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When life gives you a chance to quote the great country legend Johnny Cash, you take it.
And that’s exactly what Mark Bertel, owner of Zee Dell’s and this year’s Business Excellence Award winner, did in front of his peers last Thursday evening at the Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet.
Hi, I’m Johnny Cash. I’ve always wanted to say that,” Bertel said jokingly as he flashed his cowboy hat and black suit to his peers at Mountain Home.
Bertel has many reasons to celebrate this year. His company, which specializes in flipping commercial properties and converting them to affordable housing, is growing in Arkansas and Missouri and has quickly become a prominent business in Mountain Home.
Bertel’s Rio Burrito, a popular “Chipotle-style” restaurant in town, is also booming, with more locations opening each year. His wife’s cafe, Cove Coffee, is becoming one of the go-to spots for freshly brewed espresso drinks and coffees in downtown Mountain Home.
“We were founded in 2018,” Bertel said. Inspired by what we like to call a minimalist eco-conscious lifestyle, we aimed to provide sustainable housing. We want to be a part of the community rather than come in, build and leave. We really want to be out there and work in the community, working with non-profits and things like that to make a bigger impact than just giving a house.
A native of the mountain house, Bertel spent his entire life here in the mountain house. He is a graduate of Mountain Home High School and Arkansas State University – Mountain Home.
In the year In 2018, he started flipping properties with the help of his good friend Gage McIntosh, who is the chief development officer of The Dales, an old country motor home complex. What started as 12 doors became 40 by the end of that year. .
Little did Bertel know that those 40 doors would quickly expand to an estimated 803 doors a few years later. Today, he controls nearly $24 million in assets and is expected to earn more than $3.6 million.
And that revenue is put to good use here in Mountain Home. As Bertel expands to other cities in Arkansas and Missouri, it buys what it needs to complete its construction projects right here in town. His company employs 46 people in Mountain Home, with an additional 104 jobs for independent contractors.
He invested $11 million of his company’s money into Mountain Home. One of his most recent investments in the city was the transformation of the Spring Valley Motel into the City Center Commons.
That motel, once a hot spot for crime and drug use in the city, is now a luxury apartment for temporary workers like the traveling nurses employed by Baxter Health.
And that’s not the only eyesore The Dels is doing. Bertel is working to create West End Social, a complete renovation of the city’s old Red Fox Lounge and River Rock Inn. That complex boasts Bertel’s Fresh Fried Chicken restaurant, Cadillac Jack.
Bertel and his wife, Kelsey, will open a new ice cream shop in the spring called The Scoop in the heart of downtown.
“We know that the city side has struggled, but we think the growth that is happening on the west side of the city is something that can be successful,” Bertel said.
Bertel and The Dales often work with local governments to determine which blighted properties can be flipped and whether flipping would benefit the local population of that city. He said that before investing, he often pays attention to ensuring there is a need for affordable housing in the community.
He has invested in communities such as St. Roberts, Lebanon, Branson, Bull Shoals, Mountain View and Gainesville.
“We have to make sure the demographics are there for our style home,” Bertel said. “Our dream for the entire company is to strengthen housing for these people. Without workforce housing, people cannot succeed in the community. Your waiters and waitresses, the people I’m in the trenches with, are the hardest working people I’ve ever met. They need to have affordable housing.”
Bertel emphasizes that many of his renters are able to budget and save to buy their first home.
“Yes, it’s small, but it works,” Bertel said. “He can make you budget. You can budget for buying a house. Most people leave after a year or two and get their first home. This is something special we need to see.
In his speech at the chamber’s annual banquet, Bertel emphasized his focus on education, highlighting his own college education and two scholarships awarded by The Dells.
The first scholarship, called the Vernon Arthur Berthel Scholarship, was named after Berthel’s grandfather, who served in the Navy during WWII.
Vernon Bertle, who was 17 when he enlisted, was rejected from the military after he could not make weight during the first physical. It is said that the spirit Bertel returned home to eat 11 bananas to gain weight. The Navy would receive it later that day.
After returning from military service, Vernon Bertle sold insurance for a time before learning to be a carpenter, a skill that was passed down to his grandson. Mark Bertel said his grandfather’s scholarship is a continuation of passing on that skill to others.
The second scholarship, named after Bertel’s best friend and chief development officer, Gage McIntosh, is for businessmen attending Missouri State University.
For more information about The Dels and their properties, please call 870-232-0010.
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