W. M. Jordan Project Manager Austin Tempest has always had a love for construction and South Carolina. With our expansion into Charleston, South Carolina in 2022, Austin has been a key project team member in the area.
A native of South Carolina and a graduate of Virginia Tech, Austin has always been involved in construction, even since he was a kid.
“As a kid I loved skateboarding and ended up designing and building my own skateboard ramps. Before you knew it, ramps I had built were popping up all over my neighborhood,” said Tempest.
Building skate ramps quickly turned into a passion for carpentry which led Austin to work doing siding and trim for a residential construction firm while he was in high school.
After Austin’s internship with W. M. Jordan, he joined us full time, where he spent the next eight years working in our Newport News office. While in Newport News, Austin gained valuable experience working on projects like the Norfolk Hilton Hotel and several Virginia Health Services projects.
Austin and his wife, whose family is from the Charleston area, had always planned to make the move to South Carolina at some point. In 2018 our office in Wilmington, North Carolina began expanding its footprint into the Charleston area, giving Austin and his wife the perfect opportunity to move closer to home while staying in the W. M. Jordan family.
Over the next four years Austin worked on successful projects like Portside at Grande Dunes, The Livano North Charleston, and The Waters at Oakbrook. With Charleston continuing to grow, establishing an office in the city made sense as a next step in W. M. Jordan’s expansion, which lead to establishing W. M. Jordan’s Charleston, South Carolina office in the Spring of 2023.
“In addition to project management, coming to Charleston has allowed me to grow more as a construction professional. Getting to bring the W. M. Jordan culture to Charleston while helping grow our office with people that will give our clients in South Carolina the best experience possible has been a great learning experience for me,” said Tempest. “I’ve learned more about business development and what it takes to bring work into a new office. It is an aspect of construction I have come to enjoy quite a bit. In my opinion construction is the most complex team sport out there.”
Austin currently serves as the Vice President on the Charleston Contractors Association and is a founding member of the Mid-Atlantic Blue Beam User Group.
“The most exciting thing for me about construction is seeing all the new ideas and innovations that are being brought to the table,” said Austin. “Each day is different, and I believe the sky is the limit for W. M. Jordan’s future in Charleston and the Carolinas.”
