Regional construction firms and public works shape local projects

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, October 8, 2025

News Summary

Three Baton Rouge-area construction firms and several public programs illustrate how labor, materials and planning are shaping regional building work. A firm that started in 2012 has expanded from multifamily housing into commercial projects; a family-owned contractor is blending long-standing client relationships with modern management tools; and a major electrical contractor has pivoted from oil and gas into large energy and tech projects. Rising material costs are pressuring school budgets, voter-approved road taxes are funding many infrastructure projects, and large energy and data center developments are driving workforce and regional growth.

Construction snapshot: local builders, big contractors and rising costs reshape projects

Summary: Regional builders and a large Baton Rouge contractor are expanding work while school and public projects face material inflation and tariff pressures. The biggest items: Grant Ethridge Construction’s footprint across housing and commercial work; Wesley Construction’s long family history and wide geographic reach; and MMR Group’s rapid growth into energy, semiconductor and data center markets. At the same time, East Baton Rouge Parish school projects and road work funded by a half‑cent MoveEBR tax are being reshaped by higher material costs and shifting budgets.

Top lines — what matters now

Grant Ethridge Construction is active in multifamily, commercial and community work across the Gulf Coast, with a history that began in 2012. Wesley Construction is a family‑run firm started in 1984 that now serves projects in 33 states. MMR Group has grown from oil and gas roots into a nationwide electrical and instrumentation contractor recording record revenue in 2024 and working on megaprojects in LNG, semiconductors and hyperscale data centers. Meanwhile, school construction budgets and road projects are under pressure from rising materials costs and ongoing public commitments.

Grant Ethridge Construction: projects, safety and workforce

Grant Ethridge and Carter Terral are partners in Grant Ethridge Construction (GEC). GEC was founded in 2012. GEC’s original focus was on multifamily new construction and renovations. Commercial construction work followed GEC’s multifamily work. GEC has worked on housing projects including Progress Park and Hollywood Acres. GEC has done work at three Baton Rouge restaurants: Jubans, Soji and BLDG 5.

GEC worked on Les Maison de Bayou Lafourche apartment homes in Lockport. Les Maison de Bayou Lafourche received the first Fortified Gold Multifamily Designation from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. Les Maison de Bayou Lafourche was designed to withstand a Category 3 hurricane. During Hurricane Ida in 2021 (a Category 4 storm), Les Maison de Bayou Lafourche saw minimal damage. Terral and Ethridge take a hands‑on approach and are often found on job sites from Louisiana to Alabama.

Operationally, GEC assigns a field superintendent and a project manager to each project. GEC conducts biweekly owner, architect and contractor meetings for each project to keep all parties informed. GEC uses Procore software for project coordination/management. GEC partnered with Essential Safety Partners to ensure safety remains a company core value and daily practice on every project.

Community and workforce programs are part of GEC’s profile. GEC is the presenting sponsor of the annual Maddie’s Footprints – Footprints Forever 5K race. GEC plays an active role in the annual Maddie’s Footprints fundraising gala. Maddie’s Footprints was founded by GEC General Manager Lori McGrew. Maddie’s Footprints is dedicated to supporting families in the Greater Baton Rouge Area who have experienced the loss of a child. GEC has a company internship program that trains construction management students and develops them into project managers. GEC’s internship program often results in interns receiving permanent positions at GEC. The text states GEC serves as a model for modern construction and development by blending quality, innovation and dedication to community and people. The text characterizes GEC as practicing hands‑on leadership, focusing on safety and investing in the next generation of builders. The text states GEC contributes to the footprint of the Greater Baton Rouge region.

Wesley Construction: heritage, relationships and steady growth

Wesley Construction was started by Steve Wesley in 1984. When the company started in 1984 there were no computers and business records were kept as paper files. Early Wesley Construction checks were written out by hand and business was conducted in person or by telephone. An email address was eventually added to Wesley Construction’s operations. Vice President Bryan Wesley says his dad (Steve Wesley) has never had a computer at his desk.

