Our People

As President and CEO, Cornelius oversees national operations for GMA Construction Group ensuring projects are properly planned, staffed, and executed. He provides executive oversight of GMA’s corporate operations including winning work, people development, financial management, estimating and preconstruction, safety, and quality.

As Vice President/General Counsel, Erica strategically mitigates legal risk company-wide. She is responsible for negotiating complex agreements, insurance and bond review, compliance with government regulations and reporting requirements, as well as community engagement and small/diverse business and local workforce inclusion.

As Chief Strategy Officer, Patrick sets the strategic direction for GMA’s national operations. He is responsible for identifying opportunities, developing new client relationships, and new project acquisition. Patrick ensures GMA’s projects are staffed appropriately by overseeing the firm’s talent acquisition efforts and managing jobsite assignments.

As Chief Innovation Officer, Kelly is responsible for GMA’s national corporate communications and marketing efforts. She develops and shares the firm’s story through internal and external communications, directs overall brand vision and management, and supports employee engagement/events and community engagement/events.

As Vice President, John provides executive oversight for GMA’s projects in Texas. He ensures projects are planned, staffed, and executed throughout all phases of construction in accordance with the firm’s national standards and operational plans. He is responsible for managing client relationships and identifying opportunities in Texas.

As Chief People Officer, Makuail is responsible for setting and overseeing the execution of GMA’s people strategy providing an all-encompassing view of our most important asset. Markuail is involved in every aspect of the employee experience to maximize each employee’s potential and shape GMA’s corporate personnel values.

As Controller, Ken oversees GMA’s financial performance across projects nationwide. He manages the project accounting team and coordinates and prepares month, quarter, and year-end financial reporting. He works closely with project management staff and project accountants to review cost reporting, P&L, and owner billing to ensure accurate financial statements. He monitors trends and flags any issues and/or outstanding accounts receivable to mitigate financial risk.

As Project Executive – Preconstruction, Sarah leads preconstruction efforts for GMA’s projects nationwide. She leads the estimating department to provide GMA’s clients with accurate budgeting, cost estimates, and cost-saving solutions. She guides the transition of projects from estimating and preconstruction to field operations and facilitates design team collaboration and subcontractor procurement.

As Project Executive, Jessica is responsible for planning, monitoring, and supervising on-site construction for GMA. She leads and manages multiple project teams across GMA’s sectors of work providing valuable guidance during construction including responsibility for budget alignment, schedule achievement, and maintaining client and stakeholder relationships.

As Project Executive, Andy is responsible for planning, monitoring, and supervising on-site construction for GMA. He leads and manages project teams providing valuable guidance during construction including responsibility for budget alignment, schedule achievement, and maintaining client and stakeholder relationships.

As Project Executive, Saar is responsible for planning, monitoring, and supervising on-site construction for GMA. He leads and manages project teams providing valuable guidance during construction including responsibility for budget alignment, schedule achievement, and maintaining client and stakeholder relationships.

As Labor Superintendent, Carl is responsible for overseeing GMA’s laborers for all projects in Illinois. Carl trains and manages self-perform field personnel ensuring projects are staffed appropriately according to the requirements of the schedule. He is also responsible for managing and tracking inventory at GMA’s warehouse. He coordinates daily with the on-site project management team to ensure each site has the required labor, equipment, and materials required for the work to be performed.

As Safety Director, Mike is responsible for ensuring GMA’s safety culture of “Zero Accidents” is achieved across projects nationwide. He collaborates with job-site project management teams and engages with tradespeople to minimize the frequency of injuries through implementation of GMA’s Corporate Safety Plan and compliance with all requirements for job-site specific safety concerns. Mike ensures safety is planned into each phase of a project and provides comprehensive safety training and awareness for team members.

As Director of QA/QC and Constructability, Vince champions quality across GMA projects nationwide overseeing implementation of the project-specific QA/QC Plan and training staff on quality management. Vince provides constructability reviews to identify potential efficiency issues, confirm the feasibility of the design, provide alternative solutions, and mitigate cost, schedule, quality, and safety risk during construction. He works collaboratively with stakeholders to ensure the plans achieve the desired outcome.