Yates Construction

Bill Yates took his first significant general contracting job in 1963 and incorporated W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Company the following year. Six decades on, the Philadelphia, Mississippi firm ranks among ENR’s largest US contractors and is still family owned. Yates builds commercial, healthcare, industrial, gaming and institutional work, with self-perform capability in concrete, steel and electrical through subsidiaries it acquired from the 1970s onward. Offices span the Southeast and Texas. The firm is general contractor on St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s Advanced Research Center II in Memphis, part of one of the more closely watched research campus expansions in the country.

Sixteen offices across nine states, each with a named contact – that is how Yates organises itself, and the list tells you where the work is. Mississippi holds the corporate headquarters at 104 Gully Avenue in Philadelphia, plus Byram, two Jackson locations, Biloxi and Oxford. Beyond the home state: Birmingham, Alabama; Tempe, Arizona; Jacksonville and Orlando, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Las Vegas, Nevada; Greenville, South Carolina; Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; and Irving, Texas.

Publishing a contact name and direct line for every office is a small thing that says something larger about how the company runs. For a firm ranked among the nation’s top commercial and industrial construction companies by Engineering News-Record, it is a notably un-corporate way to handle enquiries.

Yates remains family owned, which for a contractor at this scale is uncommon and affects how capital decisions and long-term client relationships get made.

Subcontractors and vendors are handled as a standing program rather than case by case. The company says it is committed to subcontractor and vendor outreach and continuously provides opportunities for firms on both national and international projects – worth knowing for trade contractors trying to get on a bid list.

Hiring runs on two lines: (601) 656-5411 for general enquiries and resumes, (855) 242-1242 for craft positions.

Community involvement shows up too: Yates was named the Red Oak ISD Education Foundation’s 2026 Partner of the Year.