Locations
Benjamin & Co.
Key Contacts
Owners, Principals & Senior Executives
Ben Hemberger's Bio
Growing up around the industry, Ben had many part time gigs as a craftsman’s helper. After high school in New Hampshire’s Upper Valley, he took a break from building and earned a degree in computer science from Hampshire College in Massachusetts, but realized quickly that he’d rather not have an office job. He dabbled in cooking and boat building—and even tried combining the two as a chef on a sailing vessel—before finally returning to his roots in residential construction. After learning the craft from some of Maine’s best-known timber framers and builders, Ben set out to build a company of his own, earning himself an office job in the process. Fortunately, while guiding a small business takes many hours at the desk, Ben’s enthusiasm for hands-on work won’t allow for a day to pass without some time spent behind the hammer or chisel, or a visit to the jobsite to check in with the crew. A lifelong student of both design and building science, Ben spent several years as a part-time student at the UMaine Augusta School of Architecture and has completed a 10-week online class on Net Zero Energy Homes through Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA).
Jesse Martin's Bio
Though Jesse hails from land-locked southwestern New Hampshire, he heard and heeded the call of the ocean. A graduate of both boat building school and years spent living aboard his own sailing vessel in and around Portland Harbor, he has finally settled down to a life near the water—and, conveniently, very close to BenCo headquarters—in Brunswick. In addition to honing his enviable finish carpentry chops on countless high-end homes in Maine, Jesse is a nearly 20-year veteran of the Structural Insulated Panel industry, and our resident expert in panel fabrication, installation, and modification. While he’s not afraid to climb up on a roof with a sheet or two of plywood, these days Jesse tackles many of our most demanding trim jobs and stair and railing installations. With a keen eye for detail and an encyclopedic knowledge of the behaviors of wood, Jesse has the skill, patience, and talent to take any project from far-flung fantasy to exquisitely constructed reality fit for the finest home—or even the finest yacht.
When he’s not curating his collection of salvaged wood, building pedestals for his wife’s floral design business, or wearing his tool belt around on a Sunday afternoon at his own house, one might find Jesse enjoying a fine Belgian stout by a backyard campfire.
Pat Durham's Bio
When our headhunters found Pat working in something called, “Mainframe Support” for a major computing company, we knew we had to add his skillset to the team. Originally from southern New England, Pat graduated from Siena College in upstate New York in 2006, and moved to western Maine before settling down in Freeport. At some point, he felt that he needed even more Maine framing in his life, so Pat threw himself into the art and practice of timber framing shortly before starting his tenure at BenCo. While cutting and raising frames remains his true passion, Pat has proven himself to be an exceptionally capable carpenter through all of the phases of residential construction, including the parts that include part numbers, like maintaining pneumatic nailers and fixing broken power planers. It’s always easy to recognize him around the site; just watch for a sharp glint of steel from his hand tools, which he keeps razor-sharp with the help of a jealousy-inducing Tormek wet grinder he found on Craigslist.