Chester Inc. provides professionalism, perseverance, and quality projects for Barney Enterprises

Ever since Orville Redenbacher and Charles Bowman established Chester Inc. in 1947, the company has been one of Northern Indiana’s premier architecture, construction, and agricultural system firms. The company measures success not only by growth and recognition but also in the persistence of each employee who works to meet every customer at eye level.

One of Chester’s longstanding customers who has built a strong relationship with the company is Mike Bathurst. As the vice president of Wendy’s franchise group Barney Enterprises, Bathurst has often turned to Chester for managing construction projects.

“We have built and remodeled multiple projects with them over the years,” said Chuck Wilk, marketing and business development manager at Chester Inc. “They have been an excellent repeat client of ours.”

The collaboration started when a disaster struck for Barney Enterprises. As they were trying to figure out a plan of recovery, that’s when they first heard about Chester.

“We had a catastrophic fire at one of our medical office buildings,” Bathurst said. “Our insurance broker recommended Chester Inc. as one of the companies we should reach out to manage the rebuild.”

Multiple projects later, the relationship between Chester Inc. and Barney Enterprises has been as strong as ever. Bathurst knows that, whenever a situation arises for reconstruction, remodeling, or architectural advancements, the project will be completed with quality solutions.

“We jokingly refer to them as the ‘construction arm’ of Barney Enterprises, given the strength of our partnership,” Bathurst said. “They have built three different Wendy’s for us so far in Northwest Indiana, in addition to the multiple remodel projects.”

Every project comes with a unique set of challenges. One of the recent projects that Bathurst turned to Chester for was a Wendy’s construction project in 2025. He’s appreciative of how the team was able to adjust on the fly to complete it.

“We opened our newest Wendy’s in DeMotte in December last year,” Bathurst said. “As with any construction project, there were multiple unforeseen complications and obstacles that we needed to navigate. The Chester team was able to adapt and push forward with their typical professionalism and perseverance.”

Bathurst has been so pleased with this partnership that he tries to spread the good word about what Chester is doing to everyone he meets in Northwest Indiana.

“We have recommended them to multiple businesses and many nonprofits in the area,” Bathurst said. 

Giving back to the community is a trait ingrained in the culture and workforce of Chester. The mission of the company is to obligate itself to upstanding corporate citizenship in local communities with a focus on health, education, and charities. With a goal to create a better place for people to live and work, Chester has been able to answer all of the project inquiries that Bathurst and Barney Enterprises have. Bathurst hopes that the partnership continues for many years to come.

“The first few words that come to mind are ‘reliable’ and ‘trustworthy’ for this team,” Bathurst said. “Those are words that I don’t use too often, especially when it comes to the construction industry. They are such a great company to work with, along with a solid group of subcontractors.”

For more information on Chester Inc., you can visit chesterinc.com.