Forty Under 40: Adam White

Adam White believes servant leadership is being both “a working manager and a servant manager, so you’re not afraid to get in the trenches and support the staff when needed because your vision is you’re there to serve them, not the other way around.” Diligent in his drive for perfection, he’s adamant that “If there’s going to be a Garver logo on it, there’s a standard I want to go around it.”

With that mantra, he’s managed the design of more than $500 million in projects nationwide, serving airports like Nashville International and New Orleans International.

He manages Garver’s local aviation business practice and has contributed more than $100 million to the region’s aviation development. With 15-20 active projects for local airports like XNA, Rogers Executive Airport and Drake Field, he helps each airport achieve its vision and goals.

As Garver’s aviation operations manager, White is responsible for training and recruiting 100 aviation personnel.

White said his greatest accomplishment is founding and managing the Aviation Design Center in Fayetteville, a group of about 20 civil and electrical engineers who are in training as they work on aviation design projects across the country.

Originally from Russellville, White graduated in 2008 from the University of Arkansas with a B.S. in civil engineering. He’d interned for Garver during college, and after graduation he became project engineer, then project manager, before becoming a senior project manager in March 2019.

Diligent in his service to the community, White led his employees to raise $10,000 for Arkansas Children’s Northwest, is a board member for the Arkansas Community Foundation, speaks on aviation design to engineering students, and helped establish an annual $1,500 college scholarship for engineering students.