Supporting Industry Through Education

Conaway Homes Contributes to COE Program

Add Description

Brent and Brian Conaway

The UT Tyler College of Engineering has renamed its lab in the construction management program the Conaway Homes Construction Management Design and Fabrication Lab. The new name is part of a recent collaboration with COE and Conaway’s Home Group Ltd. to support the industry as well as student success.

Learn more about the Tyler-based company’s collaboration with UT Tyler in the following question and answer session featuring Conaway Homes partner Brent Conaway. 

Can you share a little background about the company?

We follow many generations of family who have served in construction here in Tyler. Steve Conaway transitioned away from our grandfather’s commercial construction company and started building homes in 1978. 

There are dozens of buildings, churches, schools, colleges, and thousands of homes around Tyler that were created through our family’s lineage. Today, my younger and only sibling, Brian Conaway, and I are partners in the company. Our employees contribute much to the company’s success; it’s much bigger than just me and Brian. 

How did your/the company's relationship with the COE begin? 

We got behind COE’s construction management program because we need more qualified people in our industry, and plus, UT Tyler is in our backyard. The home building industry has evolved from a single jack-of-all-trades approach into very professional groups who manage thorough sophisticated systems. 

UT Tyler graduates can apply their marketable skills to both commercial construction and home building. As a growing company, we need skilled graduates to manage projects throughout East Texas.    

Not only are we supporting UT Tyler’s COE, but we are also planting seeds with students who may be interested in joining the home building industry.

Why get involved and give back in this way (naming of the CM lab)? 

To support the industry through education.

What do you like best about UT Tyler and the College of Engineering?

UT Tyler has a lot of potential. We are very excited to see this level of education in East Texas. UT Tyler is a benefit for everyone!  

In what other ways do you/ Conaway Homes give back to East Texas and/or education?

We have several companies. One of our home-building companies, Vision Homes, probably sums it up best with their mission statement: to help people and improve lives through homeownership. 

One of the ways we help people and improve lives is by doing what others can’t. It takes a team of smart individuals to make that happen. Therefore, supporting education that directly supports our industry is a very critical piece of our process. In addition to education, we have built and given away homes to local charities. 

What advice would you give UT Tyler COE students interested in the construction management field?

We invite interested students to come talk to us, and let us teach them a little about the home building industry.

What are your hobbies/interests?

As a builder, I enjoy creating things. I also enjoy snow skiing.

Anything else you’d like to add?

See also https://www.conaways.com/.

#COE

Read more from the May 2021 issue!