From Hattiesburg to Leakesville, Mississippi—and from the battlefields of the Middle East to job sites across the Gulf South—Chad Denmark has spent his life answering the call to serve. A 20-year veteran of the Mississippi Army National Guard, Chad now brings that same commitment, leadership, and selfless mindset to his role as General Foreman over Iron and Equipment at Performance Contractors.
Service runs deep in Chad’s family. His father, uncle, and grandfather all wore the uniform, with his grandfather serving as a U.S. Marine. When 9/11 happened during Chad’s senior year of high school, it solidified what he already felt in his heart. “I joined immediately after,” he said. “I wanted to serve my country.”
Chad’s military career took him from Private (E1) to Sergeant First Class (E7), with training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and multiple overseas deployments. He spent 12 months in Iraq in 2005, 10 months in Afghanistan in 2010–2011, and nine months in Kuwait in 2018. Across two decades of service, he learned the true meaning of discipline, honor, respect, and what it means to put others before yourself.
Those lessons translate directly to how he leads today. “The military taught me selfless service and how to be a leader,” Chad said. “How to put my people before me.”
Construction has been part of Chad’s story just as long as the military. Growing up, he followed his industrial construction worker father to job sites, learning early that the trades offered not only a strong career, but a way to build something that lasts. Over the years, Chad has served as a foreman over multiple crafts, including iron, equipment, pipe, boilermakers, rigging, and more. He’s worked with Performance on and off for more than 20 years, building both projects and relationships along the way.
One thing that has always stood out to him is how Performance supports its veterans. “There’s a lot of respect here,” he shared. “They always understood my National Guard duties and worked with me.”
When he’s not on the job, Chad is most at home outdoors—hunting, fishing, spending time on the river or in the boat, and making memories with his son. Whether in uniform, on site, or in the woods, he lives by the same values: service, leadership, and putting family and team first.
We’re proud to recognize Chad Denmark for his decades of dedication and for the steady, servant-minded leadership he brings to the Performance family every day.
