The first meeting with a new superintendent started at a folding table on a quiet job site. Tommy Whitehead, president and chief executive officer of TomCo Solutions Inc., walked through scope, safety and schedule, and then asked a different question: Who on your team wants a shot to lead? That mix of delivery and development has come to define the company he rebuilt from hard seasons into a platform that finishes complex work and opens doors for people.
Whitehead’s story bends toward reinvention. Early setbacks forced choices about credit, confidence and direction. He chose to rebuild, then built again with a wider aim. TomCo Solutions matured into more than a contractor. TomCo Capital Partners, a private equity arm, finances projects that strengthen neighborhoods. Building Success Enterprises, their new media brand, supports video marketing and educational content. Each piece serves a common purpose, helping clients meet goals while creating paths for talent to rise.
Progress inside the firm favors clarity over noise. Supervisors teach, craftspeople mentor and expectations are visible. Budgets, timelines and accountability live where everyone can see them. Field and office operate as one team so issues surface early and wins compound. Training is steady rather than sporadic. Quarterly professional development, on-the-job coaching and purpose-built camps give rising contributors the skills and confidence to handle bigger moments.
Whitehead’s energy stays high because he stands close to the work. He walks projects, listens to crews and shares what he learns with candor. Partnerships with Big Brothers Big Sisters and Southeastern University move the mission beyond site fences. Building Stars Camp lets students try tools, meet leaders and picture themselves running crews or managing scopes. Speaking invitations and media features provide Whitehead with the opportunity to recruit and show that construction can be a vehicle for dignity, mobility and community pride.
The approach reaches into classrooms and boardrooms. Whitehead writes, teaches and mentors founders who are navigating the same doubts he once faced. He is shaping a trade school to train the next generation so crews arrive with skill and character. Technology is added where it simplifies planning and communication, never to replace the judgment that experienced builders carry.
A Titan 100 Honoree, Whitehead treats recognition as responsibility. The next five years will see TomCo Solutions deepen its role as a diversified builder that pairs reliable delivery with platforms that finance projects, train leaders and expand opportunity. He measures success in the details a neighbor notices after ribbon cuttings are long over, a site left clean, a crew that advances and a young person who chooses the trades because someone handed them a tool and believed they could use it well. That is how a contractor becomes a community builder and how a company’s promise turns into outcomes people can feel.
