Greenbrier Technologies celebrates 25 years in business

By Jenny Harnish, RealWV

Bill Lenherr was working in the engineering department at ABB in the 1990s when personal computers started showing up around town and the internet became a thing.

 “I was in engineering so we had computers before the office people had them. And it really interested me,” he said. 

As more and more folks around town started outfitting their businesses with computers, Lenherr started getting calls. “My dentist would call me and say ‘Hey, we’re getting a computer and you know stuff about computers will you come help us?’”

He started putting in hours after work, helping people who knew him, and the word started getting out. “At that point it was ‘Wow, I get to go play with someone else’s new toys!’”

As more and more people began asking for his skills, Lenherr decided he needed to start charging for his services and he started Greenbrier Communications as a sole proprietorship, while keeping his full-time job at ABB.  

Lenherr installed the first computer at Greenbrier Valley Medical Center and at one point he had keys to Lewisburg City Hall, the Greenbrier County Courthouse, and lawyer’s offices in town. 

One of his clients was Greenbrier Respiratory Services, owned by Allen Carson. 

“He (Lenherr) put together all my phone systems and networking and made my computers talk. He was a good man to have around,” Carson said. 

Carson describes himself as an entrepreneur at heart. He saw an opportunity for Lenherr to branch out on his own, but Lenherr initially declined.

“We were all taught to go find that secure job with benefits and security, and I have that at ABB so why would I leave that and go do this?” Lenherr told him.

But Carson persisted and eventually proposed they go into business together. He would provide the business infrastructure, and Lenherr would continue the computer part. Greenbrier Respiratory Services CFO Tom Campbell also became a partner and together they incorporated in 2001. Their first employee, Matt Wykle, eventually made partner, bringing it to four partners. 

To this day, Lenherr credits Caron’s persistence with the company’s success. 

“When people ask me why did you have partners, – I feel like it’s possible I would have failed,” he said. “I was really good at computers, but I didn’t know anything about business.”

As business grew, so did opportunities for expanding and diversifying. 

In the 2000’s, homes were being built at The Sporting Club and the team saw a need for home automation and home theater so they began offering that. 

“The next piece that happened was we hired a guy that was an electrician and he wanted to come work for us,” he said. “We didn’t really do electrical but he wanted to do that so we hired him and that led to us asking “Why don’t we do electrical?’ So we got an electrical contracting license and started doing electrical. That was the last piece of growth that got us up to 20 something employees now.”

The company rebranded as Greenbrier Technologies and Electric in 2010, offering computer networking, home automation and electrical contracting. They opened an Beckley office in 2020. 

“You could say none of these things are related, but the nice thing is if one piece of business slows down a little bit it seems like the other one is up so it’s allowed the business to be very steady,” Lenherr said. 

Lenherr said honesty, good work, and letting the business grow organically were all important facets of their success. “Grow at the speed of cash. Don’t go borrow a bunch of money and then start a business. Let it grow organically.”

And despite spending money on advertising, Lenherr insists, “Good word of mouth is the best business.” 

For Lenherr, doing the computer part while letting his partners do the business part was key. This year, they celebrated being in business together for 25 years.

Lenherr recommends Michael Gerber’s book “The E-Myth” to anyone who is thinking about turning their skill into a business. “I wasn’t afraid to say I didn’t know business.”