Los Angeles, CA - February 6, 2014 - Bernards, a nationally ranked commercial builder headquartered in Los Angeles, is pleased to announce leadership promotions to ensure a smooth transition into its fifth successful decade as a premier multidisciplinary builder in the Southwest.
Privately owned and founded in 1974 by brothers Doug, Greg and Jeff Bernards, the company has grown steadily over the past forty years. Today, with four regional offices throughout California and the Southwest in addition to its Los Angeles headquarters, Bernards employs more than 280 qualified professionals.
Bernards attributes their business success to a careful balance of investment in their people; progressive, leading-edge technology; and commitment to providing a better experience for their clients. By delivering outstanding construction services and technical expertise to developers, corporations, educational institutions and public agencies, Bernards has earned their clients’ trust in the firm’s integrity, quality and value demonstrated in a wide range of project types.
The owners began planning for Bernards’ long-term continuity over the past few years. “An important step in this process was our decision to realign our leadership structure and position our business for continued growth and success,” said CEO and cofounder Doug Bernards. “It is my great pleasure to announce recent promotions within our strong leadership team. Our goal is to support all of our employees in their continuing efforts to deliver Bernards’ top-ranked building services while adhering to our company’s core values.”
· Doug Bernards will continue to serve as CEO. He is turning over his responsibilities as president of the company to his brother Jeff G. Bernards, who will oversee the company’s daily business and coordination among all departments.
· Former Executive Vice President Greg Simons has been promoted to Chief Operations Officer, leading the company’s operations group that manages all project-related functions.
· Steve Pellegren, formerly Vice President of Preconstruction, has been promoted to Executive Vice President, overseeing the functions of business development, marketing, design management, preconstruction and estimating.
These promotions represent a milestone in Bernards’ strategic positioning for future decades of continued successful business partnerships and service to its clients. “The members of our longtime executive team have dedicated themselves to the good of our company over many years. Nothing is more satisfying to me than to see them continue to grow in their leadership roles and to lead our company to the next level of excellence,” said Doug Bernards. “This is an exciting time for our company.”
Known for being committed to continuous improvement of the planning, design and construction process, Bernards has an active role in the resurgence of the commercial construction industry in Southern California. Over the past 40 years, the firm has had many prominent clients and iconic projects across multiple market sectors.
Just a few of the many significant projects that Bernards has managed or built since its inception include: the Colossus Roller Coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain-Valencia; Metro Detention Center-Los Angeles; Americana at Brand-Glendale; El Encanto Hotel renovation-Santa Barbara; Wilshire La Brea–Los Angeles; 8500-Beverly Hills; Tehachapi Acute Care Hospital; Atascadero City Hall rehabilitation; Lincoln Place Apartments-Venice; and the recently completed Rose Bowl Stadium Renovation in Pasadena. Additionally, Bernards received national recognition for the Best Educational Project in the U.S. by ENR magazine for its Kravis Center project at Claremont McKenna College.
Building a reputation for quality, efficiency and technical expertise has earned Bernards top billing as a commercial builder throughout the Western U.S. region and a significant market share of the multifamily and educational construction sectors. Bernards is currently playing a major role in the resurgence of multifamily development in Southern California, building more than one-third of the units under way in Los Angeles and Orange County, Calif., markets. Bernards built 2,600 of the 8,100 new multifamily units which were under construction in 2013 in the two-county region, according to a report by Marcus & Millichap.
Bernards also was selected to manage the expansion of primary and secondary school and community college facilities in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Arcadia, Manhattan Beach, Riverside, and Santa Ana, as well as construction of two new high schools in the San Joaquin Valley. Over the last few years, Bernards has also provided construction services for academic, residential, administrative and sports facilities on college and university campuses throughout California and Arizona.
Bernards has continued to grow its workforce, even during the economic downturn, and has steadily increased its workforce by 10% during the past year and is already on the same track for 2014. Moreover, Bernards seeks to employ workers in communities where it works, winning the firm a reputation as a socially conscious employer. Attesting to this focus on their employees, Bernards was selected for the last two consecutive years as one of the “100 Best Places to Work in Los Angeles”, an annual assessment sponsored by the Los Angeles Business Journal.
About Bernards
Bernards is a nationally ranked, multidisciplinary commercial builder & construction management company that provides technical expertise and outstanding professional services to developers, corporate entities, educational institutions and governmental agencies. Areas of expertise include comprehensive preconstruction, general contracting, construction management, program management, design-build, building information modeling (BIM), and integrated project delivery (IPD) services. Bernards’ projects include sports and entertainment venues, health care facilities, mixed-use complexes, multifamily housing, and educational, detention, and civic facilities. The company’s core values include a focus on safety, quality, sustainability, diversity and community involvement. Bernards is headquartered in Los Angeles, with four additional regional offices throughout California and the Southwest and employing more than 280 employees, 53 of whom are LEED® Accredited Professionals. For more information, visit www.bernards.com.
