Company History

J&S Construction’s roots can be traced back to 1926 when Pat Stites began doing construction work for people around the Upper Cumberland. While much of the nation was struggling during the Great Depression in the 1930s, Stites began a small gravel company known as Builder’s Supply Company. During that time, the family experienced many firsts: they were the first to introduce ready-mix concrete to the region, the first to open a cash-and-carry lumber yard and the first to design and build a concrete block plant. 

Thirty years later, Pat’s son, John D. Stites had just returned home from serving in the Navy during World War II, returning to Cookeville to attend college. However, he left college soon after to pursue a career with the family business – Builder’s Supply. While there, John set up material at the construction site for the Buffalo Valley Bridge which was the first section of Interstate 40 to be built in the state. From there, the Stites name became synonymous with construction, construction innovation and, of course, family values.

In 1957, John established J&S Construction as a small firm that primarily built speculative houses. In the early 1970s, Jack and his brother, Johnny, chose to follow in their father’s footsteps and officially came on board at J&S Construction. A few years later, John D. Stites stepped down from his post and Jack took the helm. 

Through the years, J&S Construction has been recognized numerous times for excellence in construction. Two of the firm’s highest honors came when J&S Construction received the Tennessee Quality Achievement Award. J&S Construction is the only contractor in the State of Tennessee to be awarded the Achievement Award from the Tennessee Center for Performance twice. J&S Construction continues to lead the way as the premier Design-Build firm by being the first contractor in the State of Tennessee to complete a LEED Silver, LEED Gold and LEED Platinum Certified building and has designed and built more than 260,000 square feet of LEED-certified space.

Today, Jack leads the J&S Team as CEO, alongside sons Josh (President) and Andy (Vice President), and the company has positioned itself as one of the premier Design-Build firms in the state.

Having completed projects from Kansas to Florida and Texas to Virginia, J&S Construction is able to perform general contracting services in more than 30 states. The majority of our work is completed within 100 miles of our corporate headquarters, located in Cookeville. We are one of the oldest and largest construction companies between Nashville and Knoxville. Our strategic plan is not to be the biggest, but to be the best, and to be large enough to successfully serve all of our clients’ needs. We have a repeat client rate of over 75% each year and 99.6% of our clients, at the conclusion of their projects, say they will use J&S Construction on their next project.