Published on: November 12, 2025
Ricardo Avila is a senior superintendent at Charter Communications and is among the most seasoned and dedicated members of our team with 27 years of experience under his belt.
As an experienced tradesman and leader, Ricardo is in his element on construction sites of any size or complexity, but the long journey of his career comes down to not one, but two, leaps of faith.
While working in a California produce field, Ricardo’s older brother, Gaspar Avila, ventured out to Tennessee to fulfill an entry-level job opportunity with Charter Construction in 1997. On his own, and without the support of family and friends, Gaspar boldly took the initiative to shape a better future for himself—one that he was compelled to share with his brother, Ricardo.
Within a year, Gaspar had convinced Ricardo to leave the familiar comforts of home on the West Coast and join him in Nashville to explore the possibilities of a construction career together, as brothers.
Like Gaspar, Ricardo began on the first rung of the ladder by helping to clean up job sites and keeping material and equipment squared away, starting with the construction of Dollar General’s corporate headquarters in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.
But, before long, he developed an interest in the carpenter’s role as he watched them build scaffolding, install framing, and create forms on various job sites.
With the help of some mentors who provided him with training to develop his own skill set, he was promoted to work as a carpenter in short order. It was an important milestone and a source of pride for Ricardo, but it would be the first of many opportunities he’d earn to advance his career.
“At Charter, when you first start working, you’re encouraged to experience a little bit of everything,” explained Ricardo. “It’s how you learn new skills, find out what you enjoy doing, and gain opportunities to be promoted and earn more money.”
Over the next two decades, Ricardo continued to add to his skill set and worked as a heavy equipment operator and then as a “layout man,” as he described it, who was responsible for planning and installing major structural elements like columns, walls, and slabs.
In 2019, he was promoted to superintendent, a position of immense responsibility that requires on-the-job experience and expertise in every aspect of a concrete construction project.
His first assignment as superintendent was to manage the development of Broadwest, one of the company’s largest projects. It encompasses 2,375,000 square feet of concrete slabs across a 34-story condo and hotel, a 21-story office building, and a 4-story multi-use structure in downtown Nashville.
Last year, he became a senior superintendent and played a crucial leadership role in the creation of Nashville Yards Parcel 3—the city’s tallest high-rise office building and the first project of its kind in Nashville to incorporate carbon-reduction concrete rated at 15,000 and 16,000 PSI to support the building’s record-setting height while also lowering its greenhouse gas emissions.
When asked to reflect on his favorite jobs, Ricardo is thoughtful in providing a response.
“I don’t really have a favorite,” he replied. “I think about Broadwest and Nashville Yards. But, to me, every job is the same because I take care of every job the same way no matter how big or small—by making sure our crew is safe and that we’re providing the highest quality work possible.”
