Finance

Contractor D. Dean Defaults on Projects in Alabama, Georgia

Newnan Convention Centre Authority

Photo from the website of the Newnan Convention Center, which is under construction.

A mid-size building prime contractor in Georgia and Alabama has defaulted and requested help from its surety.

Columbus, Ga.-based D. Dean & Associates Inc. also had an office in Birmingham. Founder and President Danny Dean could not be reached for comment, but his company has apparently run into financial problems.

According to a version of a takeover agreement with the Alabama Public School Authority, the Shelby County Board of Education and surety Ohio Casualty Insurance Co., D. Dean & Associates had completed two-thirds of its work on a $3-million classroom addition and cafeteria project at Pelham High School.

 With an original $2.979 million contract and $1.757 million in payments made to the contractor for completed work, the project had a work balance of $1.222 million remaining.

 The action came after the school authority declared D. Dean & Associates to be in default.

D. Dean & Associates ranked 132nd on ENR Southeast’s Top Contractors list in 2010, with $23.99 million in revenue.

The Pelham High School project was listed on D. Dean’s website as scheduled for completion in Spring 2011.

 According to the takeover agreement, the surety will guarantee that the project is completed by Aug. 1. It isn’t clear yet whether Ohio Casualty will use D. Dean & Associates to fulfill the contract or choose another firm.

In addition to officials of D. Dean and Associates, the school authority and other parties involved in the default could not be reached for comment.

Another project where D. Dean was at work, the Newnan Convention Center, an events and conference center in Newnan, Ga., also apparently must be completed by the surety. According to media reports, Danny Dean in April notified Ohio Casualty officials of his company’s financial distress. He reportedly stated that his company would go out of business without help from Ohio Casualty.

According to D. Dean’s website, Danny Dean started the company in 2009 after selling his interest in another contractor to a partner in 1999.

Pittsburgh correspondent Jonathan Barnes, who has reported for Fortune and the Wall Street Journal, has published essays in Sampsonia Way, Dos Passos Review and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Deputy Editor Richard Korman helps run ENR's business and legal news and investigations, selects ENR's commentary and oversees editorial content on ENR.com. In 2023 the American Society of Business Publication Editors awarded Richard the Stephen Barr Award, the highest honor for a single feature story or investigation, for his story on the aftermath of a terrible auto crash in Kentucky in 2019, and in 2015 the American Business Media awarded him the Timothy White Award for investigations of surety fraud and workplace bullying. A member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Richard has been a fellow on drone safety with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Richard's freelance writing has appeared in the Seattle Times, the New York Times, Business Week and the websites of The Atlantic and Salon.com. He admires construction projects that finish on time and budget, compensate all team members fairly and record zero fatalities or serious injuries.

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