At a time when most people are winding down their careers, Gary Caldwell did the opposite.
Caldwell was 50 when he opened his own business, Caldwell Constructors, in 2005 after spending nearly three decades working for others.
The small business headquartered in Hollingsworth Park mainly deals in medical, commercial and industrial construction. Many of those projects can be found in Greenville: Parkside Pediatrics and Children’s Medical Center on Verdae Boulevard, Carolina Oral and Facial Surgery and Gastroenterology Associates, a 42,000-square-foot medical office under construction off Halton Road.
“I’ve just always enjoyed building things,” Caldwell, 67, says. “My best friend’s father in high school was an architect, and I worked in the field every summer as a high school kid, just using my hands.”
Born and raised in Charleston, Caldwell graduated from Clemson University’s building science program in 1976 before landing a job at a small family-owned business in Spartanburg called Brittain Constructors.
“I had a great opportunity to really get thrown into the mix pretty early in my career,” Caldwell says. “I was managing projects a couple of months out of school, which looking back on that, that had to be scary for them.”
From there, he moved to Greenville and managed operations for York Construction Co., which was eventually acquired by an international firm in 1996. Caldwell then went to work for Trehel Corporation, where he remained until starting his own company.
“I had the great benefit of working for some great employers, and I really worked crazy hard through those years,” Caldwell says.
Ultimately, though, it was the close relationships Caldwell formed with clients that excited him most.
“It was a big, big emotional moment,” Caldwell says of the night he decided to venture out on his own.
Today, Caldwell Contractors has 26 employees and is very much a family business.
Caldwell’s son, David, manages operations while his daughter, Amanda, serves as the company’s CFO. When he’s not running his business, Caldwell enjoys spending time with his family on Lake Keowee or at Clemson football games.
“It’s just a good mix of working hard and playing hard together,” he says.
Gary Caldwell Fast Facts
- Born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina
- Graduated Clemson University in 1976
- Worked for Brittain Contractors, York Construction Co. and Trehel Corp.
- Founded Caldwell Contractors in 2005
- Enjoys spending time with family, boating, kayaking, fishing and Clemson football
