Energy executive Steve Nathanson has been named CEO of Bernhard LLC, one of the four portfolio companies in the rapidly growing family of companies owned by private equity firm Bernhard Capital Partners.
Nathanson joined the firm earlier this month, bringing years of experience in the energy industry to the newly created position. He was most recently managing partner of Nathanson Energy, an oil and gas investment firm. Prior to that, he was president and chief operating officer of Houston-based Genesis Energy LP, which he ran from 2008 to 2013 and grew from an $800 million company to a $6 billion NYSE-listed master limited partnership.
Bernhard LLC is a commercial construction and engineering firm that also specializes in small-scale power systems and energy efficiency. It was created in early 2015 by BCP, which was founded by Jim Bernhard and several of his top executives in the wake of The Shaw Group’s 2013 acquisition by CB&I.
Nathanson says he first met Bernhard two years ago and was impressed by his vision and spirit of entrepreneurship. Earlier this year, BCP reached out to him about running Bernhard LLC and he was immediately interested.
“I was very impressed and engaged with Jim and his partners,” Nathanson says. “Their vision and foresight in putting these companies together … made it an easy decision.”
Nathanson’s goal is to grow Bernhard LLC’s business in developing and servicing district energy systems, which are small-scale cooling systems for institutions and commercial developments. With greater demand for energy efficiency, Nathanson says there is plenty of need among universities, hospitals and other commercial developments and government institutions for better, more efficient cooling systems.
Bernhard LLC is made up of several smaller companies, including Bernhard Mechanical Contractors, TME Engineering, E.P. Breaux Electrical, Craig Hebert Engineering and MCC Group.
Other portfolio companies owned by BCP include ATC, Brown and Root, and Epic Piping.
—Stephanie Riegel
