Road commissioners announce Highway Dept. leadership change
For the first time in nearly three decades, Gibson County will have a new chief administrative officer in charge of the county’s 850-plus miles of roads and more than 215 county-owned bridges.
Highway Superintendent Carl E. Stoppenhagen is retiring at the end of December, making way for Brian H. Coleman to take over the shop beginning Jan. 1.
The Gibson County Road Board hired Coleman in October, and he started with the department in November, serving alongside Stoppenhagen until Stoppenhagen’s retirement. Coleman has been a project manager and superintendent for Dement Construction Company in Jackson since 2006. He has managed projects across West Tennessee and parts of Arkansas. Prior to his working at Dement Construction, he worked with the Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation.
Coleman holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Union University and an associate’s degree of divinity from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary.
Stoppenhagen is a past president for both the Tennessee County Highway Officials Association (2014-15) and the Tennessee County Services Association (2005-06), organizations that represent county highway officials at the statewide level. He is retiring after serving 27 years as highway superintendent.
