A little bit about Burgess Construction...
This is the very first pergola that my
wife asked me to build in 2013!
Hello I’m Terry Burgess and I own Burgess Construction LLC in Topeka, KS. If you’re here reading this welcome, and thank you for considering us!
We work hard with an ultimate goal of helping Kansas residents keep their money local. Not only to support our state but the residents of our city. This is a very important key element to our local economy that a lot of people do not think about. Keeping our money here affects many things. We believe in this because it keeps revenue circulating and contributing to our tax base, instead of another city’s and state's. It absolutely creates more jobs, strengthens our infrastructure, and stimulates our local economy. So thank you for considering us!
I wanted to take some time to give you some background on our history. I have been doing Concrete construction for 23 years. I started at Goldstar Concrete in 2002 and quickly advanced positions because of my exceptional work ethic and readiness to learn. When you’re young it’s pretty easy to stay motivated. I’ve always been mechanically minded, smart and full of energy. As a young man with a new wife and the responsibility to provide for a family with 2 children, it wasn’t too difficult to stay motivated. I worked at Gold star until they closed in 2012. From there I went to BNSF Railway in Topeka and worked in the shop as a Machinist for 8 years. I’ve always done side-work for people like driveways, sidewalks and patios; mostly word of mouth from other happy customers!
Check out our timeline below to see our progression throughout the years!
EVERYTHING CHANGED IN 2013...
Everything changed in 2013 when my wife decided she wanted a pergola over our patio. I said, “I can do that!”. After it was built, it was gorgeous! My wife said something to me I’ll never forget, “Welp, You found your niche”. I believe this compliment changed something inside me forever. Some people will never know how powerful words can be to another human being. Thank you Stacey! Our backyard was very noticeable to traffic so we had several people knocking on our door and asking who built the pergola in back. I have now built 13 pergolas!
BURGESS CONSTRUCTION WAS OFFICIALLY BORN...
Burgess Construction was officially born in 2016! We started out doing handy man stuff by word of mouth. Projects included building decks and fences for people, decorative gates, arbors out of cedar, Trex composite, stairs, retaining walls and more. I still did concrete as that was my core skill. I even painted a few houses for folks...(Didn’t like that one, but a promise is a promise). Keep in mind I’m still working 40 hours a week at BNSF.
SPRING OF 2018...
In the spring of 2018 we received the news that my father was given 3-6 months to live from congestive heart failure. This was devastating news! About 6 months to a year I stopped working completely and told people that I wasn’t able to do the work I had originally scheduled and focused on spending time with my father. In Sept of that same year he passed, one of the hardest things I’d ever had to deal with in my life. My father was a very smart man. He had issues like anyone but his common sense was off the charts; the ability to produce with his hands and work out mechanical issues in his mind was something I had so much admiration for.
SPRING OF 2019...
In the spring time of 2019 we had many jobs to complete from my absence the prior year. A friend from work helped me and my brother catch up on jobs and it was then that I bought my first machine. A ditch witch sk750 and a dump trailer; big scary purchase for us! Work, particularly in concrete, was picking up and we wanted to be able to keep up with the demand. We were doing well and making money. I started to feel overwhelmed with work as the calls were picking up more and more and my time was limited because of my regular day job. I found myself loving my construction work and hating being bound to going to BNSF. It felt like prison. Conflicted from wanting to leave BNSF but scared of the unknown and still having the responsibilities of children in the house, my wife and I decided it’s best to stay for now.
COVID DIDN'T SLOW US DOWN...
While covid devastated the world in 2020, side work never really slowed down... it actually became more and more busy. Still hating my day job, (BNSF) we continue to work as we were considered essential workers. During quarantine, I remember everything being weird and that the streets were empty going to and from work. Once things went somewhat back to normal, masks were required everywhere and store hours were few and far between. BNSF announced the vaccine mandate and threatened that if we didn’t get the vaccine we would lose our jobs. This was a hard one to swallow but it was ultimately the push we needed for me to quit.
SATISFIED CUSTOMERS...
In early 2021, I left the railroad with a little over 200k in gross scheduled work for Topekans. I was terrified but optimistic! My brother, son and I started working with various clients everyday. Slowly completing jobs with only satisfied customers! Nothing has ever been so satisfying as to be able to create something new for people to enjoy.
LOTS OF GROWTH IN 2025...
Here we are in early 2025 and we now have 2 crews, 8 employees, 2 mini excavators, 2 full-sized tracked skid loaders, 4 trucks including a full sized dump truck, 2 trailers and a property in town for the future location of Burgess Construction. We are a normal couple with a normal family. We didn’t come from a lot but with lots of dreams, hard work, and God’s grace we were able to build something awesome. We feel very thankful to all of our clients from the past and future, that have helped us make all of this possible.
