Hanto + Clarke
OUR TEAM

Hanto + Clarke has the education, the experience and the professional staff to bring your vision to life. We understand the commercial construction industry from the inside out and work with you every step of the way to ensure your satisfaction.

Hanto and Clarke is a licensed general contractor in the state of Alabama as well as the state of Florida. Currently, we pursue projects in south-east Alabama and as far east as Panama City, Florida. So at Hanto and Clarke, we have five key office staff that serve in the role of estimators and project managers. Each one of us has an engineering or building science degree. We also have five key field personnel that serve as superintendents overseeing quality on every job. Each one of those superintendents has a minimum of 20 years of experience in commercial construction, some of them having as much as 40 years experience.

Currently, we're working on a $7 million independent living facility in Crestview. We've also done projects for Navy Federal Credit Union, West Florida Hospital, The Moors, as well as Hilton. Our goal at Hanto and Clarke is to make your vision a reality.

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DONALD A. HANTO

Donald A. Hanto began his construction career as a project foreman with gaining valuable field experience while attending college. After earning his building construction degree, he transitioned into the role of project manager where, over the past 15 years he has established an outstanding track record through the successful completion of hundreds of commercial construction projects along the Gulf Coast. As President, he draws upon this success to create a working environment where commitment to quality and safety are paramount.

Mr. Hanto has Bachelor of Science degrees in Business Operations Management from Auburn University and Building Construction from the University of West Florida.  He is a 2009 alumni of the Pensacola Leadership (LeaP) program and holds General Contractor licenses in Florida and Alabama.

Growing up in Tampa, my father was a civil engineer and was an Air Force aviator prior to that, and so a lot of his civil engineering career was geared toward aviation. So, I spent a lot of time out of Tampa International with him working on projects out there, and it really sparked a love of construction, the construction process, riding around with him. And so, after getting a degree in operations management from Auburn, I came down to Pensacola, went to work in the field for Terhaar Cronley [SP] as a foreman, working, you know, 6:30 to 3 out in the sun, and really having a good time with it. And I was doing that while I was going to school at UWF and getting a construction degree from the University of West Florida. Moving forward from there, I became, actually, after Hurricane Ivan came through and did what it did, I spent a lot of time repairing properties that the development company owned and then became a full-time project manager for T&C until we started Hanto and Clark. And so the last 15 years, you know, I spent time in the field and then spent probably the last 13 and a half, 14 years as a project manager managing construction projects, and it's really been an enjoyable experience seeing what works and what doesn't and really trying to improve that process. 

One of the reasons I really love construction is if you lay the project process out start to finish, I mean, it really, to me, is like kind of a game. It's kind of a puzzle. It's, you have a plan that you lay out, start to finish, and there's milestones. There's key things that have to come into place. There's material that has to get on site. There's all these things that come together in this plan, and I just, I really have a good time going through the logic and make, creating that plan and figuring out what steps go where and how we do this and how we bring this in to all make it a smooth overall process. And then the implementation is you actually get to take this plan you created and live it and go through and make sure all the pieces are falling into place and make sure the material shows up and the people show up and the inspections occur, and all the little key pieces that it takes to get to the end goal happen. And I just, it's, again, it's like a, it's a game for me. It's fun, it's exciting, and it's just, you get to do it over and over again. And each project's different. Each project has little nuances that are different than the last one. And so it's always kind of fresh, and it's just, it's a lot of fun. I really enjoy it. 

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MICHAEL H. CLARKE

Michael H. Clarke has 15 years of experience in the engineering and construction fields. His results-oriented, hands-on approach has led to his success in completing jobs safely, with a high level of quality, under budget and ahead of schedule. As Vice President of Project Development, he uses this experience working with clients to understand their needs and delivering projects that exceed their expectations.

Mr. Clarke has Bachelor of Science degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Florida State University and a Master of Science Degree in Construction Engineering & Project Management from the University of Texas.  He is a 2016 alumni of the Pensacola Leadership (LeaP) program.

When we started Hanto and Clarke, it was my personal goal to establish a company and create an opportunity for myself and my family for years to come. I love the city of Pensacola. It's my hometown, it's where I grew up, and I'm thrilled for the opportunity to be doing what I love in my hometown.

I believe in Hanto and Clarke because we're not just focused on results. We're not just focused on the endgame, we're focused on the process, and in that process, there's a lot of people that we encounter on a day-to-day basis, and it's our goal to establish lasting relationships with those people. From our clients to our own employees, to our subs and our vendors, we always want to make sure that everyone is on the same team and moving in the same direction.

So, my dad has worked in construction all his life, and so, as a young child, I had the opportunity to grow up around construction sites and develop the passion at a young age for seeing how things came together. After engineering school, I worked for about a decade in Houston, Texas, for a large commercial general contractor, but was really excited for an opportunity to come back home.

