Family owned since 1998
Blair and Lorie Brown
C.B.E. Construction is a family business in the plain sense of the word. Blair and Lorie Brown own it together, they have run it together since it started in July 1998, and the initials on the logo are a statement about how they try to run it.
What the name means
C.B.E. stands for Christ Before Everything
It is printed right on the company logo, in the script under the wordmark. Blair and Lorie say the name is meant literally: in every area of their lives, including this business, they are trying to put Christ before everything, and they run C.B.E. Construction as a way of sharing that with the people they work for and with.
That shows up in a plain way day to day. C.B.E. employs people of integrity, honesty and ethical practice, and the goal on every job is the same: quality construction work and a customer who is genuinely satisfied when the crew leaves, not just one who has stopped complaining.
Since July 1998
25 plus years on the job
Blair Brown, Owner
Blair has worked in construction since 1987, across commercial and residential jobs, new builds and remodels. He is the one who schedules the projects, plans out how each job actually gets executed, and writes the estimates himself. When you call and ask for a free estimate, Blair is who ends up walking the house.
Lorie Brown, Co-owner
Lorie has been essential to the business since it was established in July 1998. She runs the office, and handles the accounts receivable and payable, the part of a construction company that most homeowners never see but that keeps a job on schedule and paid correctly. Outside of C.B.E., she is involved in several ministries at her church and runs a scrapbooking business from home.
The family behind the business
A big family, by choice
Blair and Lorie are parents to five biological sons, one adopted daughter and one adopted son. By their own account at the time they last wrote about it, two more adopted daughters were in process. It is not something they put on a job estimate, but it is part of who is behind the name on the logo, and it is why the company they built has always felt to them like an extension of the family rather than separate from it.
On record with the State of Illinois
Licensed, and over 100 jobs to show for it
C.B.E. Construction is licensed as a roofing contractor in Illinois under licence #104-001-614, bonded and insured, lead-safe EPA certified, and staffed with GAF certified installers for roofing work. Between the two of them, Blair and Lorie have put over 100 permitted building projects on record with the State of Illinois, most of them within a short drive of White Heath.
The main line is (217) 762-5432, and there is a separate line for the Champaign-Urbana area at (217) 328-9848. Every estimate is free, whether the job is a kitchen, a roof, a set of new windows or a house built from the ground up. See the finished work or what each labor guarantee covers.