
A Little History



John L. Hunter Construction Company, Inc. (JLH) was established in 1965 as a Sole Proprietorship company by John L. Hunter. He was born and raised in Blairsville, GA in the foothills of Brasstown Bald. He learned his hard work ethic from working with this father tending livestock, hogs, and cattle along with farming. He served in the Korean War and after his service moved to Atlanta. He started his construction career and training by going to apprentice school of carpentry, Local Union 225 in Atlanta. From there he worked his way into commercial construction industry and held jobs with companies like Beers, J.A. Jones, Henry C. Beck & Massell and Attholt construction companies as a field superintendent. He started his own business in 1965 with the help of his wife, Joyce Bowles Hunter, who encouraged him to go into business for himself. Joyce was a key part of handling the bookkeeping for the company. In 1988 he changed the company to a corporation. He has 4 sons, Kent, Jeff, Leslie and Larry who were all raised within the company.
In the early years the company built service station facilities. Later into the 1970’s we ventured into light industrial industry and performed work for Pepsi Cola, Canada Dry, Coca Cola Bottling Plant, Office, Warehousing and Operations. We were a part of the service station facilities, evolving into multi points of sale. Building convenience stores in conjunction with fueling stations. In the 1980’s multi use sites developed and we built sites combining fuel station, convenience store, car wash and retail shops all together on a single site location. These types of projects became our niche. We built these facilities all over the state of Georgia up into year 2000.
The experience we gained thru the years enabled us to mold and expand our services. We got into the retail arena, building shopping centers & interior finished for a wide variety of clients including restaurants and medical facilities. From early 2000 to 2015 we have built a wide variety of projects from retail, office/condo, banks, trucking facilities, medical and hotel. One of our services we offer is helping our customers with Design/Build. We help them from the conceptual stage, doing the Due Diligence of the site and building and formulating a project budget to design from thus holding building cost in line. From 2014 to current we have found a new niche in building Assisted Living Facilities.
Since the 1970’s to current all 4 sons of John L Hunter (Founder) have been employed with JLH and have been a large part in the growth of the organization. With a combined 150 years, each son has over 35 to 44 years of construction experience. The 3rd generation of the Hunter family are becoming a part of the company and working their way into management and project supervision with a ranging experience of 15 to 20 years in the industry. The Founder, John L Hunter, retired from the company and passed on the management of the company. J. Kent Hunter has taken over the general management of the company’s operation and is the President. See our staff listings and resumes of each.
The foundation of our company has been built by integrity. These practices have been passed on by doing things the right way, holding the line with Subcontractors, treating our customers with respect and building long lasting relationships. The repeat business, new prospects and customer opportunities have proven this throughout the years.
“A Family Tradition Building”