2021 Eagle Lifetime Achievement Award Winner: Mike Reed, Reed Maintenance Services

Each year the “Eagle Lifetime Achievement Award” is presented to an individual from our community for his or her lifetime contributions to the North Alabama construction industry. The recipient of this prestigious award has enhanced the image of construction, demonstrated the value of the free-enterprise system, and has proven to peers that integrity and business ethics are the true measures of success. There is no greater honor than to be chosen by one’s peers and recognized for a career of distinguished accomplishments and dedication to excellence in construction.

This year's winner is Mr. Mike Reed of Reed Maintenance Services. Reed Maintenance, formerly Reed Contracting Services, as you know it today started with a single dump truck and a lot of hard work. Growing up, Mike Reed watched his father's construction career and learned to love building things. From a young age, he knew he wanted a construction business for himself. So after working double shifts at the local paper mill, Mike saved up $10,000 to put a down payment on his first dump truck.

At the time, Redstone Arsenal was starting a large test area cleanup project. Mike stepped up to haul material with his new truck round the clock, and his uncle drove the truck five hours each day so Mike could sleep. And that's how Reed Contracting was born in 1987. The theme of taking any work he could find continued, as Mike took the jobs it seemed nobody else wanted to do - cleaning out ponds, hauling fly ash, and paving under pipe racks. Whatever the customer asked, Reed made it happen. And thanks to that "make it happen" mentality, Mike's business grew into new markets like private development, public utilities, asphalt paving and concrete throughout North Alabama, eventually growing the Reed team to more than 750 employees, to whom he attributes the company's success. What is Mike's secret? "I've surrounded myself with some really good people," he says.

In 2021, Reed Contracting Services was purchased by Rogers Group, and they wanted to honor Mike by nominating him for this award. "Mike Reed has made a huge impact to North Alabama in the construction industry," said Rogers Group's Anthony Garcia. "He is a long standing member of ABC with numerous employees involved in the association. (He) helped numerous general contractors, cities, counties, ALDOT and helped build countless large projects, competing hard for the projects they landed...Without Reed's employees, hard work, 'make it happen' mentality, and strong ethics, they would not have been able to negotiate the sale of the business to another family-owned ABC member, and have a pace for all of their employees to continue to build and grow their careers," said Garcia.

For all of these reasons and more, we congratulate Mr. Mike Reed as the 2021 ABC North Alabama Eagle Lifetime Achievement Award Winner!