Chris and his family are relocating from the Pacific Northwest, where he has led teams successfully through projects in the healthcare industry over the past 15 years – most recently leading a $260million Trauma II healthcare facility in Southern Oregon. In addition to healthcare, he has been involved in various K-12 and mixed-use construction projects in San Francisco and Portland Markets.
“The Healthcare sector has always been a high priority for Thomas. With the onboarding of Chris Thorn, we now have a dedicated leader whose experience and fresh perspective will be a tremendous asset to our strategic growth. Not only does Chris have a unique industry profile, he’s an exceptional culture match. We are very fortunate to have Chris join our team,” shared Thomas President and COO Chris Reid.
Chris’ rare path to construction engineering management started with taking buildings down. While in high school, Chris joined a friend’s family-run explosive demolition business. The excitement of carefully imploding the buildings balanced with significant engineering decisions was the hook that led him to the industry. After earning a B.S. in Construction Engineering Management, Chris started working for one of the world’s largest general contracting companies, juggling project priorities while learning established systems and processes.
After fifteen years of experience as a project engineer and manager, Chris had the opportunity to join a regionally focused company with an established team culture that attracted Chris to the company. As a senior leadership team member, he was honored to help affect the bottom line and especially reveled in chances to mentor less experienced teammates. Getting to know the people he worked with and having the team feel like a family was eye-opening and, it turns out, an essential work-life element that Chris was looking for when considering a move to the East Coast. “When I started talking to the Thomas team, it was easy to realize this was the right company and culture for me. Everything I was looking for was right here.”
Although Chris has a diverse project management background, he is particularly passionate about building in the healthcare industry. Chris stated, “Most of my family is in healthcare. My dad was the chief operating officer of a hospital, my mom was a chiropractor, my stepmom was a professor for a nursing program, and even my best friend is a doctor. My interest in building for the healthcare sector has grown over time, but now it’s easily the type of project I wake up excited to work on.”
Seeking warmer weather, sunshine, and the Atlantic Ocean, fate should have it that he connected with Thomas and their “humble, hungry, and smart” approach to the industry. Chris is excited about the opportunity to grow with the Thomas team to become North Carolina’s preferred healthcare builder.
He and his wife, Natalie, have two children (ages 10 and 11), two dogs, and a pony named Roxy. Their family is excited about this new chapter in their lives and making Wilmington their home.