When I was in engineering school, one of the choices I had to make was whether to go into design or go into the field and be a construction manager, and for me, it was an easy decision, just with my experience as a youth. And, really, my passion lies in being able to see things come to life in reality, rather than on a piece of paper, so I couldn't be more thrilled for the opportunity that I have to work in construction.

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STEPHEN R. CLARKE

Stephen R. Clarke grew up in the construction industry working summers in the field as a teenager and quickly moved on to leadership roles in both the engineering and construction industries. As Vice President of Operations, he helps oversee all aspects of construction including contracts and purchasing; permitting; drafting and detailing; cost estimating and cost control; scheduling; supervision of civil, architectural, structural, mechanical and electrical trades; quality control; and total project management.

Mr. Clarke has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Florida State University.

So, I feel passionate about Hanto + Clarke because this is what I've been doing my whole life. I grew up in construction. I've loved construction ever since I started working in it. My dad took me out to job site when I was a kid. You know, I worked in the fields during the summer and grew up with most of these guys that are superintendents for us nowadays. And the one thing that I always learned, and the one thing that was always forward for us is that the client matters the most. 

Well, I think we started the company because I think there was a... You know, contractors sometimes get a bad name, and I think that we care about our clients. I think, really and truthfully, number one, our focus is our client, and treating them right, and getting them the experience where, when they leave, they say, "We love the bus..." you know, "We had...we enjoyed that experience. It wasn't this awful experience of building a building, like sometimes it can be." You know, we're here to be everything to everybody, and that's from the ground up, from people that sweep the floor to the guy that pays the bills. I mean that's, really and truthfully, we try and treat everybody with the same respect, and I think everybody in the company does that. 

So, as a project manager at Hanto + Clarke, I started off in the field. When I was a teenager, I worked summers doing construction, moved on, went to college, got a civil engineering degree, learned all about design, and decided that was not for me. Came back, and now, as a project manager, you know, I love the daily process of construction. I love, you know, the nuts and bolts of construction. I like the... You know, we have to put up studs, and then we have to hang drywall, and then we have to paint that drywall. I love the daily grind that we do. I like pushing schedule. I like seeing stuff getting done. There's nothing more exciting to me than when we build stuff because I know someone's dream is becoming a reality, and that's what I love about it, and I think that's what, again, you know, you need one of those in every company, and I think we have a bunch of those in this company. I think that's what makes us great.

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RICHARD K. CLARKE

Richard K. Clarke has earned a distinguished reputation in the regional construction industry over the past 35 years while completing over $300 million in commercial and industrial construction, including some of the most prestigious projects in Northwest Florida and the Southeast. As General Manager, he ensures that all project details are accounted for and implemented. 

Mr. Clarke has a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Engineering from Iowa State University.  He is certified in Sustainable Design & Green Building and was awarded Project Manager of the Year by the American Subcontractors Association of Northwest Florida. 

Hanto & Clarke started as a product of Terhaar Cronley General Contractors, who I'd worked for for 30 years, deciding... The two gentlemen there decided to retire and close the business, and they gave us, a group of us, an opportunity to proceed with a new company and to kind of fill in where they had left off and to come back behind them. And it was a great opportunity. It was a great opportunity to get into the commercial construction business as a part of an ownership group. It was a great opportunity to work with two of my kids, which I think any father would say. That's just a wonderful thing to do if you get the chance, not something I'd ever planned on, and it just fell together, as far as that part of it.

Same time, many of the people in the field that I'd worked with for many, many years were about to be out of a job, and this gave us an opportunity to bring them along, to give them a job, to work with us. It gave us an opportunity to start something new, enhance or improve upon what we had been doing, and additionally, just kind of move forward with the new generation. One thing I told them is that, within the city of Pensacola and in this area, if you have competency, and if you return phone calls, and if you treat people fairly and with respect, that you're a leg up on a lot of people. And that's just something that we had the opportunity to do, and I think we've started to do, and I think we're going to continue to do.

Well, this year, coincidentally, I just celebrated 40 years in the construction industry. I started out as a draftsman for a small metal building company and worked my way up through estimating, went and did project engineering for a commercial general contractor, worked into estimating, been in the office, been in the field for almost all of my career. I've enjoyed the time and I've enjoyed every job I've had, as I've gotten to the point I have, because every one of them helps build on the experience. I enjoy the fact that, now that we're further into this, the industry has changed. It has gotten more automated.

We've got more computers, more things that do the thinking for, so to speak, as far as the mundane tasks, but I don't give up on the fact that we still have a lot of experience that comes from this, comes with us, people in the field I've worked with for over 25, 30 years that are still with our company, and all of us bring some expertise to this. We'd like to pass that along to the next generation. They have phenomenal skills and phenomenal knowledge that, to be honest, they're better at than I am, in many cases, with the computers and the other things, and I have to ask them how to make this work and, "How do we do this?" But, as far as the general experience, we like to bring what we have and bring it to them. I enjoy sharing it with my sons and those in the office, and it's a really phenomenal experience to do that. And they teach me, I teach them, and between us, we end up putting out a good product. We really enjoy it.

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