Many of the tools that make a project successful aren’t the kind you can fit in the drawer of a workbench or in the bed of a pickup truck. At Dow Smith Company, we’re a well-trained team that plans out and executes every step of the design-build process. But our company is about even more than that.

Next month will mark a milestone as we complete construction on the ninth and tenth buildings at Seven Oaks Business Park. 

These buildings will open nearly 20 years after local real estate icon Bob Parks began to envision flex office space in Smyrna, which was mostly unheard of in Smyrna and Rutherford County back in 2005. 

This year, Dow Smith Company CEO Joey Rhyne celebrates 20 years with the company.

He recently talked about the highs and lows of the past two decades in an interview on our From The Ground Up podcast.

For Joey, the best part of working at Dow Smith Company is the people.

Back in 2009, we were honored to build Parkway Baptist Church’s facility on Lee Victory Parkway in Smyrna. The nearly 15,000-square-foot project included a worship hall, administrative offices, and ministry education space. Over the years, we’ve kept in touch with the folks at Parkway Baptist and as the church grew, they needed more space. We were honored again to be of service. We recently completed a 7,725-square-foot addition to the church that includes new classrooms, a new all-purpose room, and a remodel of their office area. 

Construction is among the most dangerous industries in America, according to the National Safety Council.

“There are a lot of things that can go on with construction each and every day that can put our workers at risk of getting hurt,” Safety Coordinator Jason Tigg says on the most recent episode of our From The Ground Up podcast

Dow Smith Company has been in business since 1992. We’ve learned a lot about what to do and what not to do.

What we’ve found over the years is that the traditional method of construction—where the client hires a design team on their own and then brings it to general contractors and takes a low-bid approach—doesn’t work.

Not all of our clients need a brand-new, ground-up facility. Sometimes they simply need a minor renovation or an office build-out. But they need more than just a handyman with a hammer.

Our Service and Small Projects Division was created to accommodate those requests.

It’s not uncommon for people to want to lose weight, save money, and quit bad habits. What’s less common is for people to set goals and stick to them.

On the latest episode of our From The Ground Up podcast, Dow Smith Company Director of Well-being Holley Potts discusses what you can do to create practical New Year’s resolutions—and achieve them.

There’s a problem with having a design that includes every single thing you can dream of: It’s often impossible to afford.

On the latest episode of our From The Ground Up podcast, Dow Smith Company Partner and CEO Joey Rhyne explains why determining your budget early on is so important and why the Design-Build Method can help prevent costly mistakes.

It’s the Thanksgiving season. And I love Thanksgiving. I try to practice and express thankfulness and gratitude daily. Some days I do better than others.

It has been my experience that gratitude begins in our hearts and then pours into our behavior. And when we behave in a grateful manner, a healthy sustainable harvest of abundance returns.

Our core values—passion, caring, hustle, and detail—are the foundation for the work we do every day at Dow Smith Company. But did you know there's a story behind each one of our core values?

On the latest episode of our From The Ground Up podcast, Dow explains how our employees played a role in helping us determine our core values and how those values guide us in our relationships with each other, our clients, and ourselves.

We recently completed some big projects and we have even more big projects in construction. So it seemed like a good time to remind everyone that we do small projects, too.

For many years, we received calls from clients who needed small projects completed but they couldn’t get anyone to show up and make that work a priority. So, our Service and Small Projects Division was created to accommodate those requests.

When Murfreesboro Medical Clinic leaders cut the ribbon to open their new facility off of Veterans Parkway on Thursday, it marked the beginning of a new chapter for MMC and the end of another project for Dow Smith Company.

After some time off, the Dow Smith Company podcast “From The Ground Up” has returned with Chief Marketing Officer Taylor Loyal as the new host.

The podcast, which will be released twice a month, will feature clients, friends, and employees of DSC, including our Visionary Dow Smith, and our CEO Joey Rhyne.