Bryan Wesley joined the family business in 2019 after working in Houston. When Bryan came into the business he told his dad he didn’t want to change a single thing operationally for the first year. Bryan learned his father’s secret was surrounding himself with a strong team loyal to its clients. One Wesley client was so personally connected to the company they attended Bryan’s kindergarten graduation.

Bryan has added modern touches to Wesley Construction operations, including direct deposit, social media, and Procore construction management software. Wesley Construction is based in Baton Rouge. Wesley Construction has done work in 33 states. Wesley Construction recently finished a project in Eugene, Oregon. Bryan Wesley’s vision for the company’s future is organic growth. Bryan’s stated focus is building lasting client relationships and being the first and only call clients make for new construction, renovations or maintenance. Wesley Construction uses a one‑stop‑shop approach that keeps clients coming back.

Bryan’s most rewarding project has been the renovation of New Orleans’ Roosevelt Hotel. The Roosevelt client also hired Wesley Construction for the Baton Rouge Marriott, Homewood Suites Nashville, the Oregon project and many projects from San Diego to Washington, D.C., and Seattle to Miami. Bryan worked on the Roosevelt project while in high school, doing demolition and carrying drywall. Bryan’s three daughters call The Roosevelt their second home and look forward to the Teddy Bear Tea and iconic lobby lights each Christmas.

Wesley Construction works with local Baton Rouge businesses/organizations including Tumbles kids’ fitness gym, Parkview Baptist School, Ochsner and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. Wesley Construction’s address listed: 10182 Patriot Drive | Baton Rouge 70816. Wesley Construction phone number listed: 225.753.5600. Wesley Construction website listed: wesleyusa.com.

MMR Group: scaling from energy to tech and LNG

James B. “Pepper” Rutland is the founder and CEO of MMR Group. MMR Group is headquartered at a campus on Airline Highway in Baton Rouge. MMR was founded in 1991 by James “Pepper” Rutland, a former LSU linebacker and team captain. MMR is one of the largest privately owned electrical and instrumentation contractors in the U.S. MMR has more than two dozen offices across North America.

MMR’s historical core sector is oil and gas; the company “cut its teeth” in the oil and gas sector. In recent years MMR expanded from energy work into multibillion‑dollar infrastructure projects in the tech sector. MMR’s annual revenue grew by 75% in 2024 to more than $2.3 billion. MMR’s revenue was around $705 million in 2015 (stated as comparison).

MMR has worked on Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass and Plaquemines LNG facilities and on Calcasieu Pass 2 (the latter described as a mega‑project now under construction). Baton Rouge‑based MMR Group was an electrical contractor on the Venture Global Plaquemines LNG project. MMR’s electrical and instrumentation work remains a core part of its business and has grown alongside surging investments in liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals.

MMR has emerged as a major contractor in building AI data centers and the power plants to supply them. MMR is working with Meta on a $10 billion data center planned for north Louisiana, and MMR is working with Entergy on proposals to power that facility. Micron Technology is building a $15 billion complex on the outskirts of Boise, Idaho, to produce semiconductor chips used to store data. Micron turned to Baton Rouge‑based MMR Group to oversee installation of electrical wiring at the Micron Boise complex. The Micron project described is the largest private investment in Idaho’s history (per the Micron paragraph).

MMR recently completed work on a “major hyperscale data center” in Boydton, Virginia. MMR recently completed work on a large‑scale semiconductor facility in the southwestern U.S.; an MMR spokesperson declined to name the firms behind those projects. MMR’s work includes installing millions of feet of wiring and instrumentation that monitors electricity flow. On Chevron’s Big Foot deepwater oil platform, MMR installed 1.7 million feet of cable, 119,000 feet of tubing and approximately 55,000 field terminations.

