Amid record growth, Barry Unger’s vision for Vision Mechanical has never been sharper.
The plumbing and HVAC contracting firm, founded in 2000 by Unger, president and his brother, Eric Unger, vice president, started after the brothers spent years honing their skills in the industry.
After a plan to take the reins at another family-owned company fell through, the Ungers and six other employees founded their own startup.
“We wanted to build something of our own — something that reflected our values,” Barry Unger said in a Q&A provided to MediaNews Group. “It all started with a simple idea, to build something reliable, with people you can trust.”
From left, Barry Unger, president, and Eric Unger, vice president, of Vision Mechanical, West Reading. (Courtesy of Vision Mechanical)
The company has since embraced a business model known as Entrepreneurial Operating System, or EOS, which Unger said enabled his team to co-create a unified blueprint forward.
“It’s a structured way to cascade messages down throughout your company,” Unger said of EOS. “Kind of uniting everybody.”
Unger said EOS, along with a strong employee roster, contributed to the company clinching first place in the 2026 Greater Reading Chamber Alliance’s Business Excellence Awards.
The Business Excellence awards rank Berks County companies according to annual revenue growth, factoring in the percentage and dollar amount.
Vision Mechanical, of West Reading, took first in the awards’ large business category, which features the top 50 companies with revenues of over $1 million.
Unger declined to provide exact figures but said Vision recently hit its 10-year growth goal in about half that time.
“We all sat together in a room and said, ‘what would success look like in 10 years,’” Unger said in a recent interview. “We picked a big, hairy, audacious goal. We hit it in five years.”
That process, Unger said, involved creating a document that maps short- and long-term goals as achievable metrics, and hashes out strategies for meeting them.
The document is then shared across the company, with leadership teams meeting weekly to workshop issues.
Unger said that trusting his team to support the blueprint for growth is a big part of what enabled Vision’s success.
“When we started this, I was doing it all,” Unger said. “You realize, with time, that you need to get out of the business and work on this business. I was so much in the weeds that we couldn’t grow. Now, I’m looking 20,000 feet up and that’s given us opportunities.”
Unger also said picking the right employees was critical.
“We’re always looking for a few good (people),” Unger said. “And when we find somebody, we want to keep them here. We want to grow our business around them.”
A Vision Mechanical employee works on an HVAC system. (Courtesy of Vision Mechanical)
Part of the company’s strategy also involves an apprenticeship program at Vision, which Unger said is currently hosting 20 students.
“I came through an apprenticeship program, so I know the value of it,” Unger, who got his start in a steamfitter apprenticeship, said. “It’s neat to see the (employee) numbers increasing in the trades.”
Today, the company has over 50 employees serving Berks, Lebanon, Schuylkill, Lancaster, Lehigh, Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery counties.
The growth was also fueled by Vision’s acquisition two years ago of A P Merkel Plumbing and Heating, Fleetwood, which focuses on residential services.
“We’re trying to grow our service agreement side,” Unger said. “What I call reoccurring revenue. We have a service agreement and come out to your house twice a year.”
That change has coincided with Vision hiring a service manager, schedule work dispatcher and more, and revamping its website to showcase its residential offerings.
“Our core focus is building an enduring legacy for our employees and their families,” Unger said. “All while exceeding customers’ expectations.”
Vision Mechanical was ranked No. 3 on the list in 2025 and was unranked in 2024.
Small Business Winner
The number one spot went to Blades of Steel Landscaping, a full-service firm that serves Berks, Lebanon, Montgomery and Lancaster counties.
The company offers everything from simple shrub care to complete renovations, along with various hardscaping options.
Bime Beauty, Wyomissing, took second place on the small business list.
This year’s small business list was expanded from the top 10 to the top 20 companies making over $250,000 in revenue for three consecutive years.
Owner and founder Tanya Oziel said she started the business in 2022 after she had ideas to develop her own beauty products.
She said her company’s top selling product is an electric eyelash curler.
“Everything has an innovation,” Oziel said. “What I found out when I was talking to women 20 or 30 years ago was they used to heat their metal eyelash curler on the stove. The one we have is silicon and plastic based and is much safer.”
Eyelash curlers are Bime Beauty’s number one selling product, according to owner Tanya Oziel. (Courtesy of Tanya Oziel)
She said partnerships and marketing strategies have contributed to her company’s rise.
