Our Team
Craig Carlson – Owner
Craig is a cofounder of Hammerhead Construction and is directly involved with both the operation of the company as well as management of individual projects. His responsibilities consist of overseeing all of the current projects, estimating and negotiating future projects, contracting with Owners and Subcontractors, managing construction personnel, tracking overall job costs, and developing the day-to-day direction and focus of the company.
Craig started in construction as a teenager and, after attending Concord University, went back to construction as a Carpenter on large commercial projects where he advanced to a Carpentry Foreman. Following this, he went to work for a large General Contractor and continued advancing to a Field Superintendent on various projects, including a sixty-five-million-dollar, multi-use facility in Chevy Chase, Maryland. After many years running projects in the field, Craig was promoted to the office where he worked as a Project Manager and later as the Director of Construction for another mid-sized General Contractor coordinating multiple projects, large and small. This experience led to starting Hammerhead in 2005.
Tom Nicholson – Owner
Tom is a cofounder of Hammerhead Construction and is involved with all aspects of company operations. He is also the financial manager for the company. Tom manages individual projects from their initial design and development to contract negotiations through to project completion.
Tom spent his childhood in the construction industry working side-by-side with his father and brother receiving hands-on training. Tom holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech. He worked for several mid-sized Commercial General Contractors in the Northern Virginia area before taking the jump with Craig in 2005 to start Hammerhead. Tom’s successful project resume includes medical construction fit-out and base buildings, industrial facilities, office buildings, auto dealerships, airport hangars, public and private educational facilities, daycare centers, recreational facilities, college and university construction, mass transit, religious facilities, water treatment plants, veterinary clinics, infrastructure work and site development.
Josh Lewis – Sr. Project Manager
Josh came to Hammerhead with experience managing commercial construction with other mid-sized General Contractors in Northern Virginia. His experience started as an intern while attending Old Dominion University where he went on to graduate with a BS in Civil Engineering Technology. Since graduating, Josh has worked his way up through the industry to his current position.
Josh has taken projects from their initial site survey during the preconstruction phase, through project negotiations with both the Owner’s Representatives and Subcontractors, and into the overall Project Management of the job. His skills as a Project Manager extend into the field as he is OSHA and CPR/First Aid certified, and possesses the ability to help out our field superintendents on the job when needed.
Don Wright – Project Manager
Don spent his childhood in the construction industry working side-by-side with his father and brothers receiving hands on training. He started out in the construction industry as a laborer right out of High School and worked his way up in the commercial industry to framer, hanger, and ACT mechanic. Following that he took a position with a General Contractor as a Superintendent and quickly advanced into Project Management.
With over thirty-five years of experience Don has managed a wide variety of projects including Base Buildings, Restaurants, Medical, Daycare, Schools, Data Centers, Tilt-up, Precast, and SCIF/Tempest. Don is currently responsible for the day to-day project responsibilities from the pre-construction phase through project close-out. Specific responsibilities include Budgeting, Estimating, Bidding, Contract Administration, Permit procurement, Cost Reporting, Scheduling, Project Administration and direct communication with the Client, Architects and Engineers.
Jeff Zavalanski – Sr. Superintendent
Jeff has proven to be a key team member for Hammerhead Construction and is our longest tenured employee. He is dedicated to ensuring his projects are completed on time and in accordance with the contract documents. Jeff’s technical background allows him to fully comprehend plans and specifications and as a result he provides a great level of quality assurance to both Hammerhead and our clients.
Jeff is a hands-on project superintendent who is not afraid to jump in with a crew to help out or to clean up loose ends on a project. He is a great communicator with subcontractors and clients and, as a result of this and his experience and technical background, he has repeatedly proven to be capable of turning over fast-paced construction projects on schedule.
Chuck Lundy – Superintendent
Chuck has more than 35 years of experience in the construction industry. He started his career as a carpenter and quickly progressed to a foreman position supervising large crews on multi-story commercial projects. Chuck easily transitioned from a foreman to a commercial project superintendent with his management skills and knowledge of the construction trades learned over his many years working in the carpentry trade.
Chuck has proven to be a key team member for Hammerhead Construction. The communication and management skills he brings to every project ensures a well coordinated and smooth project. His carpentry background allows him to fully comprehend plans and specifications and he provides a great level of quality assurance to both Hammerhead and our clients.
Don Covey – Superintendent
Don has more than 35 years of experience in the construction industry. He has firsthand experience working in several different commercial construction trades including excavation and grading, concrete, masonry, carpentry, drywall and painting. Don’s hands-on experience with many of the construction trades provide an extensive knowledge base for a project superintendent.
Don is an excellent superintendent for renovation projects. He is a skilled communicator and facilitator and excels at coordinating multiple subcontractors in an occupied facility. Being skilled in multiple trades allows him to assist our Owners with the various unique issues that arise on renovation projects. Don also assists Hammerhead on some of our larger scale new construction projects, when needed.