Our Team, Our Family

Northwood Construction believes in fostering a strong sense of community within our team. In fact, many of our full-time employees have been with the company for at least 15 years. All of this translates into a more positive experience for both our staff and clients.

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Bob Benedict

President and Owner

A Northern Virginia native and graduate of Virginia Tech, Bob has been in the remodeling industry for over 34 years and has extensive industry credentials.

He is the Qualified Individual on Northwood Construction’s Class “A” Contractor License and holds the Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) certification from the National Association of Home Builders. Bob is a National Association of Remodeling Industry (NARI) Certified Remodeler #3042 and a NARI Certified Kitchen and Bath Remodeler #0140. In addition to being a past instructor for NARI’s “Certified Lead Carpenter” course and an instructor for NARI’s “Certified Kitchen and Bath Remodeler” course, Bob has been an active member of NARI’s Metro DC Chapter’s Education Committee, a member of the Remodeler’s Advantage Roundtables and has been quoted in the Washington Post and Remodeling Magazine.

In his spare time, Bob volunteers extensively in the local community. He served 12 years on the Board of Directors of the Herndon Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce, is a past President, Treasurer, board member, and active member of the Herndon Rotary Club, a former Herndon Youth Soccer coach, and a past Scoutmaster and current merit badge counselor of a local Boy Scout troop. Bob is also an active advocate for raising awareness of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.

Bob and his family are dog lovers and provide a good home for three English Labs. Described as “a nice guy with a good sense of humor,” Bob has been married for 35 years and has four children.

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Whitney Simons

Operations Manager

Most days, you’ll find Whitney designing or helping our clients with the selection process. She loves learning about the remodeling industry through training seminars but enjoys getting her hands in on the action in the field when given the opportunity.

Whitney helps in design, sales, and project management at Northwood. After graduating college at George Mason University, Whitney had the opportunity to work in the construction industry for five and half years before coming to Northwood.

When she isn’t at Northwood, you can find her throwing the frisbee for her German Shorthaired Pointer, Obi-Wan Kenobi, or enjoying being a mom. She welcomed her first child, Lucy Lou, in November 2021.

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Tran Truong

Lead Designer

Tran’s natural talent is creativity. She is a superb artist and talented designer with a strong understanding of how design impacts construction.

Tran began her journey with Northwood Construction in 2018 as an intern while studying interior design at Northern Virginia Community College. In May 2021, she graduated with top honors from Marymount University with a B.S. Interior Design. Tran’s natural talent is creativity (and smiling). She is a superb artist and talented designer with a strong understanding of how design impacts construction. While at Marymount, Tran was selected for the 2020 WindowsWear Mentorship Program in partnership with COACH® where she was on a design team that helped design a Coach Storefront window display in Jakarta, Indonesia. The competition was to create a retail shopping experience for COACH’s “Holiday 2030” campaign, and she won first place.

Tran’s skill at operating modern 3D design software is rivaled only by her attention to detail and enthusiasm for learning. We are very fortunate to have her on our team.

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Ann Cheethams

Comptroller & CPA

Ann joined the Northwood team in the Summer 2020. She has a B.S. in Commerce with a concentration in Accounting from the University of Virginia.

When Ann isn’t in the office, you can find her at the beach or traveling with her husband.

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Amanda Santos

Project Coordinator

Amanda joined our team in August 2023. One of her favorite activities is collaborating with project managers to create effective schedules. She has been gaining valuable knowledge from them in the field, which has been a wonderful experience.

Amanda holds a degree in Business from Paulista University, which she earned with a full scholarship. She is halfway through her MBA at the University of the Potomac, where she is focusing on project management.

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her mini-Aussie, Athena, exploring new places, and working out with her husband at the gym.

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Dan Clark

Project Manager/Lead Carpenter

Dan has 36 years of experience in the construction and remodeling industry. He receives rave reviews from each and every project he manages, with feedback stating how pleasant, professional and hard-working he is.

Dan has 36 years of experience in the construction and remodeling industry and actually worked for us in the early 90’s. He left Northwood under great terms and with the understanding that the door would always be open to return. Now he’s back as a Northwood team member and we couldn’t be happier.

Dan receives rave reviews from each and every project he manages, with feedback stating how pleasant, professional and hard-working he is, paying great attention to detail and respecting the homeowner’s space.

Dan has been married for 30 years to his lovely wife Donna and has two grown sons. Being ever the optimist, Dan always has a positive attitude and a smile for everyone he meets. He loves to play golf when he has the time. When he doesn’t, he’s even happy just watching golf. Rarely will you see Dan without his baseball cap. He keeps busy at the house with 3 dogs of his own.

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Mark Evans

Project Manager/Lead Carpenter

A 25-year veteran at Northwood Construction, Mark has over 30 years of experience in the remodeling industry.

Mark is an active member of his church and a drummer in several church bands. Mark is a NARI Certified Lead Carpenter and, as far as we can tell, may own one of every type of tool invented by man.

Mark and his wife have been married for over 32 years, and they have two children together.

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Morgan Shorey

Project Manager/Lead Carpenter

Morgan has worked in the construction industry for more than 30 years—23 of which have been in remodeling.

He has four children, two dogs, and three of the “most beautiful grandbabies in the entire world!!” He enjoys fishing, listening to music and ‘breathing quality oxygen.’ (As you can see, he is also the resident Northwood comedian).

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Roger Rohrbaugh

Project Manager/Lead Carpenter

Roger, previously worked with us twenty years ago, but as one of our quality subcontractors. Roger has his Class A contractor’s license and is very experienced, having been in the industry for close to 40 years.

Roger began in the remodeling business at the age of 14, helping his father on construction jobs. His father, currently age 76 as of 2020, is STILL working in the industry on the commercial side. Roger continued to pursue his passion and started his own remodeling company in 1986.

He and his wife of 30 years are proud parents of two children, a daughter and a son. He’s a native of Northern Virginia, born at Fairfax Hospital, and held the record for many years as the largest baby born, coming in at 11 pounds, 10 ounces. In his spare time, Roger enjoys fishing.

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Chris Henwood

Project Manager/Lead Carpenter

For many of our clients, you will be happy to hear that Chris is back with our team. In total, Chris has worked with Bob for 30 years. In Chris’ spare time, you will find him walking outdoors, training his new puppy or enjoying time with his wife.

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Charlie Cooke

Project Manager/Lead Carpenter

Charlie is a life-long resident of Northern VA, with over 30 years of experience building and remodeling in this area. He has owned and operated a construction company for 15 years building relationships and completing beautiful projects and is thrilled to be a part of the Northwood Team.

Charlie and his wife, Amy, of 30+ years, reside near the Occoquan River where they raised their six children.  He spends his free time fishing on the river and cultivating his garden.  One very satisfying project was building their own house as a family creating memories and faith-building stories along the way. 

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Annie and Grace

Welcome Committee

Annie and Grace are part-time employees for the company.  On the occasion, you will find them together in the office holding down the carpet or following Bob around.  While food patrol is their primary occupation, they absolutely love to greet everyone that walks through the door.

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Do you have a cool home remodel in mind?

No matter how far along you are with exploring options, reach out to us. We are happy to hear what you are looking for and share a bit about us, too, to see if we are a good fit.