Building a construction company into a major international competitor is a singular achievement accomplished by very few people in the world. John Caddell did it twice.

After graduating in 1952 with a B.S. in Building Construction from Georgia Tech, John spent two years in the Air Force before going to work for what was then primarily a road and bridge builder named Blount Brothers—first as an estimator and later as project manager for Launch Pad 37-A at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Mentored by men like Red Blount and Paul Hess, he quickly rose through the ranks and was made Blount’s President and CEO in 1969. Under John Caddell’s leadership, Blount’s annual revenues grew from $67M to $600M, and Blount reached the height of its worldwide reputation and prestige.

When he left in 1983, Blount was at its apex as a major international contractor, performing some of the largest and most challenging projects in the world. Project highlights during the Blount years included multiple launch complexes for NASA and the New Orleans Superdome. It was John Caddell who led the team that won and negotiated what was then the largest lump sum contract in construction history — the $2 billion King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Blount’s first payment draw on that project was a single check for more than $343M.