To help fill the workforce gap, MMR launched MMR University in 2023. MMR University is a two‑year workforce development program that teaches college students the company’s prioritized skills. Demand for skilled craftspeople and project managers continues to outstrip supply, per the MMR reporting. MMR opened a new regional headquarters in Salt Lake City earlier in the month (relative to the article’s timing) to oversee projects in the West and expand its foothold in Utah. Utah is described as a hub for the mining industry and a place where tech firms are building data centers and infrastructure for artificial intelligence.

Public projects: schools, tariffs and MoveEBR roads

Rollover inflation from the pandemic, combined with President Trump’s tariffs on wood and steel, has driven material costs significantly higher. Higher material costs have strained contractor and public official budgets and complicated efficient use of tax dollars. Government‑funded projects are awarded through a bidding process based on estimated costs at the time of the bid.

Judith Anderson is the CSRS Architectural Program Director and oversees contracts for East Baton Rouge Parish Schools. Judith Anderson said they ensure the budget is aligned with the scope of work before starting projects. Unforeseen factors such as tariffs can disrupt initial cost estimates and cause final prices to exceed bid amounts.

Adam Bourgeois is a general contractor with Milton J. Womack, Inc., which works with East Baton Rouge (EBR) Schools. Bourgeois said they are experiencing increases predominantly in wood, cabinets, upholstery, and some raw materials. Bourgeois said roughly a 25% cost increase occurred months ago and they appear to be facing another increase of 10–25%. Bourgeois has over 20 years of experience in the industry. Bourgeois said the tariffs are not something the industry has experienced before and that contractors and suppliers are dealing with the same pressures as clients. Bourgeois said contractors and suppliers must mitigate rising costs together and look for options to lower costs.

Specific school project cost increases cited: Brownfields Elementary was initially bid at $25.1 million in 2023 and now has a budget of $28.9 million. The Baton Rouge Center for Visual and Performing Arts was budgeted at $28.1 million in 2023 and has increased to over $34.4 million. At Banks Elementary, demolition costs rose: in 2021 the East Baton Rouge school system paid $290,000 for similar demolition work; for the current project demolition and remodel costs are expected to exceed $500,000 by completion. Judith Anderson acknowledged inflation has always affected the industry but said the current escalation is unusual. Anderson said managing budgets in the current environment requires careful planning, likening it to personal finances: knowing what you have to spend and what you want and spending as wisely as possible. The full impact of steel tariffs and other economic pressures on school infrastructure projects in East Baton Rouge remains uncertain.

East Baton Rouge Parish voters in 2018 approved a half‑cent sales tax for 71 road projects under the MoveEBR program. MoveEBR was an effort by the city‑parish government to fund badly needed road projects. The sales tax went into effect April 1, 2019. The sales tax will remain in effect until March 31, 2049. Proceeds from the tax can be spent only on the approved list of projects. The MoveEBR construction jobs address new roads, improving traffic flow on existing streets, and adding sidewalks. Some of the original 71 MoveEBR projects were broken into smaller related projects, creating a total list of 139 MoveEBR projects. As of the reporting date, 27 MoveEBR projects have been completed, according to the city‑parish. The most recent MoveEBR project completed had a ribbon‑cutting on August 1 (year not explicitly restated in the excerpt), and was a new two‑lane road from Picardy Avenue to Constantin Boulevard. Ellyn Couvillion is the contact email [email protected] for MoveEBR reporting in the cited piece.

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Key features table

Deeper Dive: News & Info About This Topic

Additional Resources

• Business Report: Wesley Construction — Company Insights
• Wikipedia: Wesley Construction
• Business Report: Grant Ethridge Construction (GEC)
• Google Search: Grant Ethridge Construction
• WAFB: Rising construction costs challenge school projects in East Baton Rouge
• Google Scholar: construction cost inflation schools
• The Advocate: Baton Rouge road projects (MoveEBR)
• Encyclopedia Britannica: MoveEBR
• NOLA: MMR Group expands into data centers, LNG and energy projects
• Google News: MMR Group Baton Rouge

Author: Construction NY News

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