Barnhill Contracting Company

Barnhill Contracting Company is a North Carolina general contractor founded in 1949 and headquartered in Rocky Mount, with roots in Tarboro and offices across the state. The firm self-performs heavy highway and site work alongside building construction, and its portfolio runs from DOT paving and bridge packages to institutional and healthcare buildings. Barnhill is one of three partners on the CM at Risk joint venture delivering the $180 million renovation and expansion of the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, working with Balfour Beatty US and Holt Brothers Construction. The company employs more than 500 people and works primarily in North Carolina and the surrounding Southeast, offering general contracting, construction management, design-build and asphalt production.

Robert E. Barnhill, Sr. started the company in 1949 with surplus army equipment and machinery bought from the government after the Second World War. Inside the business he is still referred to as B1, and the belief the firm attributes to him — the power of people — is the line it still leads with.

The operation splits into two halves. The Civil Group handles site development, asphalt paving and asphalt manufacturing; the Building Group handles commercial construction. Each carries its own North Carolina general contractor licence: No. 3194 for Barnhill Contracting Company and No. 101040 for Barnhill Building Group.

On the building side the service list is more granular than general contracting. Preconstruction covers constructability reviews, permitting, procurement and material selection as well as budget and schedule. Streamline Services is a dedicated team for accelerated work — fast renovations, expansions, additions and core-and-shell projects — which means small jobs are not competing for attention with the large ones. Virtual design and construction is in house. Delivery methods run to CM-at-Risk, CM Agency and design-build.

The civil footprint is the part outsiders underestimate: offices, heavy equipment shops and asphalt plants across eastern North Carolina, from Rocky Mount and Raleigh out to Elizabeth City, Kitty Hawk, Williamston, Greenville, Kinston, New Bern, Jacksonville, Maysville, Wilmington, Castle Hayne, Fayetteville, Roseboro, Lumberton, Rockingham and Princeton. Asphalt is sold at those plants, and the company has recently added milling services.

Recent recognition includes a 2026 ENR Best Projects Award for a DHHS project and a 2025 Pinnacle Award for the Coastal Credit Union project. The firm runs a Constructing the Carolinas podcast, a partnership with the North Carolina Department of Labor, a scholarship programme, and signing events for East Carolina University students joining the Building Group.

The corporate headquarters is at 800 Tiffany Blvd, Suite 200, Rocky Mount, NC 27804, on (252) 823-1021.