CertaPro still painting after 20
“There’s a great sense of pride,” said Johnson, who co-owns the business with Devin Taylor. “To be able to serve the community, there’s pretty much a sense of pride in everyone who works for us.”
Moreover, “there’s a sense of pride we’re keeping Knoxville beautiful,” he said. “Painting is the easiest and cheapest way to make something look brand new.
“When you look around, there are probably 500 painting companies in Knoxville,” Johnson added. “Some of our competition say they have been in business for 20 years, but they’re part of franchises or whatever.
“We have actually been in business 20 years. I was born and raised in Knoxville.”
CertaPro Painters provides painting services for residential and commercial — interior and exterior.
“We will paint anything but a car,” he said. “We’ve got five carpenters on staff — we do a lot of carpentry, whether it’s siding replacement; we build decks, we stain decks; (and) we do general repairs. We’ve done some light remodel work in the past.
“We’re everywhere,” Johnson added. “This time of year, we get real busy with people who want to re-stain their back porches and decks.”
Jeff and Joann Brown formed the company in 2003 with Jeff and one painter before Johnson came on board in early 2017. Taylor came into the business 12 years ago.
“We both started out as employees,” Johnson said. “We were called production managers. We just kind of worked our way up, and when the opportunity to buy the business in 2021 rolled around, we were able to do so.
“It’s grown leaps and bounds, so over the last five years — particularly last year — we grew 40 percent,” he said.
Now, the company has 120 painters under its wing.
The office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. However, Johnson said, “we’re almost like a 24-hour business because we … do nights, weekends.”
To schedule an appointment, call 865-470-0001, e-mail benjohnson@certapro.com or visit online at https://certapro.com/east-tennessee/
