By JAMES BROWN
Glasgow News 1
Tommy Gumm began his construction career making blocks. On Friday, he cut a ribbon on the 50th anniversary of Alliance Corporation, a company he founded with three others in 1975.
“Growing up, my mother worked for a small construction company and in summers I worked with that construction company doing things, … part of the time I would be in a building putting sand or cement in a machine that manufactured the block,” Tommy said in an interview prior to the ribbon cutting. “That was really where I got a taste for it.”
In 1968, Tommy went to work for Gray Construction in Glasgow. L.H. Waller approached him about a position, “and that’s the way it started.”
He said James Gray was “a great mentor. I traveled with him quite a bit because I was a sponge and I wanted to learn. He had a knack for making everyone feel comfortable in his presence. I thought that was just awesome.”
After a few years with Gray, he said he and some of the other employees — including Waller — decided to strike out on their own and formed Alliance. The other two Alliance founders were David Downey and James “Doug” Coffey.
“Those three individuals are no longer with us,” Tommy said. “L.H. and I were really close friends.”
THAT FIRST PROJECT
“We had only been in business, I believe it was two weeks, and we bid an addition to Kyrock Elementary in Edmonson County, and we were successful,” Tommy said. He added he probably can’t explain how nervous he was to get that first job.
“A side note to that, in 1975, Tish and I had a 10-year-old, a six-year-old, a three-year-old and a one-year-old,” he said. “I left a good-paying job, and, so, somebody could say, ‘You’re not very smart,’ and I probably was not very smart then, but things have a tendency to work out.”
They did work out, especially for Tommy, with Tish carrying a heavy load.
“I can’t say enough about her taking on parenting responsibilities because starting a company is not a 40-hour-a-week job,” he said. “But she never complained. She always hung in there and did what needed to be done.”
Alliance picked up some momentum with successful contracts for construction of a couple of projects after the Kyrock addition. Then later in 1975, Alliance picked up the contract for Coca-Cola bottling company.
Tommy said the company’s path has been almost “story book.”
Brandon Akers said that Tommy’s foresight on Kyrock set the company on the path to sustainability.
Akers is the president of Alliance and is stationed in the Prestonsburg office in eastern Kentucky. He’s been with the company for 27 years.
In 1976, Alliance Corporation was selected by the Edmonson County Board of Education for the first contractor-based construction management project for a public school in Kentucky.
Tommy later helped establish the construction management guidelines in Kentucky for K-12 schools construction, Akers said.
THE FUTURE
Akers and Tommy’s son, Matt, became friends at Eastern Kentucky University.
“I was introduced to Tommy in ’97, but when I graduated in ’98, I actually went to work for another company in Somerset,” Brandon said.
Matt called Brandon to see if he would like to take the position as project coordinator of the justice center in Warren County in 1998. “I said, sure, sounds good, so I packed my car up. I had a friend who lived in Hart County, so I slept on his couch for a couple of weeks before I got an apartment.”
Matt and Brandon are two of the present partners in the company, along with Tim Geegan, Derrick Akers and Matt Rich. Tommy serves as the board chair.
Brandon said they plan to follow Tommy’s lead in how they build the company going forward.
“I mean, you know Tommy, it’s just … a family, everybody knows everybody. It’s just a great place to work,” he said. “Everything we have we owe it to him.”
He added the key is what Tommy has taught them all about doing business.
“We try to do things right, and we try to treat people right,” Akers said.
Founder and board chairman Tommy Gumm cuts the ribbon on the Alliance Corporation 50th anniversary celebration. James Brown/Glasgow News 1
Alliance Corporation head of business development, Matt Gumm, speaks at the 50th anniversary celebration. James Brown/Glasgow News 1
Alliance Corporation President Brandon Akers speaks at the 50th anniversary celebration. James Brown/Glasgow News 1
Tommy Gumm receives a plaque from Barren Inc. President and CEO Maureen Carpenter at the Alliance Corporation 50th anniversary celebration. James Brown/Glasgow News 1
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