Sampson Construction

Sampson Construction is a family-owned general contractor based in Lincoln, Neb., and it’s been building for more than 70 years, starting out as a local residential builder before moving into commercial work. John Sampson is chairman and Dan Vokoun is president. The company runs offices in Lincoln, Papillion and Kearney in Nebraska, Johnstown and Denver in Colorado, and Casper, Wyo., with more than 315 employees and completed projects in 18 states. It works as construction manager, design-bid-build contractor and design-builder on schools, healthcare, civic, industrial, parking and mixed-use jobs. The City of Lincoln picked Sampson in November 2025 as construction manager for the new Central Library at Education Square, now a $58.8 million conversion designed by MSR Design and BVH Architecture.

A small projects team is the detail worth noticing

Plenty of general contractors of Sampson Construction’s size quietly stop answering the phone for a 2,000 square foot tenant fit-out. Sampson lists a Small Projects Team as a named service alongside construction management, design-bid-build and design-build, which means renovations and minor work are staffed deliberately rather than squeezed between large jobs.

The company reports offices in Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming, a workforce of over 315 employees, and projects completed in 18 states, with more than seven decades of construction experience behind it.

The market list shows where that experience sits: athletic and recreation facilities, community and cultural buildings, corporate campuses, healthcare, higher education, industrial and manufacturing, K-12 education, military and law enforcement, mixed use and retail, parking structures, renovations, and residential communities. Public institutional work and private development both appear, which is a different risk profile from a contractor that lives on one or the other.

On quality, the firm’s language is unusually blunt: quality is an uncompromising standard, every completed building is part of the portfolio, and there are no degrees of quality. It extends that to responsibility for quality, lifespan and functionality over the long term, not just handover, and says it treats clients’ budgets and business needs as its own.

Leadership is family-linked and deep. John Sampson is chairman, with Cori Sampson Vokoun and Dan Vokoun as president, alongside an executive vice president and vice presidents heading healthcare, education, general counsel and finance. For an owner, that structure means a sector specialist rather than a generalist account manager.

The company frames its pitch around partnership rather than low bid: a partner shares the vision, collaborates, problem solves and stays invested in the detail. It also states the flexibility to complete projects anywhere in the country regardless of size, scope, budget or complexity.

The Lincoln headquarters anchors the operation. Sources: sampson-construction.com homepage, About and Services pages.