Thomas & Hutton Marks 80 Years of Growth, Leadership, and Community Impact
Five years can change a company considerably. When Thomas & Hutton (T&H) celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2021, the firm had 13 offices and was guided by its fifth generation of leadership. Today, T&H enters its 80th year with 19 offices across six states, expanded capabilities through two strategic mergers, and a sixth generation of leaders shaping what comes next.
Founded in Savannah, Georgia, in 1946, T&H began by providing surveying, water, and wastewater services. Over eight decades, the firm has changed its tools, technology, and reach, but the work still begins in much the same way in understanding a place, listening to a client, solving a problem, and following through.
Today, T&H brings together multidisciplinary teams supporting land development, infrastructure, and growing communities throughout the Southeast. Growth has strengthened T&H’s ability to combine local insight with firmwide expertise and resources.
Five Years of Strategic Growth
Since 2021, T&H has expanded from 13 to 19 offices across Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida.
That growth includes two strategic mergers with established professional engineering firms. In 2022, Coulter Jewell Thames, PA (CJT) joined T&H, strengthening the firm’s presence and capabilities in North Carolina. In 2025, Orlando-based Florida Engineering Group (FEG) joined T&H, marking the firm’s entry into Florida and expanding its geographic footprint into a sixth state.
T&H also continued to grow organically in markets where clients, projects, and long-term opportunities created demand for a local presence. The firm opened an Augusta, Georgia, office in 2024, followed by offices in Statesboro, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; and Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2025.
Each new location brings new colleagues, relationships, and local knowledge into One Company. Teams in individual markets can draw on expertise across disciplines, offices, and state lines, giving clients access to a broader range of resources while maintaining the local relationships that help projects move forward.
Throughout that growth, the approach has remained intentional in strengthening expertise, building local relationships, creating opportunities for employees, and expanding the resources available to clients and communities.
A Sixth Generation of Leadership
One of the clearest connections between T&H’s past and future appears in leadership.
In January 2026, the firm announced its sixth-generation leadership transition following a multi-year succession planning process centered on continuity, internal leadership development, and long-term client service.
Effective January 1, 2026, Jason Chambless, PE, became President; Trent Thompson, PE, assumed the role of Chief Operations Officer; and Kevin Shoemake, PE, became Chief Growth Officer while continuing to serve as Vice President of Inland Civil/Site Development.
Sam McCachern, PE, continues to serve as Chief Executive Officer, focusing on client stewardship and civic leadership. Benny Jones, Jr., PE, transitioned from Chief Operations Officer to Executive Vice President and Vice Chairman of the Board, supporting long-term planning and the transfer of institutional knowledge to the firm’s next generation of leaders.
This transition continues to be a leadership model that has guided T&H for decades in developing leaders from within, while maintaining continuity for employees, clients, and business partners.
As a privately held, employee-owned firm, T&H gives the people shaping its next chapter a personal stake in the quality of its work, the strength of its relationships, the culture of the company, and its long-term future.
Growth Grounded in People and Community
Across the regions the firm serves, employees contribute their time, expertise, leadership, and support beyond project work. Through T&H Helping Hands, board service, school partnerships, nonprofit involvement, workplace campaigns, and employee-led volunteer efforts, T&H employees continue to show up for the communities where they live and work.
As T&H has expanded, recognition of its workplace culture grows alongside it. The firm earned Best Place to Work honors at the national, industry, and state levels, reinforcing the importance of maintaining a strong employee experience through periods of growth and change.
In 2026, T&H was named one of Zweig Group’s Best Firms to Work For, ranking among the Top 25 firms with more than 200 employees nationwide. The firm was also recognized as a Best Place to Work in Engineering and earned statewide workplace honors in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. These awards build on more than a decade of workplace recognition for T&H, including a longstanding history of Best Places to Work honors in South Carolina and Zweig Group recognition dating back to 2015.
In 2025, T&H was named a USA TODAY Top Workplace. During a period of significant growth, that feedback provided a meaningful measure of how employees experience the firm’s culture and connection.
PSMJ also named T&H a 2025 AEC Building a Better World Award honoree, recognizing firms whose work, service, and community involvement create an impact beyond their business operations.
These honors reflect T&H’s continued investment in its people and communities and the people who make that commitment visible every day.
What Comes Next
T&H enters its ninth decade as a larger and more connected company than it was five years ago. Nineteen offices, six states, new capabilities, and another generation of leaders expanded what the firm can bring to its clients and communities.
Growth alone will not define the next chapter. T&H will carry forward the knowledge built over eight decades while continuing to learn, develop new leaders, strengthen relationships, and respond to the changing needs of the communities it serves.
The people shaping T&H today will determine where the firm goes next and what makes it possible along the way.
Eighty years in, the mission of Building Relationships and Solutions for Success remains the same. The possibilities ahead are still taking shape.
ABOUT THOMAS & HUTTON
Founded in 1946, Thomas & Hutton is a privately held and employee-owned professional services firm with 80 years of experience shaping communities across the Southeast. Recognized annually by national, industry, and regional organizations as a Best Place to Work, the company is driven by its mission of Building Relationships and Solutions for Success. With a multidisciplinary team of engineers, surveyors, planners, landscape architects, and GIS specialists, Thomas & Hutton provides consulting services for land development and infrastructure projects throughout Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida. For more information, visit www.thomasandhutton.com.
