The Grand Design
Brentwood Builders stays committed to project diversity and complexity
When Joe Harkleroad was growing up in the Washington, D.C. area, he followed his father to a construction site most nights after dinner. The oldest of seven children just thought he was helping his dad. Later, when he worked on construction jobs during college, it was a way to earn some extra money. And when he started a small contracting company after college, it was something he thought he’d do for a year or so before settling into a career.
“My dad was a grocery clerk, but every night after dinner he’d go back out and do what he really loved doing, which was construction work,” Joe says. “I went with him, and that’s where I started learning about construction. I kept doing it in college and even after college—I just thought it was a means to an end.”
Somewhere along the way, Joe realized he already had a career. And in 1979, at the age of 24, he started Brentwood Builders, Inc., which has since evolved into a full-service construction company based in Ohio. The firm specializes in construction management and design-build services, and caters to commercial and residential clients.
It wasn’t long after he started Brentwood Builders that Joe began to realize he wasn’t satisfied with the status quo, or with doing business the way it was done in the contracting world. He recognized that there was a lot of difference between knowing construction and running a construction company.
“I knew how to do the work and I had a business minor from college, but I didn’t really know how to run a company,” Joe recalls. “I was borrowing money, had 13 guys on my payroll and I was going after every project I could find with a mindset that I could take anything on. As the company moved forward and I matured, I realized it was a bad business plan. The first five years were just extremely difficult. I started in 1979, at the height of stagflation, and it was the worst time to try to start a business. Fortunately, God sustained us during those early years.”
He adds: “When I first started, all I knew was a traditional general contractor approach as a delivery method for construction. Get on a bid list, perform the work, move on. I realized I didn’t like the relationships in that environment. Often, the owner and the architect could be in conflict and I was on the third corner. I wanted to find a better way. I started to read and understand design-build and construction management methods of delivery.”
Joe wanted to create a new vision and a new way of doing business, which he found in the design-build philosophy of construction. Rather than placing bids to work on only certain parts of a job and chasing work wherever it could be found, he wanted to focus on crafting a beginning-to-end relationship with a client to understand exactly what the client needed, and to work hand-in-hand with the client to bring the project to fruition.
“Design-build and construction management philosophies are different from the standard bid process,” Joe says. “With these approaches, we can go in and work with clients from the beginning, understand their needs, their schedules and their budgets. It gives everyone an opportunity to weigh in, to consult, to create a relationship with the client—and it has worked wonderfully.”
Pillars of Success
Under Joe’s guidance as President of Brentwood Builders, the company has grown into a pillar of success that sustains the local community. The business has established three divisions—commercial, residential and remodeling. The team’s remodeling projects are usually the smallest in dollar value compared to projects in other divisions, but have been essential in helping the company survive hard economic times. One noteworthy residential venture currently taking place is the development of a 33-acre single-family residential neighborhood, where the team is building two or three houses at a time.
“Name it, and we’ve done it,” Joe says.
Faith has always been a central pillar of Joe’s life, who has been a deacon for many years and is now a church elder. It’s only natural that his spiritual principles would become part and parcel of his business as well, incorporated into Brentwood Builders’ mission statement and exemplified in the way the company operates. This has also, somewhat by accident, come to fuel part of the company’s portfolio of projects.
Joe is a graduate of Cedarville University, a Baptist university that prepares a number of its graduates for the ministry, including many of Joe’s friends. As these fellow students became leaders in their churches, they knew they had a friend to call on when their church facilities needed work.
After doing a few projects for different churches in the area, Joe says he answered the phone one day and the person on the other end asked, “Is this the church builder?” Joe didn’t realize the marketing opportunity at the time, but soon understood there was an exceptional prospect there, not just to bring in more business but to serve God while doing so.
“Now, we’re known as ‘the church-builder,’” Joe says. “It’s not all we do, but we do work on a lot of churches. Something that we’re really acknowledged for throughout the state is that we’re a reliable, ministry-minded firm. Our team’s commitment and integrity and the desire to help people is impeccable.”
As an example of suiting works to principle, Joe points to a commercial building that Brentwood Builders owns. During the worst of the recession in 2008, the building lost most of its tenants and was no longer profitable. Though the easiest thing to do would be to stop making payments and allow the building to go into foreclosure, Joe hasn’t done so, citing his commitment to the bank and determination to do the right thing.
“That kind of reputation is priceless,” Joe says. “People know we’re going to do what we say we’re going to do … it’s who we are.”
Handling Any Challenge
What makes Brentwood Builders the best at what it does, in Joe’s view, is its commitment to project diversity and complexity, which has defined and sustained the company since its inception almost 40 years ago. This general contractor has nine employees and two regular consultants—and Joe is determined to keep the business small. The team is adept at handling medium-size, challenging jobs that are too “small” for major construction firms but too complex and difficult for most small- and medium-size contracting firms.
There are many old churches in the Miami Valley of Ohio, and one such church had a unique construction dilemma. It was built in 1848, elevated on a grade that positioned the church’s main entry at the top of a set of steps. The church’s leaders needed to find a way to improve ease of access for an aging population of parishioners without losing the building’s historical look. The only answers they were getting from large construction companies were to change the grade of the building and construct a drive-up ramp, which was too expensive and would damage the look of the building, and possibly its structural integrity. Joe and his team had another idea. They left the grade as it was, but built a four-stop elevator on the back of the building, with a façade that mirrored the existing structure.
“We excavated the basement and took great care in shoring up and underpinning the foundation of original bricks,” Joe explains. “It was extremely difficult; not many construction businesses would be willing to take on something like that.”
From Process to Product
Part of what enables Brentwood Builders to succeed with such difficult projects is its meticulous approach to construction, Joe emphasizes. At the beginning of each project, his team works closely with the client to make sure there is agreement on the expectations, the budget and most of all the schedule.
“Our entire plan is predicated on managing the schedule, budget and quality of the project we’re currently working on,” Joe says. “We can’t let an attempt to bring in new business pollute the quality of the work we’re doing. It’s a bit of a balancing act, of course, as you have to keep new business in the pipeline, but everything is about supporting our project managers. It’s all about trying to delight the client with the process as well as the finished product.”
Project managers at Brentwood Builders take ownership of every project and get involved with the client as soon as possible. The project managers are responsible for coordinating everything, from the time of project inception through the end of the warranty period.
“Some companies may pass the baton between managers five or six times during the life of project,” Joe says. “We want each of our project managers to get the baton as soon as possible and keep it throughout the building process.”
When asked about the key to his company’s longevity and flourishing business prospects, Joe is quick to give the credit to others.
“The reason for my success is God has wanted us to be in business. Joe adds, “We have also brought the right people onto this high-performance team. They’re amazing, and their commitment to the work, to clients and to one another is what has made us successful.”