Starting out, I took a co-op position with a local general contractor. My mentor was a tough and seasoned construction manager and estimator with a mantra he named the Prime Directive. “Get work, get paid, and everything else will take care of itself.” I was shocked!It turns out he could make a statement like that because our job superintendents were top notch. From these interesting characters I learned that a fundamental problem existed in the construction industry. The majority of engineers and architects lacked construction experience and often their designs did not work. Their shortcomings would lead to problems in the field and ultimately affected the bottom line of the owners we worked for. You would hear the superintendents say, "All new engineers should be required to spend time in the field."How can you be good at design if you do not understand construction? You cannot! Upon graduation I declined a structural engineering position to instead manage construction of a new manufacturing facility and then spent the next few years on various other commercial and industrial construction projects.Upon becoming licensed as an engineer, another question came to light. Why should I choose between design and construction when I can do both? This led to my formation of Construction Planners. Our format of offering in-house design in addition to construction services was unheard of in our area. We found our niche in industry and manufacturing and grew to 20 employees.The recession of 2008 led to a rewarding stint teaching construction management, estimating and design classes at UT while working as a structural engineer for a design firm.In 2011, past clients called and Tomorrow’s Builder was opened. We started with a bang on a $12 million renovation to Monterey Mushrooms’ and continue today doing what we love – design & construction. David Johnson Engineering was formed in 2017 to meet the needs of clients looking for construction consulting or design only services.