San Diego’s Amazing Barnhart Family

Doug Barnhart (left) has a passion for building and philanthropy — qualities carried on by his daughter, Tami Barnhart-Reese, and son-in-law West Reese, shown outside a Barnhart project, the Makina Medical Center. (Photo by Pam Davis)

The Relaunch of an Iconic

Building Industry Dynasty

into Barnhart-Reese Construction

Staff Report

Since 1983, Doug Barnhart – and the Barnhart family – have become synonymous with a portrait of a San Diego construction, civic and philanthropic leader. Barnhart built Douglas E. Barnhart Inc., along with his wife, Nancy – and later his daughter, Tami Barnhart-Reese, and son-in-law West Reese, into a vivid example of construction industry leadership. 

During Barnhart’s ownership of the construction company that bared his name, he oversaw large, iconic San Diego projects including Petco Park; the Terminal 2 expansion at Lindbergh Field; the then San Diego Chargers Training Facility; SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium; SDSU’s College of Arts & Letters; the USD Shiley Theater Renovation; Poway City Hall; Coronado Country Club; Viejas Casino, and the San Diego Supercomputer Center. 

The Early Years

Barnhart’s passion for building was borne from his academics and his service in the U.S. Navy. Doug and Nancy came from families in the oil and ranching business in West Texas where Barnhart’s graduating high school class consisted of just 32 students in Merkel, Texas. After high school, Barnhart joined the ROTC Navy Program at Texas Tech University while earning a degree in civil engineering. Upon graduating, Barnhart was sent on his first tour of duty in Vietnam where he would stay for an entire year serving as damage control officer and as engineering officer on the USS Luzern County.  Upon returning from the war zone, Barnhart was assigned duties as enlisted programs officer at Naval Recruiting Command San Francisco. From there he was assigned to the Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme, and finally as assistant resident officer in Charge of Construction San Diego where he oversaw construction of Naval facilities at NAS North Island, NAB Coronado and Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach.  It was during the tours at Port Hueneme and San Diego where he gained in-depth experience in building construction and contracting. 

Early on in the development of Douglas E. Barnhart Inc., Doug and Nancy had two young daughters, Tara and Tami, who were often with their parents in their Rancho Bernardo office between school and sports activities. 

 “Even with a busy schedule building the business, my parents rarely missed, if ever, an important school or track event during all the years throughout my elementary, high school or college activities,” said Tami Barnhart-Reese.

After graduating from the University of San Diego, and working at two local public relations firms, Tami began working full time for Douglas E. Barnhart, Inc., while Tara earned her teaching degree from Whittier College and began a teaching career in the Los Angeles area. 

The company grew quickly, establishing numerous branch offices in California and Texas, enabling continuous growth. From its Rancho Bernardo headquarters, Barnhart continued to expand upon its portfolio of building educational facilities throughout the Southwestern United States, including many locally: colleges and faculty/staff buildings for San Diego State University; University of San Diego’s Colachis Plaza; Lincoln High School, and Westview High School. 

A privately-held company, Barnhart Inc. was governed by a seven-member board of directors, three of whom were women. Glynna Hoekstra, a former Barnhart vice president and project manager, reflected on her nearly 15-year career at Douglas E. Barnhart Inc.: “Doug and Nancy focused on creating a work environment that embraced family values and work ethic,” said Hoekstra. “It also was not common that women were given leadership opportunities in the construction industry, which is something that the Barnhart’s gave to me. They took a chance on me, allowing me to have a long and meaningful career as a woman in a typically male-dominated industry.” 

Building Inclusion and Community

It was a common site to see Tami and Tara Barnhart in the office, and later working summer school sessions as interns in the office. A theme that also permeated throughout the workplace was a philosophy of, “It’s not the person or company, it’s about the project and what it does for the community,” according to Doug Barnhart. In that spirit, Barnhart contributed time, labor and materials to build many projects for nonprofit organizations throughout the region, including The Ronald McDonald House, Becky’s House, and the San Diego Center for Children.  Most recently, the family donated funding and built the Douglas and Nancy Barnhart Sharp Chula Vista Cancer Center; provided the basic funding for the Scripps Mercy Robotic Surgery Suites; and donated funds to establish the Douglas Barnhart Athletic Rehabilitation Center at the University of California San Diego. “These projects are what we are most proud of in our portfolio because they provide food for the soul and shelter for the spirit,” Barnhart said.  “I get a lot of credit for the nonprofit charitable projects but deserve very little of it. I had a lot of help from business partners, Barnhart employees and others in the community.” 

