The firm of Willis A. Smith Construction, Inc. was established in 1972 by founder Willis A. Smith (Smitty), with a focus on commercial and industrial facility construction. From 1979 to 1999, CEO Leighton W. Hunter greatly contributed to the growth of the company by reinforcing the core principles of our founder, and enabling and encouraging ownership by employees. David E. Sessions joined the company in 1988, became an owner in 1989, CEO and President in 1999, and is now Chairman. John LaCivita joined the company in 1996, became an owner in 2004 and is the President/CEO. Additional senior project managers joined the ownership, and are project executives/shareholders: Taylor Aultman, Nathan Carr, Robbie Gronbach, David Otterness, Brett Raymaker and senior project managers/shareholders, Katie Kominos and Rick Scherzer.
Headquartered in Lakewood Ranch, in a sustainable, USGBC® LEED Gold facility, Willis Smith provides quality planning, construction, and related services to a variety of clients through our staff of talented construction professionals. We provide a full range of services under a variety of contractual approaches, principally construction management and design/build.
At Willis Smith Construction, we believe that people do business with people, not companies. We are consistently recognized as one of the highest quality builders in Florida – a firm that always meets the client’s project schedule. Our successful delivery of construction services comes from the commitment of our experienced, skilled, and dedicated construction professionals striving to provide creative and cost-effective solutions for your construction needs.
The continued growth in our history represents a diligent and focused increase in annual construction volume over 51 years which has brought Willis Smith to its current status as the largest locally owned construction firm in Southwest Florida.