History

Vega Corporation of Tennessee has earned a history of construction innovation, a trait started with its founder, professional engineer Louis Garcia. Lou, along with local architects Ted Franklin and Bob Seals, formed the company in 1970.

Lou was regarded as a pioneer in pre-stressed concrete and structural concrete engineering. As a result, Vega was at the forefront of tilt-up construction and complicated forming systems projects. For example, at the original Tennessee Aquarium project, a Vega employee hand-drafted a reflected ceiling plan of the internal ramp system that navigates up the different levels of the aquarium. Every major subcontractor on the project used the hand-drafted plan as a coordination drawing, and as a result, valuable time was saved.

Former president, Jimmy Griffin, spent more than 40 years with the company—beginning as a carpenter in 1979. His influences on Vega can be seen on a daily basis. Most notably, Jimmy evolved Vega into the customer-centric business that it is today. In his decades-long relationship with Bell South and AT&T, he showed us how to put the client first.