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CONSTRUCTION NEWS The Industry’s Newspaper
July 4th Independence Day
www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 24 H Number 7 H JULY 2022
Celebrating 35 years
Strength to overcome
Colton Parnes, Business Development and Project Management
Buddy Leist with his grandchildren L-R: Grant, Lucy, Kenzie, Christopher, Emilie, Violet and wife, Valerie
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hirty-five years ago, Grant Parnes stepped out on his own to start his own company. Having worked for a building engineer doing in-house remodels in a commercial office building, he knew his capabilities. Encouraged by his former employer to expanded on his talent, Grant Parnes started Parnes Construction in 1987 as a family-owned and operated general contracting company specializing in remodeling, tenant improvement and new finish-outs of commercial interiors. Of course, the ‘80s were a tough time. The economy plummeted as the savings and loan crisis reared its ugly head and the construction industry began to suffer. Financing was near to impossible, especially in the construction arena.
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elping people is all Shawn Whitley ever knew. He was a critical care nurse for 20 years. He values people and cares deeply about relationships. He thought his life was good until tragedy struck. He was rear ended by a young driver traveling 60mph. “I had no idea how my life would change and what a bad road I was going to go down,” says Whitley. “Being a nurse, I didn’t want to have back surgery. But, nine months later, my back was sliding at the top and I had to have surgery.” The surgery didn’t go well. Unable to work, Whitley was struggling. Two and half years later, Whitley was still taking pain medication. “I had no income,” Whitley adds. “I couldn’t work. I was on disability for a short time, and I got no money from the young driver who hit me; he had no insurance. I didn’t know what I was going to do.” He started praying to God asking Him to give him something. He went
Regardless of the state of the economy, Parnes Construction persevered by taking on small remodeling and interior finish-out projects for customers he knew. One job led to another and before long, Parnes Construction was on its way. For the next 20 years, much of his work came from repeat clients who he had established a strong working relationship with and who were more than satisfied with his skills and the top quality of his work. In 2013, Grant’s son, Colton Parnes, graduated from college and joined his father at Parnes Construction. “In 2013, we were in the middle of another recession. College graduates were struggling to find jobs,” says Colton. “My original plan was to go to law school, but after four continued on Page 18
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n 2010, Butch Leist started Hill Country Bridge, a thriving concrete company specializing in TxDOT heavy highway concrete for the construction of bridge structures, pedestrian bridges, concrete drainage box structures and retaining walls. A few short years after getting his company up and running, Leist’s health began to deteriorate and was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) on Apr. 13, 2013. A month later, he would undergo a double-lung transplant. Two days after going in for his transplant, Leist was breathing on his own and walked out of the hospital nine days later. “I had to learn how to walk because I couldn’t stand very long, but I did it,” says Leist. “My goal was to see my second
grandbaby. She was born on Jun. 18 and walked out of the hospital out of the hospital on Jun. 3. On Aug. 17, I walked my youngest daughter down the aisle. “My lungs are doing well. I celebrated nine years on May 25 of this year.” With his health back on track, Hill Country Bridge began to grow. Leist hired more employees and purchased 10 acres of land to accommodate his growing company. Unfortunately, in 2020, Leist would get more bad news and was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Stage Four cancer. “It really scared everybody,” he said. In April 2020, seven years after being diagnosed with IPF, Leist would once continued on Page 18
Nurse to roofer
Shawn Whitley, owner of Bear Roofing Systems
back to work for a physician he once worked for. Then in 2016, when the big hailstorm hit Texas, a friend of his asked him if he wanted to sell roofs and he said yes. Whitley admits he didn’t know anything about roofs, but his gift of gab seemed to be all he needed. He sold $2.7 million in roofs before going to work for another roofing company when Hurricane Harvey hit. Whitley spent two and half years learning the roofing trade before starting his own company. With his love for helping people as his driving force, Whitley started Bear Roofing Systems in 2018. “I just love helping people,” states Whitley. “I started in September; winter was approaching. My company is unbranded, and I had to get started. I got in my truck with a couple of the guys from my crew and drove around. We started doing rehabilitative work on apartment roofs. I continued on Page 9