Chief Accounting Officer for Austin Industries. Prior to this, he served as Austin Industries Corporate Controller and Operations Controller for both Austin Commercial and Austin Bridge & Road.

Mr. McLaughlin is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the State of Texas and became a Certified Construction Industry Financial Professional (CCIFP) in 2015. He has more than 27 years of accounting experience, with 21 of those years in the construction industry.

Mr. McLaughlin served as the 35th National Chairman of the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA). He has been a member of the CFMA for 16 years, and served two years as Chapter President for the Dallas/Fort Worth CFMA Chapter. Mr. McLaughlin is also a Director on the Board of the CMiC Users Group, which includes IT and financial professionals from 27 of the top 100 construction companies ranked in Engineering News-Record magazine’s Top 400 Contractors.

CREDENTIALS

McLaughlin earned his B.B.A in Accounting and Executive M.B.A from the University of Texas at Arlington, College of Business. He also earned a Graduate Certificate in Asian Business Studies from the University of Texas at Arlington, College of Business.

Mike Morris is the Vice President of Safety for Austin Industries. He has more than 38 years in the chemical, refining, transportation and construction industry, including 31 years of leadership experience in operations, health, safety and environmental. He began working for Austin Industrial in 2003 as Director of Health, Safety and Environmental before becoming Vice President Safety for Austin Industries in 2016.

Mr. Morris is a professional member of American Society of Safety Engineers and Executive Program of Safety Management.

CREDENTIALS

He earned a B.S in Safety and Operations Management from University of South Alabama.

Mr. Mills is president of Austin Bridge & Road, the oldest of Austin’s operating companies. Prior to this position, he served as senior vice president of Austin Bridge & Road. He began his career at Austin in 1999. Richard has led Austin’s asphalt division, reorganized the concrete paving division and managed numerous organizational changes.

CREDENTIALS

His education includes a BBA from Dallas Baptist University and MBA from Texas Christian University.

Bob Kasubinksi leads human resources, employee relations, craft and staff hiring, training, retention, and workforce development strategies in his role as vice president of people for Austin Industrial. Bob has helped streamline the delivery of human resources services for Austin. Prior to joining the company in 2016, Bob spent 26 years in positions of increasing responsibility for Marathon Petroleum and Marathon Oil Corporations, managing corporate human resources both domestically and internationally. He was integrally involved in HR supervision and administration at several Marathon Refining operations in Louisiana, Texas, and Ohio.

CREDENTIALS

Bob earned a B.S. degree in Human Resources from The Ohio State University and a Master’s degree in Labor and Industrial Relations from Cleveland State University. He has also completed several industry-relevant certification programs.

Mr. Henry is the Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for Austin Industries, as well as president of British American Insurance Company. Prior to joining Austin, he served as the Chair of the Construction Practice Group for the law firm of Gardere Wynne Sewell. He was regularly Chambers-rated in Construction Law while in private practice.

CREDENTIALS

Mr. Henry received a B.S. from Texas A&M University and a J.D. from Texas Tech University.