Sargent Corp. at PTI airport in NC using Dynapac equipment. Making key contacts with Dream On 3, a charity supporting kids with disabilities in the sports industry.
CEG photo
(L-R): Tim Powell, Ashton Kelly, Tim Powell, Travis Hendrick and Chris Horn, all of Sargent Corp., and Jennifer Bishop of Dynapac stand in front of a Dynapac CA2500D seismic single-drum roller wrapped with the Dream On 3 logo.
Sargent Corp., an infrastructure builder in central North Carolina, is currently in the process of completing a project on the grounds of Greensboro's Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI).
Headquartered in Orono, Maine, Sargent operates two locations in the Northeast and two in the Mid-Atlantic states, the latter of which includes its Greensboro office.
According to Chris Horn, regional manager of Sargent's Piedmont Triad region in the Tarheel State, the building site at PTI is being prepared for future non-runway expansion.
"I think it is more about building pads for hangars and more airport development, as well as for a roadway extension of Worldwide Drive [just northeast of the PTI passenger terminal]," he said in mid-January.
Sargent's crews have been working at the airport property site for approximately a year, Horn said, and could be finished later in February.
Among the many types of earthmoving equipment being used at the PTI site is a new Dynapac CA2500D seismic single-drum roller that Sargent just took delivery of in early January.
Manufactured by Dynapac in Fort Mill, S.C., the European-based company is well known among construction professionals for turning out a line of high-performance compaction, paving, and light equipment, according to the company.
At last November's Dirt World Summit leadership forum in San Antonio, officials from both the equipment maker and Sargent got together for the first time with the end result being that the contractor was supplied with the new Dynapac.
"Taking delivery of the Dynapac roller through Jennifer Bishop, [the manufacturer's dealer sales manager of the Southeast] was a pleasure," said Horn. "We had not met previously, but she knew the roller and the technology in detail."
He added that so far, the model CA2500D roller is the first and only piece of Dynapac equipment in Sargent's North Carolina fleet, but the contractor hopes to add more of the maker's products in the future.
"We have a 300,000-cu.-yd. fill site out at PTI, and that roller has fallen in line with the rest of our equipment," he said. "It is a line of sight for the control tower. We had to do a lot of demolition on one side of the taxiway and remove all that material in order to bring it to the opposite side of the taxiway to fill in a 40-acre site."
During the time working on the current airport project, Sargent's crews have encountered many distinct types of soil across the site's footprint, according to Horn, which led them to conduct a total of 52 different Proctor compaction tests, a process that determines the optimal moisture content at which a given soil will reach its maximum dry density.
He admitted that so many tests are "very unusual for a job this size," but added that the earth Sargent moved from the side of the taxiway had different soil conditions, a problem the company needed to resolve.
It did so, Horn said, "through our experience and just overcoming the weather conditions that we worked in, as well as bringing in expertise from other areas of the country to deal with the various soil types.
"It is all in how you handle the existing soil," he added, which led Sargent to call in experts from its Richmond, Va., area that have long worked with a variety of site conditions.
Eventually, the company found a solution after "understanding what we were working with and what to do with the soil types that have both a high plasticity and high moisture content to them."
The PTI site work is the third project that Sargent has contracted with the airport over the years, Horn said, adding that the airport's owners and officials have been wonderful clients for whom to work.
"We hope to continue making long-term investments and work with PTI for many more years," he said.
Sargent Introduced to Dream On 3 in San Antonio
Attending the Dirt World Summit last fall also proved advantageous for Sargent in that it gave Travis Hendrick, in charge of Sargent's growth and strategy leader in North Carolina, the opportunity to be introduced to Brandon Lindsey, the founder and board president of Charlotte-based Dream On 3.
The nonprofit is dedicated to helping make sports dreams come true for young people aged 5-21 with life-altering physical, intellectual and developmental disabilities. Through what are known as "Dream Experiences," kids are connected with sports-related trips and are able to meet their athletic heroes thanks to Dream On 3.
In learning more about the organization, Hendrick discovered that Dream On 3 also is heavily supported by contractors and the construction industry in general. Indeed, without that support, the nonprofit's expansion and services over the past 10-plus years would likely not have been possible.
Dream On 3 has benefited from generous funding and support from several equipment dealers and manufacturers in the two Carolinas, including Dynapac.
"I think that supporting organizations like Dream On 3 is ingrained in our company's DNA back to our founder, and in Herb Sargent, our current CEO," Hendrick said. "He has taught us that we need to give back and serve others, especially those who are less fortunate than ourselves. We are very proud of the fact that Dream On 3 is backed by other construction companies. That was the connection for us and led to our involvement with the nonprofit."
When Sargent and Dynapac crossed paths at Dirt World, where the Dynapac roller was going up for auction, Hendrick said he knew Dream On 3 presented the "perfect opportunity" for his firm to help enrich the community.
"Through Dream On 3, we can help support kids with life-altering conditions that are being robbed of what we would consider a normal childhood and help them to see their dreams come true," he said. "I was recently on a call with [Lindsey] and Ben Allred, Dream On 3's CEO, where I learned about all the college teams that they have set up within the program and how fast this is growing. It is something that we're excited about and I, personally, am getting involved with it."
Sargent's Keys to Success Gives It Longevity
In 2026, Sargent will celebrate its 100th anniversary, and during the century since its founding in rural Maine, it has seen a tremendous expansion from the one-man, one-truck operation of company founder Herbert E. Sargent to today's team of more than 500 employee-owners.
The modern version of Sargent builds infrastructure that includes renewable energy projects, highways, commercial site work, landfill cells, and underground work — just to name a few examples — from the Canadian border south to the two Carolinas.
Besides the company's headquarters in Maine, and the North Carolina location, Sargent also has a second New England office in Fremont, N.H., and its Mid-Atlantic operations are in Ashland, Va.
One of the company's keys to success has been its intense focus on its employee owners — those folks who put their boots and hard hats on each day to brave the elements in the field.
Hendrick said that Sargent's goal has been to make them feel that they are listened to, not simply heard. When they are working, he said, it is communicated to them that support services are ready to support their field operations. In addition, crew members are empowered to be creative and solution-oriented in order to tackle the challenges they face on the job.
Being completely employee owned has allowed Sargent's front office to create a culture where its people are encouraged to build trusting relationships with clients and customers, stretch and refine their capabilities, and learn from any mistakes made in the course of their duties.
Eventually, Hendrick added, the contracting firm's goal for the future is to keep it in the hands of its people so as to "foster an environment and a purpose much larger than the individual."
"It's on us to make successful transitions in leadership so that we don't lose, replace, or erode this valuable foundation," he said. "That will help drive the next 100 years of success for Sargent. The fact that what I can contribute to the value of this company drives rewards for hundreds of other people is extremely rewarding and satisfying." CEG
Eric Olson
A writer and contributing editor for CEG since 2008, Eric Olson has worked in the news-gathering business for 45 years.
Olson grew up in the small town of Lenoir, N.C. in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where he began covering sports for the local newspaper at age 18. He continued to do that for several other dailies in the area while in college at Appalachian State University. Following his graduation, he worked for, among other companies, the Winston-Salem Journal, where he wrote and edited the newspaper's real estate and special features sections for 10 years. Since 1999 he has worked as a corporate media liaison and freelance writer, in addition to his time at CEG.
He and his wife, Tara, have been happily married for almost 40 years and are the parents of two grown and successful daughters. He currently is in the employ of two dogs and three cats, a job that he dearly loves.
Read more from Eric Olson here.
Today's top stories
