A Spirit Of Integrity & Service
JL Hunter Construction builds on family values
For family business JL Hunter Construction, there is an integral connection and care woven through generations—a commitment to building that serves the spirit of its forebears while strengthening relationships and exceeding the expectations of its clients. The company’s staff and leadership view tradition as a foundation for excellence established by the mindset and skill set of their founder John L. Hunter, who began the business in 1965 with the help of his wife, Joyce Bowles Hunter.
Formative Years
John spent his early years working for his father tending livestock, apprenticing in carpentry at Local Union 225 in Atlanta and finding his place in commercial construction. These experiences formed a solid work ethic that he modeled and handed down to his four sons, J. Kent, Jeff, Leslie and Larry, who were all raised within the family business. Today, the sons have over 150 years of combined experience in construction, ranging from 35 to 44 years each.
“We’ve been in business 53 years, and we’re well established,” says J. Kent Hunter, President and general manager. “Our motto, ‘A Family Tradition Building,’ is founded on an abundance of experience, dependability and integrity.”
For more than half a century, the character of the company has been built on lessons handed down from father to son. This has provided a lineage with deep roots in customer service and quality construction.
J. Kent, and his son, Luke Hunter, who is JL Hunter Construction’s general manager and lead project manager, are proud of their heritage. They see it as the lifeline to the company values and want to continue what was started—to build from a father’s dream and to leave a legacy company for the next generation.
“I feel an obligation toward the family business,” J. Kent says. “It’s the obligation of carrying the torch on. Our father instilled a work ethic in us, and he went through a lot of effort and sacrifice, and I want to carry on what he started.”
Passing on the Torch
J. Kent was in track in high school, and he likens the company’s success and values to a 440-relay race, passed on from generation to generation.
“I think Luke also has that gut feeling to carry the torch on,” J. Kent says. “I used to run the 440 in high school, and I was the third leg of the relay team. Starting off, the initial guy is the trailblazer and sets the pace. It’s up to the next guy to get the baton and carry it on. By the time it reaches the third man, he’s not going to let his teammates down. The team has built their momentum with their skill sets and kicked them in gear all at the right time. The fourth leg, with the most experience and speed behind him, pulls it through to the finish. We’re carrying the torch on and handing it off to each generation.”
“Speaking as a third-generation Hunter,” Luke says, “I started in my teens working for this company. I left in college and worked for a large general contractor specializing in health care and large commercial projects. Seeing all of the experience and knowledge, I understood what my family had gone through to gain similar knowledge, and it made me want to come back and carry on that tradition.”
Spectrum of Work
A focus on integrity, attention to detail and the willingness to outperform the competition has formed repeat, long-lasting relationships for this company. Clients see a service that will do whatever it takes to ensure their project fits their budget and design specifications, especially for design-build projects.
“We built two assisted-living facilities, and an addition on to another, for Windsor Lodge Assisted Living,” J. Kent says. “It’s also a family organization, and we were a good mesh and understand each other. They have a lot of the same traits that we do.” JL Hunter Construction’s portfolio is impressive and vast, ranging from service station facilities to light industrial projects, and including spaces created for tenants in retail centers, acting as a liaison between landlord and tenant, and counseling their customers to come up with a business plan.
“We’re well-versed in multiple types of construction,” J. Kent says. “We don’t just go into a corner of the market. With the experience we’ve had, we’ve been exposed to a wide spectrum of projects, even in the residential arena. We’ve been in light commercial and light industrial. We’ve developed and built subdivisions. We’ve built service stations that evolved into service stations with a convenience store and a car wash, retail buildings and tenant spaces, underground parking garages and restaurants. We’ve done retail centers and built hotels, office facilities, condos and dental offices. We’ve done assisted living, medical work, and, in the light industrial realm, we’ve done work for Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Canada Dry bottling plants. We have built-in trucking facilities. I feel like we have the ability to do any type of project that’s thrown at us and handle it well.”
A Family Approach
While JL Hunter Construction clearly has tackled a wide breadth of projects, the reason this family-based business has done so well is due to the quality of the work delivered and this team’s ability to cultivate relationships that grow and deepen over time.
“What makes our company unique and special,” Luke says, “is the variety of services we provide to our market and going the extra mile for the customer without charging them for services that put that extra little finishing touch on every project. For example, if they want furnishings installed or a small hole in the wall patched, we will provide this service in-house, even helping them after their project is closed out. This ensures a quality product and a satisfied customer. It stems back to being a family organization. I can’t stress that enough.” Luke continues, “If you have a family business, everyone works in sync with one another. That makes us strong. We’re grounded. We’re loyal, dedicated and reliable. We have solidarity. We build trust in our team and as a company. This trust is projected out to the owners and subcontractors we engage with to build these projects. This has made us resilient through the good and the bad. Being a part of a family business is like being a part of an elite organization or niche, and that’s what we have to offer.”
Also, the vehicle for JL Hunter Construction’s success is its integrity. When a business treats its clients and employees as family, going the extra mile, there is an extension of trust that builds and strengthens relationships and ensures the quality of the work. What is built on family values is an expression of a deep belief and confidence in the leadership, process and product. “This business has been primarily family-owned,” J. Kent says, “but part of our success is a result of making everyone who works here feel like they’re part of the family. And, we strive to make our customers feel like family when we work with them each day.”
J. Kent adds, “Hopefully some of the traits we have instilled in our own family are also instilled in our employees.That might be part of the reason we hired them in the first place: We saw qualities in them, like loyalty and dedication, and we trust them. In this day and time, those qualities are few and far between. Once we get that type of person, and they see what we’re made of, it makes for a good fit.”
For J. Kent and Luke, the words “tradition” and “family” light the very spirit of JL Hunter Construction—a spirit built on character, integrity and tradition that is alive and well after more than half a century of service.