About Us
Built in Halifax.
Built to Last.
Sixty years of civil site work. Three generations of the same family. One county in Virginia where it all started.
The Founding Story
A Halifax Engineer Who Made His Own Work
Jack Dunavant Jr. earned his engineering degree from Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia, then served his country in the US Air Force. When he came home to Halifax, he found a region with few opportunities for a young civil engineer.
Rather than leave, he built something. In 1965, with almost nothing in the bank, he started Dunavant Engineering and Construction. The early years were lean — there were times the company couldn't make the water bill. The town manager offered grace. Jack kept going.
The work grew. A driveway became a parking lot. A parking lot became an industrial pad. A county job became a regional reputation. Sixty years later, Dunavant Engineering is simultaneously on-site at Hitachi Energy, Danville Regional Airport, and the new Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital.
Jack Dunavant Jr. is 90 years old. He still holds his active Professional Engineer license.
We're still growing. That's the best way I can put it.
— Jack Dunavant Jr., Founder & PE
Gazette-Virginian, March 2025
Credentials
- ·Virginia Military Institute — Engineering
- ·University of Virginia — Civil Engineering
- ·US Air Force Veteran
- ·Active Professional Engineer License (VA)
- ·VA Contractor License #2705153727 · Highway / Heavy (H/H)
60 Years
A Timeline
Jack Dunavant Jr. founds the company in Halifax, VA after returning from the US Air Force. He holds a civil engineering degree from VMI and UVA. Early work: residential driveways, service station paving, local site work.
The company grows from small local paving into full civil site contracting across Halifax County and the broader Southside Virginia region. A reputation for quality on public and private projects takes hold.
The second generation enters the business. Jack Dunavant III and Richard Dunavant join their father in running the company, expanding its capacity for larger industrial and commercial site work.
Sarah Dunavant joins as Business Manager and brings the administrative side of the company into the computer age — one of the first major modernizations of the company's operations.
Dunavant Engineering establishes itself as a preferred civil sub for major industrial and commercial GCs in the Danville–Pittsylvania corridor. Industrial site work becomes 80–90% of the business.
The third generation — grandchildren of the founder — begins working alongside the family. Dunavant is simultaneously on-site at Hitachi Energy, Danville Regional Airport, and the new Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital.
Dunavant Engineering marks 60 years in business. Jack Dunavant Jr., now 90 years old, still holds his active Professional Engineer license. The company is still growing.
The Team
Three Generations, One Company
Dunavant Engineering is not managed by a distant corporate office. The people running projects are the same family that started the company in 1965.
Jack Dunavant Jr.
FounderFounder
Jack Dunavant Jr. founded the company in 1965 after returning to Halifax following his service in the US Air Force and earning an engineering degree from Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia. Finding few opportunities in Southside Virginia at the time, he chose to build one — and in doing so, built a company that has never left. Now in his ninth decade, Jack still holds his active Professional Engineer license.
Jack Dunavant III
SecondOwner
Jack III grew up working alongside his father and has spent his career leading field operations and project execution. He manages the company's major industrial and institutional projects across the Danville–Pittsylvania corridor and the broader Southside Virginia region.
Richard Dunavant
SecondCo-Owner
Richard Dunavant has been integral to the company's growth from a local paving contractor into a full-scope civil site contractor capable of handling the region's most demanding industrial projects. He oversees operations alongside his brother Jack.
Sarah Dunavant
SecondBusiness Manager
Sarah joined the company in 1999 and modernized the business side of the operation, bringing Dunavant Engineering's administrative systems into the computer age. She serves as Business Manager and President of Dunavant Enterprises, handling the day-to-day business operations that keep projects running smoothly.
Jackson Dunavant
ThirdField Operations
The third generation is now working alongside the founders. Jackson Dunavant brings a new generation's energy to the company's field operations, continuing a family tradition that spans six decades.
Matthew & Kyle Epps
ThirdField Operations
Matthew and Kyle Epps, grandsons of the founder, are part of the third generation now actively working in the business — a testament to a family that doesn't just own the company, but works it.
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