Smoot
3
Construction Moves Ahead Under
rd Generation of
Leadership
Lewis Smoot Jr. (left) assumed leadership of Smoot Construction Inc. in 2021, succeeding his father Lewis Smoot Sr. (right) as President & CEO of the company. (Photos courtesy of Smoot Construction)
Smoot Construction has
built a solid reputation for quality
and character during the 75 years since its founding in 1946 by Sherman R. Smoot. This legacy continues as the company enters its third generation of leadership under Lewis Smoot Jr. the son of former President and CEO Lewis Smoot Sr., and grandson of founder Sherman. Lewis Jr. plans to lead the company in the same manner as his predecessors, focusing on the company core principles that long have guided the firm, which the company defines as CHIPP—Character,
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/ WINTER 2022
Humility, Integrity, Pride and Performance. Sherman Smoot started the company with other family members in 1946 in West Virginia, and after moving to Columbus, Ohio, grew the company to be a respected masonry contracting firm in the Central Ohio region. Lewis Smoot, Sr. joined the company in 1958 after service in the U.S. Army and became the second-generation leader of the company in 1974. Lewis Sr. grew the company from a masonry contracting firm to be one of the largest African American-owned general contracting and construction management
firms in the country over more than 40 years of leadership of the company. Smoot has completed an extensive array of projects as both a prime contractor and a joint venture partner with other major construction firms like Turner Construction, AECOM Hunt, Gilbane Building Company and others. The projects include culturally significant and important projects including several Ohio State University buildings including the student union; the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington,
