September 22, 2025

Aaron Gregory was still a student at East Mississippi Community College nearly two decades ago when he launched his construction company, Gregory Construction. Since that time, the company has grown into a successful civil construction enterprise with nearly 300 employees performing dozens of projects each year in many states.

While the company’s focus is on the Southeast, its reach extends to the Midwest and Southwest United States.

The company’s headquarters is in Columbus, with offices in Virginia and Huntsville, Alabama, and more on the horizon. 

“We have crews working on mega projects all over the country,” Gregory said. “These are high-paced, high-demand projects that are intense.”

The company’s client list includes federal agencies, many blue-chip companies and numerous top- tier general contractors in the U.S.

Past projects run the gamut from infrastructure and heavy civil construction work on the University of Alabama’s Bryant Denny Stadium to a mass concrete basin for a power generation facility in Cartersville, Georgia, and the installation of more than 15 miles of electrical and communications duct bank for a new data center in Huntsville. 

Projects local to the Golden Triangle include multiple road and infrastructure improvements at Mississipp i State University, taxiway and parking work at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport, and renovations to Columbus Air Force Base Hospital.

A New Hope native, in his elementary school years, Gregory attended Immanuel Center for Christian Education, which is today Columbus Christian Academy. He was homeschooled in grades seven through 12 and was dual enrolled at Mississippi University for Women in his junior and senior years.

During high school Gregory worked almost full-time in his father’s construction company. He knew he wanted to start his own construction business, but realized he would need some foundational business courses, such as accounting.

After high school, he enrolled at EMCC in the Engineering Technology, Drafting & Design program.

“EMCC was right there, and it was convenient,” Gregory said. “The class schedules were what really sealed the deal for me. I was able to still work and fit my classes around my schedule. That turned out really well. I don’t recall if I was able to get a full scholarship at but it was very close to it if not.”

While still at EMCC, he decided to take the leap and launch his own construction business, with a focus on civil construction. The company started out small but quickly shot up to about 30 employees. In 2009-10, during the Great Recession triggered by the collapse of the housing bubble, “It was all we could do to keep 10 guys busy,” Gregory said.

“After that we pivoted and started looking at diversifying both geographically and in what we did with our business,” he said.

The company expanded — seeking and landing jobs in other states — while adding a building division and another division in heavy concrete construction. The company spent years offering a wide range of construction services, including renovations, but Gregory discovered that it was difficult to be a jack of all trades.

“I realized what we really needed to focus on was being the best at what my passion is and that is being an expert in complex civil projects,” Gregory said.

The company specializes in installing underground utilities, both wet — water supply lines, sewage systems and stormwater — and dry — electricity, natural gas, telecommunications and internet — for large projects.

Gregory Construction has its own surveyors and design technicians, and the company’s heavy machinery is equipped with Intelligent Machine Control, which utilizes satellites and 3D designs to pinpoint exact digging locations.

Gregory credits the company’s growth to “to honor God, serve others, pursue excellence and grow profitability … in that order.”

 Gregory said at first, he struggled with how to incorporate his faith and business until he connected with C12 Business Forums, a peer-advisory organization for Christian CEOs, executives and business owners. Gregory said the organization “truly transformed how I look at business and ministry.”

“We see our business as a ministry,” he said. “We may be the only gospel that our employees see. We may be the only gospel that our vendors see. We may be the only gospel that our client sees. And so how we carry ourselves as a company is hugely important. And so that's why, if you look at our core values, they are biblically based.”

Gregory said the company is not a Christian company, but a for-profit business with employees of differing faiths.

“The thought is that there is no Christian principle that is bad for people,” he said. “If you want to leave the religious part to the side, fine. But the values and the mission are still on point, which is to have personal growth and respect for others and respect for what they are doing.”

Part of the company’s philosophy revolves around serving others through “Gregory Cares,” an employee-led team in which employees support charities and nonprofits through monetary donations or by participating in service projects. Organizations the company has supported include Palmer Home for Children, Sanctuary Hospice, Relay for Life and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, to name a few.

Part of the company’s mission includes working diligently to take care of employees and treat them fairly, Gregory said.

“We work hard to maintain that atmosphere and that environment,” he said. “That creates a wonderful place for people to work. I have team members who have been with us since the beginning. One of the first employees who came to work for me is still with me today, and we’ve got several employees who have been with us 12 to 15 years, so that is a cool accomplishment.”