Harrington Brothers Focus on Purpose

Jason and Adam Harrington
The Harrington Brothers: Jason ’93 and Adam ’96

For brothers Jason and Adam Harrington of HB Construction, experiencing the fluctuations of the construction industry led to a new and intentional focus for their company: impacting the lives of people, families and communities.

The financial crisis of 2008 brought major setbacks to many industries and companies in New Mexico and across the country, including HB. By 2011 the Albuquerque-based construction company saw revenue drop by 73 percent in one year and was down to 10 employees.

“It was at that point that we committed to building a different type of company,” said HB Construction CEO Jason Harrington ’93. “We used that opportunity to focus on what our purpose was, on our vision and core values.”

“We recognized we were not OK being just another general contractor, that we wanted to have a larger impact on the community,” added CFO Adam Harrington ’96.

With the idea of wider impact in mind, the company defined its purpose: We exist to create opportunities for people, families, and communities to thrive.

“We understand now what we stand for in the community and that makes it easy to make decisions and to make the impact we want to make,” Adam said. 

HB Construction headquarters
HB Construction headquarters

The brothers spoke in February 2022 from their company headquarters near Girard and Monte Vista boulevards, just east of the University of New Mexico campus. The space is modern and industrial but filled with light and warmth. The building was constructed in 1947 as the Logan Hardware Store and later saw life as a state probation and parole office. Renovated by HB to become its headquarters in 2016, the space honors the company’s construction roots with exposed original wooden beams and steel frame, while offering state-of-the-art systems and meeting spaces. 

It’s a different environment from the Taylor Ranch kitchen table from which their parents, Ken and Kathy Harrington, started the company in 1991. Ken, a construction project manager, was ready to stop moving the family around the country from project to project. He wanted to put down roots and start his own construction company. They even pulled their young sons into the conversation and the family business was born. Kathy did the company books at night and took on an educational assistant position with APS to pay the eventual St. Pius X High School tuition.

With investment from Ken’s brothers, they launched HB Construction – the “HB” standing for the original generation of Harrington Brothers.

“It was not some overnight success,” Jason said. “We watched them sacrifice to build the company. They were courageous to sit down and decide to start a construction company.”

A pivotal moment came in 1998 when they landed a contract with Albuquerque Public Schools to build Jimmy Carter Middle School. Steady consistent growth followed up and down the Rio Grande Corridor and into Texas, and HB grew to become one of New Mexico’s largest privately owned construction companies.

Penguin Chill at the ABQ BioPark, a project of HB Construction
Penguin Chill at the ABQ BioPark, a project of HB Construction

They added iconic Albuquerque projects to their portfolio, including Penguin Chill, the award-winning penguin exhibit at the Albuquerque BioPark; the Bernalillo County headquarters Downtown; and the DeAnza Hotel, a historic restoration project on Route 66. 

Today they employ 72 people in Albuquerque, Las Cruces and El Paso. They have been larger and more widespread at times, but they feel strongest now about the impact they are making that allows people, families and communities to thrive. In 2021, Albuquerque Business First honored HB as the #1 Best Place to Work among large companies based on employee surveys.

Since he was a kid riding to job sites with his dad, Jason knew he wanted to work in the construction industry alongside his father. “We would travel with him to projects, and I was in awe of all the people, how much was going on, everyone working together, it was like an orchestra,” Jason said. 

Both Jason and Adam worked as laborers and carpenters for HB, learning the business from the ground up. “That’s a real benefit for us,” Jason said. “We have empathy for people and their roles. We have that experience of knowing the hard parts of each job. We understand the roadblocks and the challenges.”

Bernalillo County at Alvarado Square, a project of HB Construction
Bernalillo County at Alvarado Square, a project of HB Construction

Jason went to New Mexico State University for two years and finished at UNM earning a construction management degree in 1998. By 2005, at age 30, he became CEO of the company.

Adam earned a finance degree from Arizona State University. His path to HB was less direct than Jason’s.  “I wanted to be open to whatever was going to happen,” Adam said. “I majored in finance but didn’t know if that would be in banking or construction or something else.” He spent a year working in banking in Arizona after graduation.

“The best thing in my life was when my father and brother asked me to come and join the company,” said Adam, who went on to earn an MBA at UNM. “I’m very grateful for it.”

“Some people think working with family must be hard, but for us it’s the opposite,” Jason said. “It’s been a large part of our success. We have different skills and mutual respect for those skill sets. It helps us elevate each other. I learn something about finance every day from Adam and he learns something about construction from me.”

When Adam joined HB in 2000, he took over the accounting role his mother had filled since that kitchen table decision in 1991. Their father began his transition out of the company in 2005 when Jason became CEO. 

“They created the opportunity for us to thrive,” Jason said of their parents. “We are blessed to be given this opportunity, and now our duty is to give opportunities to others.”

Added to the impact of jobs and physical structures created, HB has established an endowment fund with the express purpose of creating opportunities. Since 2011 the company sets aside a percentage of profits yearly for the endowment, which gives to causes chosen by employees. Over the last three years, HB has contributed to Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation, Saranam, Big Brothers Big Sisters, United Way, Explora, and YWCA El Paso. Critically, HB ensures that employee volunteering is part of each contribution.

HB project teams also take pride in turning their work, the construction of buildings, into community engagement and giving opportunities. HB recently partnered with project suppliers and subcontractors to donate and install a new playground for the El Paso Armed Services YMCA. Recognizing that job sites can also be opportunities for workforce training and development, HB Superintendents are known to conduct in-depth jobsite tours.

“We’ve seen that giving back has a multiplying effect, and that someone just has to take the first step,” Jason said. “When you can harness the resources and expertise of a construction team, you have a chance to do something really powerful.”

Another opportunity provided by the Harringtons’ parents was a St. Pius X High School education. When Jason started at St. Pius X near their home on the West Side, it initially was the closest, best education option – but it became more. 

“St. Pius was incredibly formative for us,” Jason said. “We saw that people who were smart and striving were celebrated. We recognize St. Pius as pivotal in our lives and credit it with creating the foundation for us to thrive.”

Both Adam and Jason played basketball and ran track, noting the influences of basketball coach Jim Cook ’83 and track coach Jeff Turcotte. 

“It was special,” Adam said. “Pius allowed you to grow and to figure out who you are. It gave me an open path on who I could be and what I could do.” 

“St. Pius is unique because it’s the whole person they’re preparing,” Jason said. “Because of that goodness, discipline and knowledge, they created a whole person foundation that allowed us to thrive.”

The next generation of Harringtons has stepped on campus at SPX – Addison the daughter of Jason and his wife Rebecca became a Sartan in the fall of 2021. They also have a younger daughter Sienna. Adam and his wife Jill are parents to Anthony, Trey, Liam and Elle. 

“Teach me goodness, discipline and knowledge – that didn’t resonate with me until my daughter started her freshman year there,” Jason said. “But that’s literally what they taught us – goodness, discipline and knowledge, in that order, and that makes you successful.”