City Grill

Hootie Solesbee 
Vice President of Preconstruction Services
Harper General Contractors

While some projects in the Greenville region have been delayed due to financing issues, Solesbee says the steady stream of new residents moving to the Upstate South Carolina area is keeping contractors in Greenville busy, with sectors such as environmental, health care and education topping the list as most active, with industrial projects on the rise.

“The construction market in Greenville is still very active,” he says. 

Thanks to that activity, Harper stays in regular contact with the trade partners it works with in the area to ensure they’re managing workloads.

The majority of those trade partners are great at letting Harper know when they’re reaching capacity. Compared with recent years, the lead times for materials and equipment have greatly improved, says Solesbee, who began his career at Harper in 2006. 

Electrical gear, some HVAC equipment and transformers from utility companies are materials that are continuing to see longer than normal wait times, Solesbee says.