A Strong Foundation for a BETTER Future



Our Story

The story of Trehel Corporation is one of a small family business that has evolved through the years into one of the most successful and respected privately-held general contractors serving the Carolinas and Georgia. Spanning four decades, Trehel has held a proud public service and community activism tradition.

In 1982, Neal Workman was a vice president with Vector Corporation, a general contractor located in Oconee County. When a large northern firm acquired Vector, Neal decided it was time to take a risk and start a new company. His primary motivation was to provide for his young family. Neal loved his community and had no desire to relocate. To begin his new venture, he borrowed $4,000 and purchased a used Ford F250 truck with more than 200,000 miles on the odometer.

Neal has two children – a son, Tres, and a daughter, Helen. Taking the first three letters of each of their names, Neal created “Trehel,” the name for his new company. Early projects evolved from a more residential focus into new commercial construction ventures.

1982-2022

1980’s

Trehel’s Founder

Trehel founder Neal Workman was instrumental in bringing the design-build delivery method to Upstate South Carolina. Challenging the traditional sequence of work, Trehel’s process involves team collaboration between the designer and the contractor during the early stage of conceptual project development. Trehel becomes the single point of project responsibility, which reduces risk and overall costs for clients.

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1990’s

Expanding

Seeking to attract top talent, Trehel moved its headquarters to Clemson, SC in 1993. That office would later expand four times. As the projects grew in scope and complexity, Trehel opened an office location in Greenville, SC and began pursuing projects throughout South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia.

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2000’s

Continued Growth

In the early part of the 21st century, Trehel’s continued growth and sales volume increased to more than $100 million and 175 talented employees. Projects ranged from small renovation projects to new builds with values over $35 million.

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2007

President and CEO

In 2007, Will Huss, who had been with Trehel since 1997, was named President and CEO.

“We’re client advocates,” founder Neal Workman said. “Will has a heart for our employees and a heart for our clients, and those are the ingredients that the successor needed to have in order for the culture to stay similar or very close to what I built.”

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2014

Relocated

After maintaining an office in Greenville for 14 years, Trehel relocated its corporate operation to the Field House at the West End – a 15,000-square-foot suite. The Clemson office moved to a new space within the same complex on Tiger Boulevard, where the company was headquartered for more than 20 years.

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2015

Largest Project

Trehel completes the new $47.8 million Walhalla High School campus, its largest single construction project to date for the firm.

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2017

1,200 Successful Projects

Trehel celebrates our 35th Anniversary. During the past 35 years, we have completed more than 1,200 successful building projects.

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2020

New Company President

Keith Poole is named president of Trehel. He also maintains the position of Chief Operations Officer (COO), a role held since 2009, coupled with the new presidency, and assume the daily operational leadership responsibilities from Will Huss, who remains the company’s owner and Chief Executive Officer.

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2020

New Corporate Office

Trehel provided preconstruction and construction services for a mixed-use building that serves as the new headquarters for Trehel, the marketing agency Cargo, and WOW Salon. The 36,000-square-foot 914 Pendleton adaptive reuse project features two additional floors built above an existing structure.

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2022

40th Anniversary

Trehel celebrates our 40th Anniversary. During the past 40 years, we have completed more than 1,600 successful building projects with a total value surpassing more than $2 billion.

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