Spotlight On: Jeff Callinan, Senior Vice President, JE Dunn Construction
March 2025 — The Twin Cities offer a stable and reliable market for construction companies, Jeff Callinan, senior vice president of JE Dunn Construction, told Invest:. “We’re not growing like the coastal or the Sun Belt areas, but the Twin Cities has a steady, stable economy,” he said.
What have been some of the main highlights and key milestones for JE Dunn Construction over the last 12 months?
We had an excellent year in 2024 and continue to grow. Our backlog has never been more healthy and diverse in terms of project types and market sectors. We have amazingly talented people who are leading the way, focusing on providing a great client experience. Our reputation in the marketplace is strong and JE Dunn’s visibility continues to rise. The main highlight of 2024 was seeing our strategic plans hit stride, which has put us in a great place today and for the future.
What is your overview of the construction industry in the Twin Cities?
The overall market is still strong, despite some challenges with certain development projects. There’s strength in healthcare, with some big healthcare initiatives throughout the Twin Cities and Rochester. While still strong, we’ve lagged a little bit behind some other markets in attracting some of the hyperscale data centers. This has recently shifted and there is lots of activity in the data center space. The availability of sustainable power and lower cooling costs seem to be helping drive this. These projects often exceed $1 billion in construction cost, so they have a profound impact on the local construction industry.
There’s also a lot of investment in the MSP airport, and a long body of work there. In science and tech, there have been several spin-off companies starting up new entities. Those are the strengths. Again,there continue to be challenges, especially in regards to financing developer-led projects. Also, we have a lot of empty office space in the downtown cores, and people are trying to figure out what to do with it. Public work is tough to forecast given the political environment both at the state and federal level.
What other major industries or sectors are driving growth and demand for construction in the Twin Cities?
We’ve also always been strong in healthcare, higher education, renovation and sustainability projects, and in the cultural arena with complex museums and performing arts spaces. We will continue to work on that front. But we’re emerging more and more into development projects. We’re not developers, but this is an emerging market for us.
Aviation is a growth sector, at least for us. We see opportunity in anything that has public or quasi-public dollars associated with it. We’re able to be a trusted adviser for a lot of public agencies in terms of how to deliver projects in a way that provides more certainty of results and fewer surprises, fits and starts.
The sports and recreation industry is another opportunity, with a lot of investment in sports venues. We do a lot of this work nationally, and we’re starting to do more and more of that locally, seizing the opportunity here.
What makes the Twin Cities an attractive market to invest in when it comes to development and construction projects?
We have a well educated workforce in the Twin Cities. Projects are typically high quality. There is also good infrastructure here. We will always face the challenges of being in a northern climate. We’re not going to grow like the coastal or the Sun Belt areas, but it’s a steady, stable economy. It’s also a diverse economy, with a lot of Fortune 500 companies, science, tech, and healthcare.
It would be nice if our state was a little more pro-business, but there are a lot of good, sound fundamentals here. It may not produce the rapid return on investments that some developers are seeking or that they could get in some of the faster-growing markets, but our stability is a strength.
Can you comment on some of the projects in your pipeline?
We are nearing completion of a 16-story luxury student housing project by the University of Minnesota. This has been a fantastic project with Greystar as the developer. Our work at the MSP airport continues as we renovate almost every one of Delta’s gates in Terminal 1. A marquee project is the State Office Building, which is right near the State Capitol. It’s a large expansion and renovation project that will provide a better opportunity for the people of Minnesota to engage with their government.
We also have a cool library project at Southdale in Edina that will have unique sustainability aspects. Compared to what they have today, it’s going to be quite an amenity for the public. There are several higher education projects in the works at the University of MN Carlson School, Normandale Community College and Winona State University. We also have a Minnesota Veterans Home in Hastings coming up. We are always excited to do work for our veterans.
How is JE Dunn leveraging technology and innovation?
Buildings increasingly are implementing sustainability initiatives and strategies, whether that’s deep-well geothermal systems, photovoltaics, or sophisticated energy management systems. They’re getting more and more technical. We have invested in our knowledge of sustainability elements and people who are experts in the sustainability field. We’ve also invested in low voltage and technology integration specialists. We’re bringing that expertise to make sure that the technologies within a newly constructed building are talking to one another and operating as intended.
What are your primary challenges given the wider economic spectrum?
The primary challenge is the workforce. We haven’t seen a major pinch from that yet, but I expect that it is coming. Especially as data center work starts, they will suck up a lot of talent in the electrical and mechanical areas. I think the worst is yet to come on that side.
Cost uncertainty also continues to be a challenge. We don’t know what tariff is going to pop up on any given day right now. How does that affect construction and when? Another one that’s fairly obvious but impactful is lead times. There are still a lot of major components, whether it be switching gear or generators or air handling units, that continue to have longer and longer lead times.
What are your near-term priorities for the company in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market?
We’re looking to continue growing, but in a managed way. We had a fairly big jump last year which we were prepared for. We are not chasing revenue, but rather are looking for projects and clients that value our expertise and ability to provide certainty of results. We’re looking to continue to look at diversification of different project types and client types, and being disciplined and strategic in the markets that we serve.
This is a rich construction market, with a lot of talent. You can quickly get lost in the shuffle by trying to be a generalist here in the Twin Cities. We’re intentional and strategic regarding the markets that we serve.
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