Harper and Sons

What Harper and Sons does

Harper & Sons, Inc. is a family-owned general contracting firm headquartered in Easton, Maryland, operating since 1968 across three generations of the Harper family. The company delivers construction services throughout Maryland and Delaware on the Delmarva Peninsula, serving private, public, and non-profit clients across healthcare, education, government, aviation, community, commercial, and residential segments. Its documented bonding capacity reaches $13 million on a single project and over $20 million across simultaneous projects, supporting execution of mid-sized institutional and commercial work.

The firm's service portfolio is organized around three delivery methods — General Contracting, Design-Build, and Construction Management with Guaranteed Maximum Price — supplemented by specialized expertise in healthcare, aviation, education, community, pre-engineered metal buildings, multi-family, and residential construction. Notable technical capabilities include occupied-facility renovations (demonstrated at Compass Regional Hospice and Choptank Community Health), historic restoration (St Michaels Community Center, Ridgely Train Station), and pre-engineered metal building construction for aviation clients. The firm self-performs demolition, framing, trim, doors, custom shelving, and site work through in-house tradesmen, while assembling subcontractor teams for larger or specialty scopes. The website showcases projects extending through 2026, and the firm has completed more than 600 projects over its 55+ year history.

Harper & Sons generates project-based revenue through competitive bidding and negotiated contracts, with no publicly disclosed pricing given the custom nature of each project. Go-to-market is exclusively direct-to-client via field/enterprise sales across the Delmarva region, supported by a project portfolio website and success-story content rather than digital advertising. The firm is privately held with no external institutional investors, no funding rounds, and no disclosed revenue. Current leadership comprises Stephen H. Harper as President, Benson Harper as Vice President overseeing pre-construction and project management, and Lee Harper managing on-site construction operations.

Name

Harper and Sons

Legal name

Harper & Sons, Inc.

Website

https://harperandson.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Harper & Sons is a family-owned general contractor founded in 1968 in Easton, Maryland, serving private, public, and non-profit clients across Maryland and Delaware through General Contracting, Design-Build, and Construction Management delivery methods with specializations in healthcare, aviation, education, and historic restoration.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Kahoka

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. General Contracting Services: Project-based revenue from general contracting services where the company takes projects from groundbreaking to occupancy permit. Services include careful estimating and proposal preparation, project management, building trades services, and quality control. Revenue is earned through competitive bid and negotiated contracts.
2. Design-Build Services: Single-organization design and construction services where Harper & Sons manages all design and construction stages. Provides cost and constructability insight throughout design process, reducing risk of time and cost overruns to clients.
3. Construction Management Services: Construction Manager (CM) services where the company works with Owner and A/E during pre-construction phase and provides a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for the project. Handles bidding services and subcontractor selection on behalf of the owner.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Harper & Sons is a family-owned general contractor delivering construction services across the Delmarva Peninsula through three primary delivery methods — General Contracting, Design-Build, and Construction Management (with Guaranteed Maximum Price). The firm self-performs key trades and manages qualified subcontractors to execute complex commercial, institutional, healthcare, aviation, education, community, residential, and pre-engineered metal building projects for private, public, and non-profit clients.

