The Daily Dig:
Manhattan Construction Company announced the retirement of Bob Vecera, Senior Vice President, after 45 years with the firm. Vecera joined in 1981 as an office engineer, rose through project leadership, served as Oklahoma operations manager starting in 2002, and returned to Houston in 2010 as SVP overseeing contract evaluation and risk mitigation. He spent a decade as an adjunct professor at his alma mater, the University of Houston, and led internal training through Manhattan's MCMI and the NAMC Fundamentals of Construction Management, helping shape "The Manhattan Way."
His resume spans two states. Texas: Amoco Center, River Center, 701 Harris County Jail, Harris County Criminal Justice Center, Baker Street Jail, METRO Fallbrook Bus Facility, NRG Stadium, and AT&T Stadium. Oklahoma: Cimarron Casino (Iowa Tribe), Downstream Casino Resort (Quapaw Nation), Saint Francis Children's Hospital, St. John Medical Center additions, the BOK Center, and the Oklahoma State Capitol dome addition.
Snapshot:
Company: Manhattan Construction Company
Executive: Bob Vecera, Senior Vice President
Announcement Date: February 11, 2026
Tenure: 45 years (joined 1981 as office engineer)
Career Milestones: Oklahoma Operations Manager (2002); Senior Vice President, Houston (2010)
Project Volume: $10B+ nationwide
Notable Projects: NRG Stadium, AT&T Stadium, BOK Center (Cesar Pelli, 2008), Oklahoma State Capitol dome
Education: Adjunct Professor, University of Houston Construction Management (10 years)
Safety: 1M work hours without a lost-time incident (Oklahoma)
TheJobWalk Thoughts:
Forty-five years is a long time to learn how one person thinks, and trade partners, repeat clients, and BD teams spent years doing exactly that. Vecera's fingerprints were on contract structure, risk allocation, delivery strategy, and leadership development across corrections, healthcare, gaming, and major sports venues. For anyone with active pursuits or ongoing work at Manhattan, the real question isn't ceremonial, it's who's now sitting across the table during contract reviews and how risk conversations are going to land. Long-tenured executives don't just hold relationships; they shape the internal logic of how deals get done. That logic doesn't transfer automatically when someone walks out the door.
Courtesy of Manhattan Construction
