In January of 2005, Gene Brooks, Jr. and his wife, Frances Foster Brooks, began their entrepreneurial journey in a small trailer in Dunbar. Their business, named BrooAlexa, LLC, eventually evolved into a multi-faceted construction company that has been named by the U.S. Small Business Administration as the 2012 West Virginia Small Business of the Year.
BrooAlexa, along with the other 2012 West Virginia Small Business Week awards recipients, will be honored at the 2012 West Virginia Small Business Week awards luncheon on Wednesday, May 30, in conjunction with the 2012 Teaming to Win Conference. The event includes keynote addresses by West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller and SBA Administrator Karen Mills at the Morgantown Event Center.
As BrooAlexa began to grow, Frances and Gene moved their physical location to downtown Charleston into the First Baptist Church business incubator. The move enabled the Brooks’ to keep costs low, which enabled them to purchase a remodeled two-story home, their present location, within view of the State Capitol. In addition to the Charleston location, BrooAlexa has offices in Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, Maryland, Florida and Oklahoma.
The company’s services include general construction, design/build, construction management, roofing, interior renovations, painting, carpentry, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, mechanical, site preparation, grading and paving, concrete, masonry and demolition.
What began in that small Dunbar trailer with two employees has evolved into a business with eight full-time and 33 part-time employees. The company has experienced steady growth in net worth with an increase of 3,662 percent in 2009, 388 percent in 2010 and a 126 percent increase in a six-month period of 2011.
BrooAlexa is a participant in SBA’s 8(a) business development program and is certified as a HUBZone and Small Disadvantaged Business. Their clients include the U.S. General Services Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Custom Border Protection.
