When Terry Bryant first learned that he was being honored by the Odessa Chamber of Commerce as the Co-Entrepreneur of the Year, he initially thought it was a joke.
However, Bryant, who is the co-owner of Jones Bros. Dirt and Paving Contractors along with Ronnie Jones, said he’s very grateful to receive this year’s prestigious award.
“I thought it was a joke. I said ‘who is this?’ but I’m very honored,” Bryant said.
Bryant and Jones were both named to this year’s Co-Entrepreneurs of the Year and were honored with a special banquet ceremony Tuesday at the Odessa Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.
Jones was unable to make it to Tuesday’s ceremony due to scheduling conflicts.
“I’m sad that my partner couldn’t be with us today, but he had some conflicts in scheduling that he just couldn’t change,” Bryant said. “He’s sorry that he couldn’t make it but he’s as thrilled as I am.”
Each year since 1988, the Odessa Chamber of Commerce has awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year award to a successful business person from around the community.
“We are very honored to recognize Terry Bryant and Ronnie Jones for their tremendous impact on the growth of this community,” Odessa Chamber of Commerce President Renee Earls said. “There are few roads that you drive on that haven’t been impacted by the Jones brothers so we’re happy that they are being honored as co-entrepreneurs for all the decades of work that they have put into their businesses as well as the community impact they have made.”
It was in 1993 when one of the founders of Jones Bros. Dirt and Paving Contractors, Barney Jones, was honored as the Entrepreneur of the Year.
The business was started in 1952 by Barney and Earl Jones.
It wasn’t long before Jones Bros. Dirt and Paving Contractors took off and today, it remains a successful business, employing around 300 individuals.
“It’s a special honor,” Bryant said. “It really has another amplifier to it in that Barney Jones, who started Jones Brothers back in 1952, he was honored as the Entrepreneur of the Year back in 1993. We’re very honored to be able to come up and stand where he stood 31 years ago.”
Bryant was born in Houston before moving to Odessa in 1959. He attended Midland High where he graduated in 1969 and continued his studies at Tarleton State University where he earned a Bachelors Degree of Science.
Before assuming the helm of Jones Bros. Dirt and Paving Contractors in 2005, succeeding Barney Jones, Bryant honed his skills and expertise at the Texas Department of Transportation where he served as a project manager.
“Our primary customer is TxDOT,” Bryant said. “We’ve been building highways in the Permian Basin since 1952. We also do city and county work for both Midland and Ector Counties.”
Ronnie Jones dove into the business, working full time for the construction company after graduating from Permian High School.
Bryant and Ronnie Jones were both inducted into the Odessa Chamber Business Hall of Fame in 2016.
“This honor is very high for me on the rankings,” Bryant said. “I’ve served as statewide president for Associated General Contractors of Texas which was a real honor. I got to represent our industry in Washington and all over the state of Texas. It was a good honor.”
Also being honored on Tuesday were new inductees into the Business Hall of Fame.
This year’s inductees include Scharlena Armstrong, Toby Franco, John Herriage, Laurie Johnson and Willie Taylor.
“We have a wide range of people that we’re honoring and I’m glad that the chamber is able to do this,” Earls said.
