Fox-ESA Joint Venture Awarded First Federal Construction Project at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center

ESA South and Fox Environmental Solutions have officially begun their first project under the Fox-ESA Joint Venture (JV) with the Fire Main and Water Storage Replacement project at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Valued at $18 million, this effort focuses on modernizing critical utility infrastructure to ensure the facility has a safe, reliable, and code-compliant water supply to support both daily operations and emergency fire protection. The project includes replacing the facility’s fire main system, constructing a new pump facility, upgrading water storage capacity, and connecting new systems to existing utilities to meet VA safety and reliability standards.

The Fox-ESA JV combines the complementary strengths of both firms to deliver high-quality, best-value design-build projects for federal clients. Fox brings extensive experience in environmental remediation, abatement, and rapid response contracting, while ESA South contributes a deep federal construction portfolio spanning healthcare, defense, and infrastructure projects. As Fox’s mentor under an SBA-approved Mentor-Protégé Agreement, ESA provides technical guidance and operational leadership drawn from decades of experience delivering complex, occupied healthcare construction projects across the country.

ESA South’s past performance was instrumental in securing this award, particularly its work on multiple projects for the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center and other VA facilities across the Southeast. ESA successfully executed the Design-Construct Urgent Care Clinic at the same medical center—an 8,500-square-foot facility expansion that enhanced patient care capacity and provided new medical exam and procedure rooms. The firm also led the Repair and Expand Lab project at the VA Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System in Biloxi, MS, which required extensive phased demolition and renovation of occupied lab spaces while maintaining active operations. Additionally, ESA’s Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) expansion at another VA facility showcased the team’s ability to manage unforeseen site conditions, complex mechanical and plumbing challenges, and continuous infection control requirements in critical healthcare environments.

These projects reflect ESA South’s proven ability to deliver high-stakes infrastructure improvements in sensitive, occupied medical settings—experience that directly translates to the Fire Main and Water Storage Replacement effort. By leveraging ESA’s history of performance excellence and Fox’s agile, client-focused service model, the Fox-ESA JV is well positioned to deliver a project that strengthens the reliability, safety, and resilience of VA facilities serving our nation’s veterans. This partnership underscores both companies’ shared commitment to supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs’ mission of providing world-class healthcare to those who have served.