Jim Bernhard, a Baton Rouge-based business executive and civic leader who created and grew some of the most successful companies to come out of Louisiana, died Sunday after a brief illness, his family confirmed. He was 71.
During a career that spanned more than four decades, Bernhard was perhaps best known for founding and growing The Shaw Group from a pipe fabrication company into a publicly traded, industrial services powerhouse with a global footprint and a spot on the Fortune 500 list.
After selling the company in 2013, he founded Bernhard Capital Partners, a private equity firm that is now one of the largest in the Gulf South with more than $5.5 billion in assets under management and 21 companies across the country in the energy services, industrial and utilities sector.
Along the way, Bernhard played a prominent role in state Democratic Party politics, engaged in south Louisiana civic and charitable causes and was involved in the lives of his five children and grandchildren.
“We are heartbroken by the unexpected passing of Jim Bernhard,” said Jeff Jenkins, who co-founded Bernhard Capital Partners and worked with Jim Bernhard for 27 years. “Jim changed the business landscape of Louisiana like no one else. He created jobs, built companies and opened doors for families across our state in ways that will be felt for generations.”
Jenkins added: “He was also one of the most generous people I have ever known, always helping others, without any desire for attention or recognition.”
Gov. Jeff Landry remembered Bernhard as one of Louisiana’s “most dynamic and visionary business leaders.”
“His hard work built companies that created jobs, strengthened our economy, and showcased the very best of Louisiana,” Landry said in a statement. “Louisiana has lost a giant, but I know his legacy will endure for generations.”
‘Tough to sell’
James Mitchell Bernhard Jr. was born April 9, 1954, in Baton Rouge but raised in Lafayette, where his grandfather had started Bernhard Mechanical in 1919. Years later the company would become one of Bernhard Capital’s portfolio assets.
He graduated from LSU in 1976 with a degree in construction management and joined Sunland Services, a pipe fabrication company.
Jim Bernhard at The Shaw Group headquarters in Baton Rouge in 2005.
In 1987, he ventured out on his own, acquiring the assets of a pipe fabrication company out of bankruptcy and founding The Shaw Group. Known for his tireless work ethic, he grew the company over the next 25 years into one of Louisiana’s largest and best-known, taking it public in the early 2000s.
At the time of its sale to CB&I in 2013, The Shaw Group had $5.9 billion in revenues and 27,000 employees, including 4,000 in Louisiana.
The Shaw Group was one of Louisiana’s few Fortune 500 companies at the time — today it has even fewer — and in the early 2000s, Bernhard built a gleaming corporate headquarters tower on Essen Lane in Baton Rouge, visible from Interstate 10, which became a point of pride for Baton Rouge and the state.
During a 2018 radio interview on Talk Louisiana, host Jim Engster asked Bernhard whether it was tough for him to sell the Shaw Group, a company he started with two others and $50,000.
“In a public arena, when someone offers you a 75% premium over the value, you either sell the company to them or they get a new CEO.” Nonetheless, he added, “It was tough to sell.”
As significant as The Shaw Group was for Louisiana’s economy and reputation, Bernhard’s more recent venture has been equally important. In 2013, he founded Bernhard Capital Partners with Jenkins and a handful his former top executives from The Shaw Group. The firm began with a single investment fund and four companies focused narrowly on industrial services.
In the years since, Bernhard Capital has launched four additional funds that have raised $5.5 billion from large, institutional investors and created dozens of other companies, some of which it has since sold, in the energy services, industrial, environmental services and utility sector.
Jim Bernhard, Chief Executive Officer of Bernhard Capital Partners, in his office overlooking the ‘new’ Mississippi River bridge in downtown Baton Rouge,Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018. Bernhard stepped down as CEO of The Shaw Group in the wake of that companyÕs 2013 acquisition by CB&I. After that, Bernhard, Jeff Jenkins and a handful of other top executives from The Shaw Group founded BCP, a private equity firm that promised to invest in companies that operate in the energy services industry.
It currently has 21 companies under management and is the largest private equity firm between Houston and Atlanta. It has been listed among the largest private equity firms in the world and has some of the highest returns in the U.S.
Tim Barfield, who worked under Bernhard at The Shaw Group in the early 2000s, remembered him as a powerful force in the lives of many business leaders today.
“He provided opportunities to me and many others that changed the trajectories of our lives,” said Barfield, who went on to head CSRS in Baton Rouge. “He was so generous to our community and state. May he rest in peace.”
‘Baton Rouge proud, Louisiana committed’
While the owner of a major business, Bernhard chaired Kathleen Blanco’s gubernatorial campaign in 2003 and became chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party in January 2005 while she was governor.
He resigned nine months later after Hurricane Katrina devastated metro New Orleans. Shaw secured contracts to become an important player in the rebuilding effort.
Still, he remained an active force in Louisiana Democratic politics and toyed with running for governor in 2015 and 2019. He deferred to fellow Democrat John Bel Edwards, who won both elections.
In a Talk Louisiana interview in 2018, Bernhard said people often asked him to run for governor, saying he was “the perfect candidate” because he had the ability to fund the campaign himself.
He didn’t describe his political approach in partisan terms. Instead, he said, “We need to work to solve problems, to solve issues. Let’s work together, compromise and move the ball forward.”
Bernhard said he had plenty of offers to set up shop outside of Baton Rouge but said he stayed because he loved the city and LSU, his alma mater.
He said his philosophy was “Baton Rouge proud and Louisiana committed.”
Philanthropy
Bernhard was known for his philanthropy across the state, though much of it was behind the scenes. One prominent exception was The Shaw Center for the Arts in Baton Rouge, a transformative project that helped revitalize the state capital’s downtown two decades ago. The Shaw Group contributed $4 million to help fund the building’s construction.
Bernhard is survived by his wife, Dana Bernhard, and his children Benjamin Bernhard (Jenna); Michael Bernhard (Rachel); Patrick Bernhard (Amelie); Kathryn Gerry (John Gerry); and Tres Bernhard; and, eight grandchildren: Ella Bernhard, James Michael Bernhard IV, Blake Bernhard, Violet Bernhard, Jack Gerry, Remi Gerry, Sloane Gerry and Ainsley Bernhard.
“Jim’s greatest legacy is his love for Dana, his children and grandchildren,” Jenkins said. “Everything he built and gave came from a deep commitment to his family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.”
Arrangements are pending.
