Restoration Company is a family owned and operated construction business that has been serving the San Antonio community for over 20 years. Hope Barela, vice president for Restoration Company, retired two years ago from a career as a registered nurse and now works full-time with the construction business as administrator.

The business was founded in 1996 with an emphasis on family. Currently, three of the six Barela children work full-time with the company which is something that Barela believes is an important aspect to the business.

“We started the business because we wanted to find a way to have a greater income than what we had, but still having flexibility to be more available for our family,” Barela said. “We didn’t want to give up our family to go and make a lot of money.”

In 2019, Hope Barela attended Maestro’s 2-Day Construction and Infrastructure Conference. At the event, Barela was able to interact with other construction businesses, learn about best practices, and share about various experiences.

“I know there is a lot of stuff to know and I always want to know more, so I attended the [conference] and it was very enlightening,” Barela said. “It was answering a lot of questions.”

More specifically, Barela recalls listening to a session led by Julissa Carielo, President of Tejas Premiere Building Contractor, Cofounder of the Dream On Group Development Company, and Founder of the Maestro Entrepreneur Center. In the session Carielo discussed the importance of being the prime contractor in construction contracts. This sentiment resonated with Barela and has recently become a reality for the Restoration Company.

“We have finally taken the step,” Barela said. “They have asked us to be the prime and so we’re taking that step.”

Subsequently, the COVID-19 pandemic brought initial concerns for the business, but Restoration Company has been able to adapt and continue to work with all of the proper precautions in place. During the uncertain times, Barela utilized the many resources the Maestro Center has to offer.

“We were concerned at the beginning and wondering what was going to happen, but Maestro was there again filling us in on the things we needed to know,” Barela said. “That helped us to continue moving forward.”

As a matter of fact, the Restoration Company has not only continued with work, but has found more.

“We’ve continued being busy, actually we’ve gotten busier,” Barela said.

Fundamentally, the Restoration Company is focused on serving the community in more ways than one.

“Our name is Restoration Company and we really feel strongly that we are to help people become restored,” Barela said. “Whether it be in their homes, in their business, in their lives, their families, we feel like we’re there to help them.”