What Mills Construction does

Mills Construction, Inc. is a privately held, family-owned general contracting firm headquartered in Brookings, South Dakota, with a branch office in Madison, SD. Founded in 1949 by Harvey Mills, the firm has operated continuously for 75+ years and is currently 100% owned by Randy and Stacey Hanson. It delivers three core service lines — Design-Build, Construction Management, and General Contracting — through in-house architectural design capability combined with self-performed construction elements, allowing it to offer single-contract, single-point responsibility for design and construction. The company serves commercial, industrial, institutional, educational, healthcare, religious, and multi-unit residential clients across a 75-mile radius in eastern South Dakota.

The firm has no proprietary software or technology platform; its competitive position rests on in-house architectural capability, self-perform construction, a multi-generational workforce with deep regional relationships, and a portfolio of nationally and regionally recognized projects (including the 2016 AGC Build America Award and 2024 Build South Dakota Award). Project delivery is custom and bid-based, with no standardized pricing tiers and no public revenue disclosure. Customer acquisition is direct via competitive bidding, repeat client relationships, and professional association memberships (AGC of SD, SD AIA, Brookings Chamber of Commerce).

Operationally, Mills Construction is structured around approximately seven smaller teams, with about 17 named employees on the public team page spanning leadership, project management, field supervision, finance, and administrative roles; broader firmographic headcount is reported in the 101-250 range, implying a sizable field workforce not individually profiled online. Recent activity includes recognition as the firm executes what its president has described as the largest project in company history (Trails Head), the addition of multiple team members since 2021, and ongoing awards recognition for safety and design-build execution.

Name

Mills Construction

Legal name

Mills Construction Inc.

Website

https://buildwithmills.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1949

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Mills Construction is a family-owned general contractor founded in 1949 in Brookings, South Dakota, delivering Design-Build, Construction Management, and General Contracting services to commercial, industrial, institutional, educational, healthcare, and residential clients across eastern South Dakota.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brookings

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. General Contracting Services: Traditional general contracting services for construction projects including design-build, construction management, and general contracting. Revenue generated through project-based fees for commercial, industrial, and institutional construction across eastern South Dakota.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Mills Construction is a full-service general contracting firm that delivers commercial, industrial, educational, healthcare, religious, agricultural, and residential construction projects across eastern South Dakota. The company sells three core project delivery services — Design-Build, Construction Management, and General Contracting — providing integrated design, engineering, and self-performed construction under single or split contracts to public and private project owners.

Product overview

Mills Construction is a full-service general contracting firm offering three core construction service delivery methods: Design-Build, Construction Management, and General Contracting. The company, established in 1949, serves eastern South Dakota with offices in Brookings and Madison. Design-Build provides combined design and construction services under a single contract; Construction Management involves early partnership with owners during design phases for cost and quality optimization; and General Contracting allows the company to self-perform key project elements. The company works across sectors including commercial, industrial, agricultural, educational, healthcare, religious, and residential construction projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Design-Build Services Integrated project delivery method that combines architectural and engineering design services with construction performance under a single contract agreement, providing single-point responsibility for design and construction. Delivers price certainty through Guaranteed Maximum Price packaging and transfers design and construction risk from owner to the design-build entity.
• Construction Management Pre-construction and construction-phase management service in which Mills Construction partners with the owner early in the design phase as construction manager and general contractor. Includes examining alternate materials and systems for cost, quality, and availability, performing constructability reviews, and providing value engineering suggestions.
• General Contracting Traditional single-contract general contracting service for commercial, industrial, institutional, educational, healthcare, religious, agricultural, and residential projects. Mills Construction self-performs key elements of projects to keep costs low and quality high.

Quantifiable outcome

• Price certainty during design phase through Guaranteed Maximum Price Package
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Associated General Contractors of South Dakota (AGC) Building ChaptercoreOthersProfessional association membership providing industry networking, awards recognition (AGC Build South Dakota Awards, Safety Excellence Awards), and industry peer connections.
• Brookings Chamber of CommercecoreOthersLocal business association membership providing community engagement and business recognition opportunities including Business of the Month awards.
• South Dakota Home Builders AssociationminorOthersState association membership for residential construction industry connection.
• Brookings Builders Regional AssociationminorOthersLocal builders association for regional industry networking.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Gilbane Building Company: Providence-based national general contractor with deep design-build experience and a portfolio spanning education, healthcare, and industrial markets — comparable delivery model and end-market focus to Mills Construction.
• Holder Construction: Atlanta-based national general contractor with deep design-build expertise in commercial, healthcare, and institutional building — comparable integrated delivery model to Mills Construction at much larger scale.
• Barton Malow: Southfield, Michigan-based national construction firm serving commercial, education, healthcare, and industrial markets with design-build capabilities — comparable service portfolio and Midwest operational footprint.
• Turner Construction: New York-based national general contractor with extensive healthcare, education, and commercial building practices — overlapping end markets with Mills Construction though operating at national scale.
• Walsh Construction: Chicago-based general contractor and construction manager with a strong Midwest presence and significant healthcare, education, and institutional building work — comparable service mix to Mills Construction with broader geographic reach.
• McCarthy Building Companies: St. Louis-based national general contractor with extensive healthcare, education, and industrial building practices — overlapping with Mills Construction's core verticals while operating across multiple U.S. regions.
• Mortenson Construction: Minneapolis-headquartered national general contractor with strong Midwest roots and significant design-build capabilities across healthcare, education, and industrial sectors — directly comparable verticals to Mills Construction but operating at national scale.
• JE Dunn Construction: Kansas City-headquartered national general contractor with strong design-build delivery and a Midwest regional base — directly comparable service mix (commercial, healthcare, education, industrial) to Mills Construction at substantially greater scale.

Direct peers

• Henry Carlson Company: Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based general contractor with a comparable portfolio of commercial, healthcare, education, and industrial projects in the same regional market as Mills Construction.
• Journey Group Companies: Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based construction group providing general contracting and construction management services across commercial, industrial, and institutional sectors in the same eastern South Dakota market as Mills Construction.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/buildwithmills
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mills-construction-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mills Construction