For some, the pay-by-license plate parking meters located throughout the city are a hassle. But to Norman V. Edmunds they are a joy. Recently his company, Pittsburgh Restoration and Construction Services Inc. had the contract to install the state-of –the art technology meters for the Pittsburgh Parking Authority.
The product of a lineage of entrepreneurs, he knows the significance of having contracts with organizations and companies as significant as city, county, public and private entities.
“My grandfather, father, mother and sister operated businesses,” he said. His grandfather and father owned limousine businesses, his mother Queenie was a well-known seamstress in the Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. areas and his sister along with a friend Michelle Goodman operated Try Me Boutique in the Mexican War Street community on the North Side.
“Growing up in D.C., I was exposed to all types of entrepreneurs and professionals and worked in the U.S. Senate when I was in the 10th grade,” Edmunds pointed out. “Those experiences molded me to want to be a business man. I’ve wanted to be an entrepreneur since I was eight years old.”
A graduate of Carrick High School, after a year of attending Lincoln University in Philadelphia and after two years into attending Robert Morris University in 1985 he started his company, Pittsburgh Restoration Services. In 1987 he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with two years of expertise in the fields of exterior chemical cleaning, painting and graffiti removal.
In 1996 Edmunds incorporated the business and expanded his services to include concrete and masonry repairs, renovations and rehabilitation as well as demolition and new construction services. As a certified minority-owned business he works in the areas of residential, commercial and major construction under the Pittsburgh Restoration and Construction Services name.
For the last 29 years his work and clients have included, maintenance and rehabilitation projects for McConway and Torley Corporation, new construction and renovation of the Victory Center owned by Central Baptist Church and sidewalks and interior maintenance repairs for Denny’s Restaurants in Pittsburgh and parts of Ohio.
He considers his accounts with the Allegheny County Airport Authority, Port Authority of Allegheny County, the City of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Parking Authority as major. For the airport he completed the Landside Terminal Concrete Repair and Sealant Coating Project. Since 1996 he has completed various PAT contracts that include Light Rail Transit System Station Improvements from Downtown to the South Hills Village Stations, the operation control center demolition and a stone and masonry restoration and cleaning project.
Viewing the City of Pittsburgh as one of his oldest accounts, he says they go back to 1992. Since then he has been conducting maintenance renovations which includes constructing the fence along Bigelow Boulevard stretching from Herron Avenue to the end of the road and in 2010 completed the security upgrade and renovation to the Zone 6 Police Station located in the West End.
Working with the Parking Authority since 2006 on various projects, Edmunds classifies the installation of the 1000 or so parking meters as a big job for his company from 2012 to 2013. “That contract has enabled us to work all over the city,” he recalls.
Currently his company is contracted by the city to construct brick piers and fencing for a parking lot in Squirrel Hill and to provide renovation work for the Brightwood Civic Group under the direction of the Northside Leaders Council. He is also scheduled to construct the fence work around a parking lot on Homewood Avenue across from the Community College of Allegheny County.
“I like and enjoy what I do,” Edmunds verified. “If I didn’t I would not have lasted this long. Operating and working in the construction field is not easy and I never want to give anyone that impression.” He says he has existed for almost 30 years is by conducting quality work, being a man of his word and developing relationships along his entrepreneurial journey.
“A lot of my business is from clients I have worked with from the beginning, residential and commercial.” He says some clients contact him when they need work done and that he has learned the county and city bidding process. Being a certified minority-owned business, he says also has been to his advantage.
“Being a small company, there have been times when jobs, such as the contract with the City to do the work on the Zone 6 Police Station have provided the opportunity for me to serve as the prime and larger companies like PJD Construction were the sub-contractor. And there have been times that I have been the sub-contractor on their jobs. I have worked with Massaro, Costa and FJ Busse all major construction companies in this region. I would not have those relationships if I weren’t MBE certified.”
Around and in business most of his life, Edmunds says he would like his son who is attending Howard University or daughter, a senior attending Oakland Catholic High School to one day take over the business. “I envision PRCS expanding into their own warehouse office space and doing work in other states like Maryland. My children have been around this business all their life. My son at a young age use to attend negation meetings with me. They know the business.”
If he had to suggest to minorities or women interested in becoming an entrepreneur a good business to think about, Edmunds identifies building supply businesses. “Throughout my career I have run into very few. With most cities going through rejuvenation I don’t see the construction business slowing down anytime soon.”
