Kenneth “Kim” Hawkins Sr., president and chairman of Omaha-based Hawkins Construction Co., died April 28 after a short battle with lung disease. He was 68 years old. 

Hawkins was the third family member to run the firm that ranks at No. 273 on ENR's latest Top 400 Contractor list. 

Hawkins expanded the company from a commercial building contractor to one with a regional and national reputation for building some of Nebraska’s most significant projects. ENR wrote in April about firm participation in a unique contractor-led build-financing model that is fueling accelerated delivery of the Lincoln Beltway, a $352-million new highway in Lincoln, Neb.

Other projects included rebuilding the Council Bluffs Interstate System; the realignment and rebuilding of the Nebraska expressway system, and ongoing improvements at Eppley Airfield regional airport. The family-owned company last year earned over $350 million in annual gross revenue.

Hawkins, who held a degree in civil engineering from Georgia Tech and a law degree from Creighton University in Omaha, had a knack for getting the most out of the people he worked with.

 “His main philosophy was hiring the best people, putting them in the right position and getting out of their way,” says Nick Gaebel, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the street and roads group.  

Gaebel recalled that Hawkins hired him when he was 24 and put him in charge of a Department of Defense runway replacement project at Offutt Air Force Base.

“I was way beyond where I should have been and way beyond what most people would be comfortable with,” Gaebel said. But Hawkins told him, “‘I know you can do it.’ And I did.

“Everybody in a leadership position in this company has had one of those moments – a turning point where he pushed you in way over your head. You got really close to failing, but you didn’t. It was a defining moment that made you who you are,” Gaebel said.

Encouraging people to take risks also was part of Hawkins’ management style. Matthew Miller, executive vice president and CFO, said Hawkins wanted to move the company from traditional building to new and different places. “That's proved pretty fruitful, but it has come with a heavy learning curve,” Miller said.

When Hawkins asked Miller what his plan was for a new, innovative project, Miller admitted he didn’t have one. “I told him, ‘I'm going to figure out what everybody else is doing and then I’m going to run in a different direction.’ He was OK with that. He trusted me.

“[Hawkins] didn’t give people a bullet-point list. He just wanted us to be good at what we do, make money on our jobs and do it with integrity.”

Hawkins held leadership positions in several regional organizations. He was a longtime board member of the Associated General Contractors - Nebraska. Executive Director Katie Wilson said, “Kim understood the political side of things, how things work and how you get things done in our world.”

When Wilson joined the association’s board of directors, she was about 30 years old and the only woman on the board. “I was young and just allowing a woman on the board was a big step, but people listened to Kim,” she said.

Hawkins was inducted into the Omaha Business Hall of Fame in 2016. But his favorite organization was always the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Midlands, where he joined the board in 1985. He also served on the Boys and Girls Clubs of America board.

Retired Executive Vice President Jim Gregory said Hawkins’ empathy for youth extended beyond sitting on a board. Gregory recalled that when one of the company’s workers died, Hawkins offered to double the amount of money the family was entitled to from wages and bonuses if they would allow him to put a substantial amount of it into a trust so the man’s daughter could not only afford an education, but also would have enough to get her life off the ground after she graduated. “Kim always had a keen insight on what we can and should do to make things better,” Gregory said.

Hawkins is survived by his wife Karen, daughter Ande, and sons Kim Jr. and Christopher, who has assumed the role of CEO and president of Hawkins Construction.