I’m excited for two big reasons today.
Reason 1: We’re kicking off our Meet Pittsburgh series, where we highlight some of our favorite fellow business owners in the neighborhoods we call home.
Reason 2: We’re starting with Tom Berna (my brother!) of Berna Construction.
If you’re unfamiliar, Berna Construction is a fantastic construction company specializing in gorgeous home improvement projects. And, as you’ll see in a moment, Tom shares many of our same values.
Values like:
Do good for your community.
Go above and beyond for your customers.
Go above and beyond for your team.
We sat down with Tom to capture more of his story.
The Origins of Berna Construction
Tom started his business soon after the 2008 housing crash. Back then, he’d decided to flip houses one at a time, and he lived in each home as he completed it.
I still remember his very first flip back in Texas. He invited me over to see the home—where he was sleeping on the floor—and he made it very clear: “Before we do anything else, we have to bomb the roaches.”
For Tom, it was a humbling experience. But through the rough conditions of “urban camping,” he learned about houses—and he also learned that flipping them is an arduous, emotional process.
Eventually, Tom realized two things:
There was much more money to be made (and less stress) in construction.
He could build long-term wealth by focusing on renting out his properties instead of selling them as flips.
Plus, as he jokes, “I was sick of seeing how good my lungs were at purging dust from old homes.”
Berna Construction Today
Tom’s very clear about who he isn’t: “We’re not like the Bath Fitters of the world, where they’re turning out job after job.”
Instead, Berna Construction is all about building strong relationships with their clients to maximize value on each project. Instead of tackling a bathroom here or a closet there, Berna Construction is all about long-term relationships—home renovation projects that could include a deck, an addition, a new kitchen, and a new master bathroom.
At any given time, Berna Construction has 15–20 people on payroll, and many of them have been around for multiple years. Their office manager, for example, has been a loyal team member for nearly 14 years.
And it’s not hard to understand why employee retention is so strong. “Money isn’t my main driving force in business,” Tom says. “Yes, I have to make a profit, but what really gets me jazzed is seeing my team members build better lives for themselves.”
Tom means that figuratively and literally.
One employee bought a house for $150,000 only a mile from Bakery Square, and the Berna Construction team added a new bathroom, new floors, new HVAC, and a new roof.
Another team member was able to buy a duplex. And thanks to Tom’s guidance, the team member will be able to rent out half to turn it into an income property.
“We always do our renovation loans at cost or a discount for our employees. Home improvement is a wealth-building opportunity, and I want our team members to have a faster track to all the resources I had to earn through trial and error.”
Tom is equally passionate about benefits. All employees receive PTO, health coverage, and a retirement plan with a 5% company match. “Something that burns me up is when a company is making plenty of money, but the employees are living paycheck to paycheck—especially when leadership has a huge compensation package.”
Not surprisingly, Tom applies that same community-focused approach to customer service as well.
“We’re always willing to remain flexible in order to make the customer happy,” Tom says. That’s especially true when things occasionally go wrong—which is inevitable in construction. “We recently installed a specialty wooden floor in a completely dry basement, but the boards still buckled. To make it right, we removed the floor for free and replaced it with a high-quality carpet built for basements.”
Take a look through some of the company’s reviews, and you’ll see exactly why customers love working with Berna Construction. A perfect example:
“My partner and I worked with Berna Construction on a major renovation of our home and feel very confident recommending them to other homeowners. Their team is communicative, kind, and professional and we’re absolutely obsessed with the final result! They’ve stayed in touch after the project completion and even helped us with a couple of additional projects. It’s awesome to have a relationship with a contractor I can trust.” -Erin Potts
Building A Rental Portfolio—Responsibly
As you know, it took us a few years to navigate the ethics of real estate investing and arrive at a landlord approach that felt right to us.
Well, Tom figured it out ages ago. As an owner or part-owner of 70 rentals throughout Pittsburgh, Tom has always focused on supporting low-income neighborhoods with good quality housing that appreciates in value.
More importantly, his tenants are consistently as happy as Berna Construction customers.
For Tom, owning a rental portfolio achieves two missions:
It builds long-term wealth for himself and his family.
It allows him to give back to Pittsburgh by offering affordable, dignified housing opportunities where tenants can be proud to call home.
Work With Berna Construction
If you’d like to work with Berna Construction, contact them. Tom and his team primarily work “between the two rivers,” meaning they specialize in Pittsburgh’s east end—as far west as Polish Hill and as far east as Penn Hills.
To learn even more, follow Berna Construction on Facebook.