Product overview

Harper & Sons is a family-owned general contracting company offering a unified suite of construction services organized around three delivery methods: General Contracting, Design-Build, and Construction Management. These core services are supplemented by specialized project type expertise including Healthcare, Aviation, Education, Community, Pre-Engineered Buildings, Multi-family Residential, Residential, and Commercial construction. The company self-performs demolition, framing, trim, doors, custom shelving, site work, and maintains skilled tradesmen capable of general construction tasks from demolition to fine carpentry. They have assembled a team of qualified subcontractors for large, complicated, or fast-tracked construction projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• General Contracting Comprehensive construction contracting services for private, public, and non-profit clients across Maryland and Delaware, managing projects from initial field preparation through occupancy permit completion. The firm provides estimating, project management, building trades self-perform, quality control, and subcontractor oversight.
• Design-Build Services Single-source design and construction services where Harper & Sons manages all project phases — schematics, design development, construction documents, cost estimating, permitting, construction, and closeout — providing cost and constructability insight throughout design to reduce time and cost overrun risk for the owner.
• Construction Management Construction manager services under which Harper & Sons engages the Owner and A/E during the pre-construction phase to provide a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP), and then handles bidding services and subcontractor selection on behalf of the owner.
• Healthcare Construction Specialized construction of healthcare facilities including medical simulation laboratories, community health centers, hospice facilities, and medical office buildings with complex MEP systems, medical gas vacuum/oxygen systems, bariatric and pediatric exam rooms, dental wings, and ADA and infection-control compliance during occupied renovations.
• Aviation Construction Construction of aviation facilities including T-hangars, corporate hangars, drone hangars, AWOS towers, and airport apron development with associated site utilities, sewer pump stations, and three-phase electrical service.
• Education Construction Educational facility construction and renovation including university buildings, libraries, medical simulation laboratories, refrigeration plant replacements, and other campus infrastructure improvements.
• Community Construction Construction of community facilities including historic restorations, train stations, town halls, fire departments, and community centers, with expertise in period-correct material salvage and code-compliance reconciliation on aging structures.
• Pre-Engineered Building Construction Construction of pre-engineered metal buildings including aviation hangars, storage facilities, crew buildings, and commercial structures.
• Multi-family Residential Construction Multi-family residential construction and renovation including townhouse developments, apartment complexes, and senior housing, with full site development. Demonstrated at Chatham Village (68 units) and Calvin Mowbray & Stephen Camper Park (190 units).
• Residential Construction Custom residential construction and renovation including additions, single-family homes, and historic home restorations.
• Commercial Construction Commercial construction including retail facilities, office buildings, distribution centers, and manufacturing facilities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 600 projects completed for private, public, and non-profit clients over 55+ years
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Gilbane Building Company: Large privately held general contractor with strong Mid-Atlantic presence serving education, healthcare, and public-sector clients. Comparable to Harper & Sons in target end-markets and design-build delivery capabilities, but at significantly larger scale and geographic reach.
• Holder Construction Company: National general contractor with regional offices serving commercial, healthcare, aviation, and institutional clients. Comparable to Harper & Sons in delivery methods and end-market focus, particularly around complex occupied renovations and aviation facilities.
• Clark Construction Group: Bethesda, MD-based general contractor with deep Mid-Atlantic presence across commercial, healthcare, education, and aviation. Comparable because it competes for the same institutional and design-build projects in Maryland and Delaware that form Harper & Sons' core market, though at materially larger scale.
• Whiting-Turner Contracting Company: One of the largest Mid-Atlantic-based general contractors, headquartered in Baltimore, MD, operating across healthcare, education, aviation, and commercial. Comparable to Harper & Sons because both serve institutional and commercial clients in Maryland and the broader Mid-Atlantic, but Whiting-Turner is a national-scale incumbent competing for many of the same public-sector and design-build opportunities.
• Manhattan Construction Company: Large privately held general contractor serving commercial, healthcare, education, aviation, and sports clients across multiple regions. Comparable to Harper & Sons in delivery methods and several end-markets (aviation, healthcare, education), but at much larger scale and broader geographic footprint.
• Barton Malow Company: Large regional general contractor active across healthcare, education, aviation, and commercial construction in the Mid-Atlantic and beyond. Comparable because it overlaps directly with Harper & Sons' healthcare, education, and aviation specializations, while operating as a broader incumbent with much greater scale.

Direct peers

• Wohlsen Construction Company: Family-owned regional general contractor founded in 1890, headquartered in Lancaster, PA, serving the Mid-Atlantic with general contracting, design-build, and construction management across healthcare, education, senior living, and commercial. Closely comparable to Harper & Sons in business model, family ownership structure, regional Mid-Atlantic focus, and project-type mix.
• Warfel Construction Company: Family-owned regional general contractor based in East Petersburg, PA, delivering construction management and design-build across healthcare, education, senior living, and commercial in the Mid-Atlantic. Directly comparable to Harper & Sons as a similarly sized family-owned GC with overlapping healthcare/education focus and similar bonding-tier project sizes.
• Howard Shockey & Sons: Family-owned general contractor based in Winchester, VA, with more than a century of history serving the Mid-Atlantic in commercial, institutional, healthcare, and historic construction. Directly comparable to Harper & Sons in family ownership, regional Mid-Atlantic positioning, design-build delivery, and historic/adaptive-reuse expertise.
• Wagman Construction: Family-owned heavy civil and general contractor based in York, PA, operating across Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and DC. Comparable to Harper & Sons as a similarly structured family-owned Mid-Atlantic GC with overlapping institutional and public-sector client base, though Wagman has a heavier mix of civil/infrastructure work.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/people/Harper-Sons-Inc/100054580473853/?paipv=0&eav=AfaYaTh2zCimHEEngCor5GBgAAKd-QvfX15I_FfNHHw5VpVtIt5fpPOppXC_olJEyAc&_rdr

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Harper and Sons