As Harrison, Walker & Harper expands into AI and energy, its 200-year mindset drives sustainable growth and enduring impact
Every successful project starts with a solid foundation and for over 135 years, Harrison, Walker & Harper (HWH) has used honesty, integrity and fair dealings as the basis for everything it does. At HWH, the team is proud of its rich history of always putting the right people, the right process, and the right solutions in place to ensure clients’ projects are completed safely, on time, and on budget.
“Our company was established in 1887 in Paris, Texas,” begins Jordan Harper, CEO, “and over the years we’ve grown into a fully integrated construction
organization. We manage every stage of a project, from design and general construction to full project and program management. Beyond that, we self-perform a wide range of disciplines, including earthwork, utilities, concrete, steel fabrication, HVAC, and plumbing services.
“We’re also supported by several complementary businesses. One of them is We Pack Logistics, which provides warehousing, packaging, and fulfilment services for food and consumer product companies around the world. In addition, our manufacturing division engineers, manufactures, and installs interiors for major retailers across the United States, helping our clients maintain their brand integrity and deliver high-quality experiences to their customers.”
HWH works across a wide range of sectors, including commercial, industrial, medical, and education. “In fact,” Jordan adds, “we do quite a bit of work for the education sector, from K–12 to private education and universities. We also handle a significant amount of federal work, including the renovation of dormitories, aviation facilities and hangars, supporting the Department of Defense, as well as Border Patrol facilities and IT facilities.
“On the healthcare side, our medical division focuses on medical office buildings, emergency facilities, and hospitals. For our industrial clients, we deliver large-scale design-build projects; everything from major processing facilities to some of the largest plastic injection molding plants in the country, covering up to two or three million square feet under one roof, complete with complex process piping systems.”
Beyond construction, HWH brings additional value to its customers by helping them monetize their projects. “We negotiate federal, state, and local incentives, including new market tax credit transactions, especially for projects in rural America,” Jordan explains. “Many of our clients may not realize their developments are just as impactful as those of major companies. We help them access available incentives and bring additional capital into their projects to offset costs and strengthen their investment.”
HWH is a family-owned company, with an uncompromising commitment to its clients. Being in business for over 135 years has reinforced that being adaptable is non-negotiable. As the oldest general contractor in the State of Texas, HWH has completed countless successful projects and developed a talent for discovering creative solutions along the way.
“At HWH, we operate with the mindset that we’re building a company designed to last 200 years,” Jordan elaborates. “When you take that long-term view, you stop thinking about the business as belonging to a single family or a handful of owners. A company is an organization in the same way a family is an organization; when the organization is healthy, everyone within it rises.
“We’re based in a small market in Northeast Texas, and we’re one of the larger employers here, especially when it comes to high-skilled, high-wage jobs. If we maintain our integrity, stay strong, and continue to grow, then we’re not just supporting employees, we’re supporting the families behind them and helping build a community where the next generation can thrive.
“Over the last 25 years with this organization, the greatest lesson I’ve learned is the importance of consistency and sustainability in leadership,” he affirms. “Building a reliable pipeline of future leaders who want to live in and contribute to this community is essential. It’s not always about hiring someone who has done the job before; it’s about developing the people we have, training them, supporting them, and recognizing that mistakes are part of growth.
“As the labor market tightens and talent becomes harder to find, it’s important to invest in your own people: financially, emotionally, and by building their capabilities. And it’s important to protect work–life balance. Construction is an industry that’s historically burned people out, but that isn’t sustainable. We aren’t producing enough skilled workers for that to be an option. Companies everywhere have realized this over the last two decades, and we’ve adjusted by making sure our employees have the balance and support they need. When we do that, everyone benefits, and we keep moving forward together.”
HWH entered the energy sector about eight years ago when contracted to build a large innovation campus focused on integrating IoT technologies to better manage energy use. “That experience,” Jordan shares, “opened our eyes to the opportunity for agnostic systems that could communicate across platforms and optimize energy consumption. Since then, we’ve seen tremendous growth driven by hyper scalers, AI, and increasing energy demand. It’s really become a modern-day gold rush. Today, we’re supporting roughly $25 billion worth of AI and energy infrastructure projects; not as the prime contractor, but as a key partner helping with energy park development, land acquisition, and site logistics. Energy demand will only grow over the next decade, so we’re focused on building smarter, faster, and more sustainably.”
As a contractor, HWH is a unique organization that operates multiple complementary companies. “From the built environment side, we work with Fortune 500 clients, building large-scale projects quickly and efficiently. Alongside that,” Jordan continues, “our logistics organization has supported Fortune 100 companies across the US for over 30 years, giving us deep expertise in supply chain management, inventory control, quality, and safety. Our manufacturing division also works with Fortune 500 clients, and all these companies are supported by a shared back-office model that provides resources across human resources, IT, finance, and operations.
“This model allows us to help clients scale in ways few organizations can. For example, we partnered with EnviroSafe Demil, a government demilitarization contractor, to help them build a state-of-the-art hybrid burn chamber. Beyond construction, we supported them with financing, operational infrastructure, and ongoing business management.”
Looking to the future, HWH’s biggest priority is navigating the rapidly evolving AI and energy space. “The growth is incredible,” Jordan shares. “Every week, we’re approached with multibillion-dollar opportunities, so our focus is on managing capacity and capability effectively without becoming overwhelmed. Looking to next year, our goal is to expand industrial capacity to meet rising demand. That includes increasing our manufacturing and plant operations, from steel fabrication to equipment installation, to support continued growth in the sector. We’re planning a significant 600,000-square-foot expansion of our industrial plant, targeted for completion in 2026. This investment not only positions us to better serve our clients but also aligns with the broader onshoring movement and the national push to strengthen domestic manufacturing.
“In five years, my goal is for us to be a billion-dollar organization, diversified across our three core divisions and continuing to deliver the same high-quality services. The capacity expansions we’re investing in today will position us well to achieve that. We’re proud to be headquartered in Paris, Texas, and that’s where we’ll stay. Our focus is on growing right here, building strong, smart companies that create opportunities for our community and for future generations. At the heart of it, our ambition isn’t just about scale, it’s about sustainability. We’re working to build an organization that lasts for the next 200 years, one that continues to support the families and communities around us long after we’re gone,” he concludes.