Change, Transition and Legacy

In 2008, after 25 years of building Douglas E. Barnhart Inc., the company was sold to Balfour Beatty Construction Company, with a five-year agreement that included the Barnhart name in Barnhart Balfour Beatty. After the sale of Barnhart Inc., Tami and West Reese founded J. Reese Construction, named after their first-born son, Jake. “My father built a work ethic within our family values that both West and I wanted to emulate,” said Tami Barnhart-Reese. Over the next five years, Tami and West began building on that legacy as J. Reese Construction, with controlled growth and a family-oriented environment. After the expiration of the limitations of use of the Barnhart name in the construction industry, J. Reese Construction was re-named Barnhart-Reese Construction Inc., (BRC) with Doug Barnhart serving as chairman of the board. Running the day-to-day operations of BRC are West Reese as CEO, and Tami Barnhart-Reese as president. 

Tami and West say that their boys, 15 and 10, are present in the office during the summer and between numerous academic and sports activities, but that it’s too early to say whether or not they will someday join the family business, preferring to leave that decision to them after their individual academic paths are completed. 

West Reese, a University of California San Diego graduate, previously worked as vice president for fixed equipment assets for Barnhart Inc. before founding J. Reese Construction with his wife. “I grew up in a tight-knit family as well, and after working for Barnhart Inc. prior to the sale, it seemed a natural fit for Tami and me to begin our own style of the Barnhart legacy,” Reese said. “It’s an understatement to say that I’ve learned so much from my father-in-law; he’s shown us the ropes and is a beacon for BRC from which to measure our path forward and success.” 

For decades, the Barnhart family has been active in civic and philanthropic activities in San Diego. Today, Doug Barnhart serves as a commissioner on the county of San Diego’s Planning Commission and was a governor’s appointee and past chairman of the California Contractors State License Board, a former commissioner of the California Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Commission, chairman of the Qualcomm Stadium Board, president of the Associated General Contractors Association at the local and national levels, and board member of the 22nd Agricultural District which oversees the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

 “Doug and his family have been a positive contributing factor to so many important San Diego public endeavors as leaders not only on the job, but behind the scenes,” said Abdur Rahim Hameed, national president of the Black Contractors Association. “Barnhart has given our members so many contracting opportunities throughout the years with symbols of success such as Petco Park, and the (San Diego Convention Center) Sails Pavilion. The business and economic impacts to the African-American community have been immeasurable.”

While West and Tami saw the success of Barnhart Inc. built over many years, they are committed to balancing family and work, while steadily growing Barnhart-Reese Construction over the next generation in a “thoughtful, meaningful way.”

 “We intend to grow BRC organically and systematically, with core values that focus on the benefits of a San Diego-based firm providing construction services that can’t be matched by large firms from outside our region,” said West Reese. 

In 2018, Barnhart-Reese completed approximately $36.5 million in projects, including UC San Diego’s new warehouse facility; Naval Base San Diego’s renovation of two buildings; a 10,027-square-foot Social Hall; and a 944-square-foot extension to the exterior of St. Demiana Christian Church of San Diego’s Del Sur campus; a project for Homeland Security; and improvements to Grossmont Union High School District’s Mt. Miguel High School. The company also has an additional $120 million under contract for 2019, including projects for Naval Base Point Loma, barrack renovations for NAS North Island and work at Marine Corps Base Barstow.

Local architectural firm Delawie has partnered on numerous projects with Barnhart over many years. “It is great to see that, after the sale of their original company, Barnhart – and now Barnhart-Reese – will remain a mainstay for the construction industry in San Diego,” said Delawie principal Mike Asaro. “Their design-build experience and expertise has led us to partner with them in a way that ultimately maximizes design features with cost savings for our clients.”

Other notable projects built by Barnhart-Reese include: Bayside Fire Station #2 for the city of San Diego; Hawthorne Cat Dynamometer Test Center; UCSD Spanos Athletic Performance Center; Olivenhain Municipal Water District Operations Maintenance Facility; Donovan Correctional Facility Health Care Administration Building; and Skyline Hills Branch Library for the city of San Diego, which won a National Design-Build Institute of America Award, as well as an AGC Build America Award. Among the medical facilities BRC has constructed are the Makena Medical Center – Escondido; Sharp Cancer Center at Chula Vista; Sharp Parking Structure at Chula Vista; Sharp Flower Hill Medical Offices in Del Mar; Neurology Center of Southern California Medical Offices; and Makena Medical Center –Temecula. 

While it took two decades to build the original Barnhart Construction into a $700 million company, it appears that with Barnhart-Reese Construction well underway, it will prove that the Barnhart family will once again be an important part of building a San Diego-based, family-owned business.