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North Branch Construction CEO Retires

Published Friday Feb 8, 2019

Kenneth Holmes of North Branch Construction

Kenneth Holmes, CEO and former president of North Branch Construction in Concord, has retired after 30 years with the firm.

Holmes joined North Branch Construction in 1989 as a project manager and became a principal and vice-president in 1990, general manager in 1996, and the President of the company in 2006. During his tenure, Holmes successfully navigated the company through the Great Recession at a time when many companies were going through significant layoffs or closing their doors.

In 2009, Ken Holmes received nationwide attention for leading the charge to successfully defeat a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) enforced during the solicitation for bids to construct the new Job Corps Center in Manchester. “Our company and other New Hampshire businesses deserve a fair opportunity to provide the public with the best construction product at the best price,” Holmes stated during the protest.

In 2018, Holmes took on the role of CEO at North Branch Construction and Joseph Campbell stepped into the position of president. “I am extremely honored and proud of the company that I have had the pleasure to work for over the last nearly 30 years,” Holmes stated in a recent company-wide memo, “and there is no doubt that North Branch Construction, under the leadership of Joe Campbell as president with the support of his partners, Bruce Blazon, Jim Schwartzkopf, and Chris Galbraith, as well as all of you, will continue to flourish.” 

Prior to working at North Branch Construction, Holmes, a Dartmouth College graduate, worked for an investment bank in New York before starting his own real estate development and construction management company in New London in 1987. Holmes has been a practicing EMT-B for more than 36 years and volunteer Certified Firefighter for the Newbury Fire Department for more than 30 years.

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