Tennessee's biggest contractor celebrates 50th anniversary with new construction team

EMJ Constructon Executive Vice President Jack Bowen, EMJ Construction President Doug Martin and EMJ Construction Senior Vice President of Construction Philip Augustino pose for a photo at the EMJ Corporate headquarters in Chattanooga, Tenn.
EMJ Constructon Executive Vice President Jack Bowen, EMJ Construction President Doug Martin and EMJ Construction Senior Vice President of Construction Philip Augustino pose for a photo at the EMJ Corporate headquarters in Chattanooga, Tenn.

As EMJ Corp. celebrates its 50th anniversary this spring, the Chattanooga-based building contractor appointed Doug Martin as the president of EMJ Construction and promoted two other building veterans to executive positions in EMJ's biggest business division.

Doug Martin, a 25-year employee of EMJ Corp., who previously served as the company's chief operating officer, was shifted to the new post of president of EMJ Construction, the largest division of the EMJ family of companies. Martin is responsible for all of EMJ's construction operations, providing guidance and direction to the executive leadership teams of EMJ Construction teams working out of the company's offices Chattanooga, Boston and Dallas.

Martin's focus on the construction division highlights the growth in commercial building activity and EMJ's success in growing its business across a variety of industries. EMJ began a half century ago building primarily retail stores and shopping centers, many of them for CBL Properties, also based in Chattanooga.

But Martin said EMJ has diversified widely, building everything from stadiums to apartments and from churches to industrial projects. Some of the biggest growth for the company now is in senior housing and living facilities and in public storage buildings, Martin said.

Martin, an engineering graduate of the University of Tennessee who has more than 30 years of experience in the construction industry, said EMJ expects to work on nearly $1 billion of projects this year, making the Chattanooga- based contractor the biggest construction firm based in Tennessee.

"The operational excellence of our construction teams are what built EMJ," says Burt Odom, the company's CEO who began at EMJ under company founder Edgar M. Jolley for whom the firm is named.

To aid in the growing construction business this year, EMJ promoted Jack Bowen to executive vice president and Philip Augustino as senior vice president for the company's Chattanooga construction office.

"Jack and Philip are first and foremost servant leaders," Martin says. "They are committed to growing and developing their teams as well as delivering exceptional experiences for our construction clients."

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