Meet our Team

Mr. Douglas Barnhart, Chairman

Mr. Barnhart founded his former company, Douglas E. Barnhart, Inc, one of the top ten educational builders in the nation.  Prior to founding the company in 1983, Doug served as a Navy Civil Engineer Corps Officer, responsible for US Government administration of construction contracts and public works administration at major Navy shore installations and as a Vice President for a major Southern California contractor.

Mr. Barnhart was a Governor’s appointee and past chairman of the California’s Contractor’s State License Board, and is a former Commissioner of the California Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Commission; a former Executive Board Member of the Regional San Diego Chamber of Commerce.  He is active in the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America, the Society of Military Engineers, and the American Arbitration Association. Mr. Barnhart is also a past chairman of the Construction Apprenticeship Trust for the San Diego AGC, Secretary of the AGC Construction Pension Trust, and past Chairman of the National AGC Heavy Federal Division. He served two terms as President of the San Diego AGC, is currently a National Board Member and served on the National AGC Executive Committee for four terms.  He is the immediate past president of AGC of America and the first and only president to hail from San Diego County.

Mr. West Reese, CEO

Mr. West Reese co-founded J. Reese Construction, Inc. with his father in law and wife after the sale of Mr. Doug Barnhart’s flagship company, Douglas E. Barnhart, Inc.  While at Barnhart’s former company, Mr. Reese performed vice president duties pertaining to cost accounting and controls, MIS, and operations, as well as project management and field engineer duties for a variety of clients over seven years.  Mr. Reese’s experience with public works projects includes Del Norte High School (Poway Unified School District), Solana Pacific Elementary School (Solana Beach School District), UCSD Health & Wellness Center and City of Poway City Hall.  He is currently working on Makena Medical Center, a design-build project currently under design.

Mrs. Tamela Barnhart Reese, LEED AP, President

Mrs. Reese grew up in the construction business watching her father grow Douglas E. Barnhart, Inc. since the age of seven.  Upon graduating the University of San Diego business school, Mrs. Reese joined her father's company in the marketing department after a short tenure in public relations.  In addition to performing marketing and public relations for J. Reese Construction, Inc. Tamela oversees accounting, legal, human resources, and insurance functions for the corporation.