As Hoke County continues to expand through new residential and eventual commercial development, one of the key developers making it happen are also looking to grow. 

J & K General Contractors located in Hoke County are looking to expand their operations starting with a new headquarters currently under construction on Highway 401. 

The company, currently located at 1184 Fayetteville Rd. in Raeford was started by Jamal and Khaled Shahbain in 2002 and was originally located in Moore County. After moving to Hoke County in 2008, J & K has since become the largest contractor company in the county. 

“It was a small company, we were just doing renovations, building small houses here and there, and we moved here in 2008 and started doing the same thing, just working on smaller houses and renovations,” shared J & K Contractors President Jamal Shahbain. “We tried in 2008 to build a shopping center and we were denied, and then we tried again in 2014. We’ve built a few shopping centers in Moore County and started doing developments in 2016.” 

Now the company has presence in Moore, Robeson, Cumberland counties and in the Raleigh area working on both commercial and residential properties.

According to Shahbain, the company currently has 14 housing developments under construction throughout Hoke County and is currently on track to build at least 2,000 homes in the area within the next year. They have also secured larger contracts like the recently completed James A. Leach Aquatic & Recreation Center, and newer plans such as a new bowling alley coming to the area and a new high school building. 

Currently, the company employs more than 100 people but with the completion of their new building they expect to grow their operations as well as their staff. 

“With that office we're going to make an actual headquarters here for J & K and we’re looking to have about 300 employees when it's all said and done to bring more growth to the county. And we’ve been touching on how much easier it is to build here in Holk County and the growth and I  just want to say we're lucky to have growth minded leadership in the town that make things possible for us and not just us, for all the builders in the county,” shared J & K Project Manager J.R. Blackwell. 

More on J & K General contractors, their current projects and development plans will be featured in the upcoming Greater Fayetteville Business Journal’s print edition coming out on May 12, 2023.