Staying alert: GSO entrepreneur enjoys his frantic pace of business
The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area - by Katie Arcieri Staff witer

Ed Regensburg knows a business opportunity when he sees one. During his sophomore year at State University of New York at Buffalo, Regensburg started a ski trip business that ferried customers from New York to the slopes of Vermont.

“I skied more than I went to class,” he said. “We had a trip going almost every other weekend in the winter.”

After a short stint as an employee at Universal Printing and Publishing in Durham, his entrepreneurial self took over once again when he started his own printing business. Over the past decade, Regensburg has built his name in the Triad home-building and repair industry as president and owner of Alert Construction Remodeling and Repair, which has grown so much that the company nearly tripled its size by moving from a 1,500-square-foot space on Pomona Drive to a 4,300-square-foot building at 1206 E. Wendover Ave. in June 2011.

As if managing Alert wasn’t enough on his plate, Regensburg also finds the time to serve as vice president of the Triad Real Estate Investors Association, which educates novices on real estate investing.

Describe the business?
Alert Construction’s clients include Realtors, builders and homeowners. Since its founding in 1999, Alert Construction has built more than 100 homes across the region.

How did Alert Construction start?
Regensburg started Alert after buying a house, fixing it up and renting it roughly a dozen years ago. “I could fix everything and so I started doing work for Realtors and then I started hiring people to do work for me,” he said. “I would do all of the estimates, all of the billing, and I would do all of the inspections.”

The business grew so much that he began hiring employees to maintain his real estate portfolio, which consists of more 100 homes that he rents. “The next thing you know, I’m building subdivisions,” he said. Today, Alert is building 25 homes at the StreamSide subdivision development in Greensboro as well as the last eight homes of the 200-home Pleasant Ridge Farms West development.

How the economy affected business?
Alert Construction saw a 40 percent drop in revenue from $2.8 million in 2008 to $1.8 million last year as the home remodeling business declined and demand for new construction slowed. However, Regensburg is expecting revenues of more $3 million this year thanks in large part to an uptick in repairs. In January, Alert launched a roofing division that garnered $500,000 in two months after a tornado ripped through High Point earlier this year. “At this point we’ve already reached the $1.8 (million) from last year, and we’ve matched total sales from last year,” he said.

Best decision?
Living below his means. “I never cash out, I just continue to pay down my real estate,” he said. “If I sell a house and I make $20,000, I’ll take half of that and pay down one of my loans.”

Biggest goal for the business? Expand the visibility of his business, a big change from when Alert Construction’s tradition of relying on referrals. “Now. I’m doing things to make the company more visible,” he said.