East-Harding Opens Office in Springdale

Little Rock-based commercial construction firm East-Harding Inc. opened a Northwest Arkansas office in downtown Springdale on July 1.

President and CEO Van Tilbury said it is the first divisional office in the company’s 40-year history.

“It’s a milestone for us,” Tilbury said.

EHI is leasing about 1,000 SF in a building owned by David Chapman at 109 Spring St. The office is staffed by four employees.

“We are starting lean and we’ll grow into it,” Tilbury said. “The important thing is we have made the commitment and have a team in Northwest Arkansas and we have the work to support the team in the short term. We feel like we’ve got good momentum to grow that division.”

Tilbury said the downtown Springdale location is strategic, noting East-Harding’s reputation for taking on historic renovation projects.

One to note locally is the 45,000-SF Peabody Hall renovation project on the campus of the University of Arkansas, renovated to its original 1913 façade and completed in August 2011.

Tilbury said EHI has done total renovations for more than 20 buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Places.

With the Emma Avenue leg of the 36-mile Razorback Greenway nearing completion, and several sagging buildings being scooped up by investors including the Walton Family Foundation and Tyson Foods Inc., Springdale’s downtown area seems on the verge of a rebirth.

“We would like to be part of Springdale’s new growth and redevelopment,” Tilbury said. “We’re not focused only on Springdale, but it is a good place to have our headquarters.”

Tilbury began with EHI in 2004, became a partner in 2010 and CEO in 2012. He said the firm has 40 employees and is on pace to have about $50 million in revenue in 2014.

The Springdale office is supporting about $15 million in projects already, Tilbury said, the biggest being the $10.5 million construction of a new 74,819-SF building at Farmington High School. It includes an 800-seat auditorium, 1,800-seat basketball arena and performing arts department. It’s scheduled to be complete in December.

Tilbury also said Christina Murphy Lusk was hired earlier this summer as EHI’s chief development officer and will work from the Northwest Arkansas office.

Lusk, a Springdale native, previously held development positions with Clark Contractors LLC and Nabholz Construction Corp.