Thirty-seven years ago, Carolyn Morrison was working in the struggling real estate industry when she was laid off. Her job hunt led to the construction field, and she’s been here ever since.
Carolyn started working in the concrete paving division at E.V. Williams in Hampton, Virginia, as a receptionist in 1982. She performed miscellaneous administrative work until Branch Civil (formerly Branch Highways) purchased the company in 1997. At that point, Carolyn saw a different side of the industry. Her duties remained the same, but she started working with many different people, including project managers, people out in the field, subcontractors, and the Virginia Department of Transportation.
“I’ve always done administration work, but when Branch bought us, I was exposed to the construction world and had to learn how the projects operated. The people I’ve worked with through the years helped educate me on what’s happening in the field,” said Carolyn.
Now that she’s been in the industry for more than 30 years, Carolyn thinks the biggest misconception is people think “it’s only construction.”
“I know that sounds weird, but when you tell someone that you work for a construction company, they’re like ‘oh.’ They don’t understand what detail goes into constructing a road or doing earthwork,” said Carolyn. “People don’t know everything that’s involved in the process from start to finish.”
She currently works behind the scenes as Project Clerk Manager. Every job has a clerk assigned to it, and they assist with timesheet information, purchase orders, reports, and other clerical duties. Carolyn has jobs of her own and coordinates with the clerks at other Branch Civil offices to ensure everything stays consistent throughout the company.
While it’s hard for Carolyn to describe what she has accomplished in the last 37 years, she is proud of how much she has grown.
“Even if it’s small, I experience something new every day. My biggest accomplishment is how I’ve been able to adapt over the years. I’ve changed with maturity, but I also think the people I work with have made a difference,” said Carolyn. “When people give you their time and help to educate you, it makes you want to be a better person to prove that you haven’t wasted their time.”
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Branch Civil roots itself in a longstanding tradition of serving the transportation and infrastructural needs between and within communities throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast United States. The company’s history of planting, cultivating, and growing transparent, professional relationships with its clients has established Branch Civil as a respected name within the civil construction industry of our regions.
Branch Civil offers a dynamic range of services, including heavy civil construction, design-build, and site development. If you’d like to learn more about a career in construction with Branch Civil, please visit branchcivil.com/careers.
For more information about The Branch Group, please visit branchgroup.com.
