WINTERVILLE—More than 17 years after appearing on the cover of Pitt Community College’s “Career Focus” magazine, the PCC Alumni Association caught up with John Berry to see how life has gone for the 2002 Architectural Technology graduate.
Berry, a Washington native now living in Ayden, came to PCC in 2000 with intentions of becoming an architect. But a PCC internship with Pitt County Memorial Hospital’s Design and Construction department ultimately led him to a construction career.
Berry says he developed a valuable foundation for working in the construction field at PCC – how to read plans, surveying, and an understanding of how to communicate with architects and engineers – and he built upon that knowledge after completing an associate degree. He transferred to East Carolina University’s Construction Management program and earned a bachelor’s in 2004.
Today, Berry has a family and operates his own construction company, Berry Building Group. The following is an interview the PCC Alumni Association conducted with Berry last month to gain a little more insight on his life, personally and professionally …
Q: Tell us about your experience at PCC and a little about your educational background …
A: “I attended PCC from 2000 to 2002 and was part of the Architectural Technology program. At that time two architects Bill Hoffler and Len VanStauldinen ran the department and taught most of the programs. They were absolutely excellent teachers and really taught me the fundamentals of construction and how things go together. It was a very difficult curriculum but the knowledge gained made my time there invaluable. After receiving my associates from PCC I transferred to ECU’s Construction management program and was able to get my BS in two years.”
Q: Tell us a little about your professional background, how you started your company, and what your company does …
A: “After college I worked with a large regional contractor starting in the field and working my way up to senior management. After 15 years there I started Berry Building Group where we focus on mid-size complicated and multi-phased projects throughout North Carolina. We have offices in both Greenville and Raleigh.”
Q: Tell us a little about your family …
A: “I have an amazing and very supportive wife and three sons, ranging from five to 16 years old.”
Q: What are some of your favorite hobbies?
A: “Our family is big into athletics, the outdoors and traveling. Most evenings and weekends we are at ball fields, either baseball, football or soccer. When not doing that we spend a lot of our time traveling, hunting or fishing.”
Q: What is one thing most people wouldn’t know about you but would find interesting?
A: “That I am a destination outdoorsman and have traveled to places like Spain and Argentina to chase things like Stag, Fallow and Mouflon.”
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received and why?
A: “I have two pieces of advice that I have learned and continue to lean on regularly: 1) That happiness is a choice and 2) Your greatest resource is your resourcefulness.”
Q: What has your PCC education meant to you?
A: “PCC really laid the foundation for my construction career. Without my time there, I am sure I would be in a much different place.”
Q: In your words, what is the value of Pitt Community College to Pitt County and the region?
A: “In my experience, PCC provided a hands-on, real world education. We did not study theories, we studied actualities. In the construction industry so many people come out of college knowing how things should work in theory but not how it actually works. PCC had professors that had been there, done that and was able to articulate their years of experience into something that we could use in the real world. Eastern North Carolina and many other parts of the state and country need people who know how to get stuff done. PCC provides that.”
Q: It’s my understanding you organize a drive around Christmas. Are you doing that this year and if so, can you tell me about what’s involved with the drive and who it benefits?
A: “I started the ‘Tonka Truck Toy Drive’ with ECU Health’s (Vidant at the time) Children’s Hospital while I was employed at a previous company. Under my watch we did that toy drive for seven or eight years and provided thousands of toys to kids that were patients at the hospital as well as their siblings. It was something that I was immensely proud of and passionate about. The smile on those kids faces was unbelievable and still gets me choked up when I think about it. After I left my previous company they continued that tradition and I believe that it is now in its 11th or 12th year and still going strong.”