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What’s in a name
Building up capital
Beraht owners (L-R) Mike Roberts, Michael Roberts, and Andrew Roberts.
Kyle and Amber Baker, who are brother and sister, took over Capital Insulation from their father three years ago.
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wo years ago, Mike D. Roberts, CEO of Beraht Envelope Systems, had a construction company with a friend, but after their office was ruined during the Tax Day flood, they decided to go their separate ways. Before the split, Michael G. Roberts, Mike’s son and CBO, asked his dad if he could help out. “I got tired of being in the retail industry and was just looking for something different.” Andrew Roberts, COO and Mike’s younger brother, was the first to discover the envelope wall product after seeing it being used at a past site. He did more research and they all decided to make that their specialty. In fact, Michael did his capstone project for his Master’s degree on the system.
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www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 14 H Number 11 H NOVEMBER 2017
s you drive down any freeway in Houston, you will see a variety of car dealerships. What makes the Mercedes- Benz of West Houston dealership different is the amount of class and eye-catching architecture. Wier Construction was the general contractor for the project. Steve Wier founded the company in 1991 after working almost a decade in the commercial construction industry. A motto at the company is “a handshake is all it takes” to get a project done, meaning responsibility and integrity are alive and well at Wier Enterprises. The Wier Construction team, which included David Ruiz as the project manager and superintendents Tom Hilbun and Barry Blum, were in charge of providing “Sewell Automotive with a fullservice automotive facility for the Mercedes brand,” explains Tim McLean who is a senior project manager for Wier Con-
Mike has been in the industry for some time now. “When I was a kid, my dad did odd construction jobs so I was around it and I would go out to the jobsites and see what was going on. I’ve been in construction since I was 18 years old, and I’m 59 now.” This was the same way his brother Andrew got into the industry. The name of the company is more than just a name; it is something special. Andrew says it’s important that people know “we are Beraht because it’s a derivative of our last name.” Michael came up with the name after doing some research and finding out that Beraht means bright, brilliant, and illuminating. “Faith is the foundation of our company. Part of our vision is to be a blessing
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amily-owned and operated since 1980, Capital Insulation is beginning to grow in thanks to Kyle and Amber Baker who took over the business about three years ago. The Baker’s grandfather started a business called Capital Drywall and Robert Baker, Kyle and Amber’s dad, branched off and started Capital Insulation. He ran the company on the side, but never gave much thought to expanding, and now Kyle and Amber are working on making a name in the industry. Their dad isn’t fully retired, but “when he has other things to do, he won’t come into the office,” laughs Kyle. “My dad still comes in every week, Monday
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through Thursday until about 2pm. I don’t think he’s worked a Friday in the past three years, though.” Although it can be tough to work with family members, Kyle says Amber and he can set aside their differences and focus on the big picture. “It’s nice to have my sister handling all of the finances because I can completely trust her. I couldn’t imagine having anyone else in that position.” Amber mentions that they also have some cousins who work with them and the office administrator is a long time friend of hers. “We’ve known each other since preschool. I have a Polaroid picture of her and me in third grade.” Although they have made some continued on Page 14
Driving elegance
The exterior windows of the Mercedes-Benz dealership allows customers a view of the cars.
struction. The $30 million, 195,000sf facility includes sales, service, collision, and inventory all under one roof and was completed in one year. McLean says, “The site chosen included an existing and abandoned building that once housed a SAM’s Wholesale store. The program by Gensler Architects called for this building to be re-modeled into a facility to house the service/parts department, climatized inventory room, and collision center.” The showroom and sales department are new construction, which was built in the existing parking lot for the former store. “This new construction adjoined the remodel, yet was the architecture’s chance to set apart and marquee the Mercedes design standards as the focal point and main entrance to the facility,” expounds McLean. He goes on to say, “As with any concontinued on Page 14