mvn install throws error "Pacakage ... does not exist" even though it exists

Question

I'm getting a compilation error when building a java project with instances of classes in client-a being using in controller:

/path/to/file/project/controller/Config.java [50,1] package com.stuff.clienta does not exist
cannot find symbol ClientAClass

So I recently added two new modules to a multi-module java project using Maven. module-a & client-a. Such that module-a is dependent on client-a. This project also has existing modules, and there is one "master" module that initializes all the beans in the project called controller, thereby, controller is dependent on client-a.

When running mvn install I get the error only on references to files in client-a in controller. module-b builds fine.

I've gone through all the answers here (Maven, package does not exist) and wasn't able to get past this issue.

Additionally, in the controller pom, I added the dependency as such

        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.stuff.clienta</groupId>
            <artifactId>client-a</artifactId>
        </dependency>

the exact same way as it is in module-a and I confirmed maven reactor is working because with this dependency, client-a gets built first, without, client-a gets built at the end.

Additionally, the parent pom has client-a as a dependency in the dependencyManagement section:

            <dependency>
                <groupId>com.stuff.clienta</groupId>
                <artifactId>client-a</artifactId>
                <version>${project.version}</version>
            </dependency>

Any guidance would be helpful. At this point I don't really think it's related to the pom, but something in the build. I've tried deleting the target folders and the .m2 folders (for just this project) then rebuilding but I get the same problem...

EDIT: parent pom info

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <packaging>pom</packaging>
    <modules>
        <module>controller</module>
        <module>module-a</module>
        <module>client-a</module>
    </modules>

    <groupId>com.stuff</groupId>
    <artifactId>root</artifactId>
    <version>1.0</version>
    <name>root</name>
    <description>Stuff</description>

    <properties>
        ... versions
    </properties>

    <dependencyManagement>
        <dependencies>
            <dependency>
                <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
                <artifactId>spring-boot-dependencies</artifactId>
                <version>${spring.boot.version}</version>
                <type>pom</type>
                <scope>import</scope>
            </dependency>
            <dependency>
                <groupId>com.stuff</groupId>
                <artifactId>controller</artifactId>
                <version>${project.version}</version>
            </dependency>
            <dependency>
                <groupId>com.stuff</groupId>
                <artifactId>module-a</artifactId>
                <version>${project.version}</version>
            </dependency>
            <dependency>
                <groupId>com.stuff</groupId>
                <artifactId>client-a</artifactId>
                <version>${project.version}</version>
            </dependency>
        </dependencies>
    </dependencyManagement>

    <build>
        <resources>
            <resource>
                <directory>src/main/resources</directory>
                <filtering>true</filtering>
            </resource>
        </resources>
        <pluginManagement>
            <plugins>
                ... springboot, mojo, checkstyle
            </plugins>
        </pluginManagement>
        <plugins>
            ... jacoco, checkstyle, maven
        </plugins>
        <extensions>
            ...
        </extensions>
    </build>
</project>