Friday, August 25th finally arrived! It may have been warm but the sun was shining! It was the day we could use our new Outdoor Amphitheatre for our first House Celebration of the school year. Our stage showcased a banner for each of the six houses, a bright red carpet, and music that was blaring the song Celebration. Staff members danced with students as the YMCA song was playing.

Don’t make a million-dollar mistake. In construction, even minor errors can be costly. And they add up quickly if you’re not careful. We know you’re excited to start building, but rushing to the ground-breaking ceremony before you’re ready will catch up with you later. It’s critical in any project to get all of your ducks in a row.

Want to help local nonprofits, honor veterans, connect with the community, and check out some cool cars – all while eating delicious fish? Mark your calendar for 5 p.m. Saturday, September 9 and plan on attending Smyrna Rotary Club’s 21st Annual Wings Of Freedom Fish Fry & Classic Car Cruise In.

When North Boulevard Church of Christ opened its new West campus this month, it was nearly a decade in the making. After the campus existed in a portable church environment for nine years, Dow Smith Company was honored to build its new 25,000-square-foot facility on Burnt Knob Road in Murfreesboro. 

For the eighth consecutive year, Dow Smith Company has been named a Certified Best Christian Workplace by the Best Christian Workplaces Institute. This certification is based entirely on a survey of our employees.

Dr. Amy and Michael Shirley are on a mission.

As owners of Rutherford County’s first and only Fear Free Certified veterinary clinic, they want to do everything possible to decrease the fear, stress, and anxiety that pets—and their people—experience at the vet.

When Redstone Federal Credit Union needed to add an office at its flagship Murfreesboro location on Medical Center Parkway last year, they called us. Dow Smith Company’s Service and Small Projects Division was created to answer these calls and treat these projects with the same professionalism and enthusiasm that we would a multimillion-dollar ground-up building.

Within the construction industry, there is an old story about a three-legged stool. Each leg represents something that owners want: quality, on-time completion and the project to be constructed within budget. If you fall short on any one of the three, the stool can’t stand up. 

Not long ago, if a project manager made a change to a plan, that change could take hours – maybe days – to reach the superintendent at the job site.

Thanks to some innovative thinking within our company and an investment in technology, this can now be done in seconds.

Great things are happening at Dow Smith Company and I could not be more excited about our current reality, maybe even more so for the future. We have added 10 great people since the beginning of 2022—Emily Beasley, AJ Blankenship, William Green, Carlos Hernandez, Daniel Isabell, Taylor Loyal, Landon McDearmon, Ryan Sanford, Mike Speirs, and Jason Tigg. They are pillars that we can continue to build on. This has happened in spite of a labor crisis in our economy. I credit the great culture within DSC. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”.

I started at Smyrna Elementary School in 1987 and spent my K-4 years there before I finished my time at SHS. All these years later, our mission at Dow Smith has collided with places that are near and dear to my heart.

As winter comes to a close, I’ve reflected a lot on the time I spent skiing the past few months. It’s my new winter-time passion. I love it. I am not good at it. I look like a giraffe on skates. But man does it renew me.

Do you want a facility that serves your clients, represents your mission, and fits within your budget? Then you’ve got to start with the right design.

It makes sense that the contractor building your facility should help you design it.

When leaders at the North Rutherford YMCA recently decided they needed to create more space for childcare, they wanted to do so without adding more square feet or shutting down their facility. They gave Dow Smith Company a call and met with Service & Small Projects Division PM Ryan Sanford. Ryan was able to implement a plan to take down a wall between two offices and use that space to make an area for older kids. 

Walking into the new Jaymes Academy location is like stepping inside a box of crayons. The 10,000-square-foot preschool and daycare at 13189 Old Nashville Highway is filled with vibrant colors that match the excitement and passion that owner Angie Phay has for teaching and caring for children.

As I sit in my warm house on a blistery cold morning, my heart is so full from our company Christmas party. It was an event that in my mind was a true reflection of the nature and love of God. I reflect on how incredible my work family is and is becoming at DSC. In doing so we have learned and relearned some very valuable lessons that will guide us into 2023.