Joseph Burgess has a short script in mind for the kind of painter he doesn’t want to be. The customer says what needs painting, the painter paints it, and that is the end of the exchange. He would rather have “real conversations with the customer,” he says, instead of asking what the customer wants done, doing it and calling it finished.
Burgess owns Prestigious Painting LLC in Gresham, Oregon. According to the company’s website, it launched in 2019. He started it with a partner, and when the partner decided he didn’t want to do it anymore, Burgess kept going. He runs it alone now. The business was registered as an Oregon LLC in 2022. Oregon Construction Contractors Board records show it has held a residential general contractor license since that October.
Asked what sets the company apart, he keeps the answer short. “I develop a relationship with my customer,” he says.
The company paints commercial and residential buildings, and, in his words, does “a little bit of industrial” work. Asked what he would most like to be known for, he picks one. “I would like to be known for doing commercial work.”
Painting is the core of the business, but the company’s website has described a wider range of work: interior and exterior painting and staining, cabinets and built-ins, drywall, pressure washing and flooring installation. The site also describes the business as having grown into a general contracting company that brings in subcontractors for larger jobs. The company lists a service area across the Portland metro, from Gresham and Troutdale to Beaverton, Lake Oswego and Tigard.
Some of the jobs customers have written about lean toward the commercial side he wants. One customer wrote in a Google review that the crew painted a Jiffy Lube in Gresham and moved quickly. Another, writing about an exterior refresh, said Joseph was professional and knowledgeable, explained the process so it was easy to follow, and paid close attention to detail and the quality of the finish.
That second review describes the kind of exchange Burgess says he is after: a customer who understands what is being done and why.
A small company’s name is only as good as the people on the job, and Burgess says he holds his crew to his own standard. Asked how, he says he leads by example. He also has a plainer rule.
“There’s definitely consequences if you can’t deliver what you say you’re going to deliver,” he says.