Other Publications

Construction Industry Poll

Contractor of the Year

Contractor of the Year Finalist

March 02, 2011 |

Contractor of the Year

Chuck Laney

Gatlinburg, Tennessee

A family construction business that puts family first and has reaped the reward

By Tom Jackson

C. Laney and Sons Construction

Year started: 1980 (Incorporated in 1999)

Annual volume: ($14 to $15 million)

Markets served: Residential and commercial construction, excavation and site utilities, metal buildings, spray insulation and construction management.

The conflict between work and family is tough for many people. For Chuck Laney a day at work is a day spent with his three sons, his wife and often his grandkids.

His two older sons, Frank (38) and James (39) didn’t initially aim for construction careers and went to college to pursue different vocations, but eventually came into the business. The youngest, Luke (27), however, loved trucks and heavy equipment and like his dad, wanted to be in construction from an early age. “They do bidding, run jobs, run equipment and do labor work, whatever needs to be done, just as I do,” Chuck says.

Chuck’s wife Rosemary helped the new company from the beginning, primarily doing the paperwork. But when they incorporated she retired from her job as deputy building official for the city of Gatlinburg and ran the office for the company, doing all the bookkeeping, accounts payable and other paperwork. Her contributions and knowledge of construction has been invaluable in making the business successful, he says.

An early start

At the age of 15, and in need of a job, Chuck learned how to operate a backhoe. He went on from there to work in a variety of construction fields – building, houses, remodeling, government jobs, whatever he could do to earn a paycheck except when it conflicted with football practice.

“I did almost everything that is done in the construction industry to some extent,” he says.