Better Building Works

Monica Rokicki started working with the Roanoke Small Business Development Center a year prior to the establishment of her business. Better Building Works, LLC was officially launched July 4, 2011 with Dan Smith, Editor of the Valley Business Front, as their first client.

Currently Better Building Works consists of Monica and her partner Barry Martin. They have hired three more employees this January 2012, with the hope by the end of the year they will have more. Monica’s background is in architecture and Barry’s is in construction. They’ve combined this expertise with their passion for building science to form the foundation for their building performance consulting company. Better Building Works, LLC offers building performance assessments (energy audits), recommendations for building retrofits, with return-on-investment optimization, and LEED, Energy Star and Energy Performance Score certification/administration services. They serve residential and commercial clients across Virginia, mostly within a 50 mile radius of Roanoke.

When asked what her biggest challenge was in creating her business, Monica said it was difficult to leave her good job and see herself as a business owner rather than an employee. Her advice to those wanting to start their own business is to “associate with successful business owners”. Monica then went on to say that her biggest success thus far in her business was generating an annual $50,000 extra cash into the pockets of building owners and the local economy in 2011 alone. Better Building Works is on track to quintuple this number in 2012.

Monica and Barry are rightly very proud of how much their company has grown in the seven months since July 4 of last year. She is enthusiastic about what her business has to offer in the future and the ways it will help the local economy. Monica’s last piece of advice to future business owners is to do what you love, and take advantage of the wealth of resources that the Roanoke Small Business Development Center offers.