“Affiliates and influencers is one (method we use),” Oziel said. “We’ve been in the New York Times, we’ve been in movies on Netflix and Hulu. And exploring celebrity partnerships as well.”
She said Bime signed an agreement with Adam Sandler’s production company, and a few of the company’s brushes were used on set.
Bime Beauty works with influencers and affiliates to market products. (Courtesy of Tanya Oziel)
She said the company was home based and she was the sole proprietor, but now has two employees and is looking to sign a lease for an office and live shopping studio in July.
Business Excellence Awards
The Greater Reading Business Excellence Awards are meant to honor the area’s most dynamic for-profit businesses.
“This ranking is intended to recognize both large and small companies which have, and will continue to have, a positive influence on the future of Greater Reading,” the GRCA said on its website.
The awards are a collaboration between the GRCA and KPMG LLP, which takes in revenue statements and tallies the growth totals using an algorithm.
Companies must be headquartered in Berks or show that 50% of their revenue comes from the county to be eligible for the awards.
GRCA members can submit nominations to be considered for the list based on their annual revenue, which is considered as a total value and more heavily as a percentage of growth over the past three years.
The GRCA expanded the small business category this year due to the high volume of applicants, noted Leah Fassnacht, GRCA senior director of communications and marketing.
“Not only did we get so many additional entries, but we also recognize that a majority of our GRCA membership base is made up of small businesses. And because we received more than double the number of entries than previous years, expanding this category just made sense.”
Most of the small businesses on this year’s list were appearing there for the first time, Fassnacht noted.
Award winners will be recognized at the GRCA’s annual dinner May 13 at the Santander Arena in Reading. The dinner will feature a keynote speech by astronaut Mike Massimino.
(Courtesy Greater Reading Chamber Alliance)
2026 GRCA Business Excellence Awards
Category No. 1 ($1M+ REVENUE)
1. Vision Mechanical Inc.
2. Irish Creek Construction
3. Mail Shark
4. Grant Manufacturing and Alloying Inc.
5. Halter Landscaping Inc.
6. Singer Equipment Co.
7. Diamond Credit Union
8. JB Plumbing HVAC & Construction
9. Levan Machine & Truck Equipment
10. Ethosource LLC
11. Wyatt Seating
12. D&S Elite Construction Inc.
13. Discovery Federal Credit Union
14. Sense of Peace Home Care
15. Fraser Advanced Information Systems
16. Unique Pretzel Bakery Inc.
17. Customers Bank
18. RKL LLP
19. Rothenberger Insurance Services LLC
20. REMAX of Reading
21. East Penn Manufacturing Co.
22. Betterview Counseling and Trauma Recovery LLC
23. Berkshire Systems Group Inc.
24. Stoney Creek Rentals Inc.
25. New Castle Lawn & Landscape
26. Blatt Construction Inc.
27. Solve IT Solutions LLC
28. Advanced Comfort Specialists Inc.
29. Fromm
30. Entech Engineering Inc.
31. Spotts Insurance Group
32. Smith Bukowski
33. Financial Planning Advisors Inc.
34. Kozloff Stoudt Attorneys
35. Kitay Law Offices
36. Muhlenberg Greene Architects Ltd.
37. Catering by John Lowe
38. Moselem Springs Golf Club
39. Reading Royals
40. Van Scoy Jewelers
41. Bell Tower Salon Spa
42. Santander Arena and Performing Arts Center
43. Retro Fitness Kenhorst
44. Reading Truck Body LLC
45. D&S Portable Toilets LLC
46. Brentwood Industries Inc.
47. DESCCO Design & Construction Inc.
48. Ronnie C. Folk Paving Inc.
49. Reading Truck Equipment LLC
50. PhytogenX Inc.
Category No. 2 ($250k+ REVENUE)
1. Blades of Steel Landscaping
2. Bime Beauty
3. Disc Centers of America Reading
4. Blinds and Designs
5. FXV Digital Design
6. Uncorkd
7. Lausch’s Moving Co.
8. Archwood Soapery
9. Berks Digital Inc.
10. Three Hive Studios
11. Empowerment Behavioral Health LLC
12. Gilded Design Studio
13. Bell Media Group
14. Interlace Communications Inc.
15. Jeff Martin, Century 21 Gold
16. LJ’s Fitness
17. Parcon Cleaning Services
18. Moyer-Drabick & Associates Ltd.
19. Inspired Wellness LLC
20. Ignite Martial Arts