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Berg / Crushing Corporation of America: Demolition on Federal Money

PROLOGUE

In our possession are internal documents of Berg Demo Holdings LLC , dated 2025–2026.

Consolidated financial statements for 2026 — P&L, balance sheet, WIP, ratio analysis. Distribution list: owners, CFO, representatives of Canadian investor Alaris Equity Partners, two independent board members. Related party register — Berg Related Party Spreadsheet : monthly payments to four affiliated entities from January 2025 through May 2026.

Daily cash sheets for April 2026. Bank transfer confirmations: $1M, $1.5M, $2.71M — within the group over two months. A log of 264 contract change entries (PCO Log): individual change order amounts reach $1,808,074.

More than 50 executed subcontracts and agreements — subcontractor agreements, equipment rental contracts, and general contractor agreements from 2024–2025. Among them: a direct government contract with the Maryland Stadium Authority under the Project C.O.R.E. program, heavy equipment rental from Carter Site Services for Key Bridge debris work, master subcontracts with four asbestos subcontractors, an executed subcontract for the Homestead Wakefield school — the very one for which Berg is now litigating in Harford County.

Internal personnel evaluations: peer reviews of management on the KPA platform. The President evaluates subordinates, subordinates evaluate the President, the COO evaluates his direct reports. Documents include written comments and self-assessments with personal signatures.

Insurance documents for 2026–2027: fleet, Workers' Compensation, General Liability, D&O. A lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Harford County from April 2026. Monthly covenant compliance certificates, signed by CFO Scott Luman and sent to Alaris.

In this article, you will only be able to review a portion of the data we have chosen to disclose. The rest you will be able to download and study independently after the full archive is published.

Part I. Who Are Berg / Crushing

The group operates under several legal names:

Legal Entity Type Role Berg Demo Holdings, LLC Delaware LLC Top-level holding — investment partner Alaris Crushing Corporation of America Maryland corp. Primary operating company (CCA) B.O.W., Inc. Maryland corp. Affiliated entity, same address Berg Demo Group LLC Delaware LLC Demolition division Crushing LLC LLC Subsidiary, PNC account TBG (The Berg Group) — Operating holding, main PNC account

Berg Demo Holdings, LLC — the legal entity that signed the Company Agreement with Alaris on February 5, 2025 . It is Holdings that reports monthly to Alaris via Exhibit J (Compliance Certificate) and Exhibit L (Initial Monthly Questionnaire).

The Compliance Certificate for May 2026 was signed on June 23, 2026 , and certifies: no Event of Default, financial statements for the period are accurate.

The company underwent a name change. It appears in documents as The Berg Corporation . In 2025–2026 — already Berg Demo Group LLC . The certificate in the actual April 2026 lawsuit demonstrates this: attorneys ask how to correctly identify the plaintiff if "the contract was signed by The Berg Corporation" — under this name the company operated on the disputed project.

Key People:

Name Role David J. Berg CEO — Crushing Corporation of America and B.O.W., Inc. Austin Berg Management — Berg Demo (son of David Berg) Zach Gilden President — Berg Demo Group LLC Ralph (Scott) Luman CFO — signs bank transfers, contracts, and monthly certificates for Alaris Howard Shearer CFO — signed customer notification of ownership change (January 2025) Durant Walters President, The Berg Corporation — signed subcontracts and government contracts under this name through January 2025 Brandon Bonanno COO, The Berg Corporation — initials BB in legal documents; reports to Zachary Gilden Joanita Lubega AP Contact, AP@BergDemo.com , tel. 410-233-5525 ext. 208

David J. Berg signed the PNC Bank credit agreement on behalf of both companies — Crushing Corporation of America and B.O.W., Inc. — simultaneously, as CEO of each.

The Berg Demo Holdings LLC financial statements for May 2026 are distributed to a list of 10 recipients: Berg Demo (David Berg, Austin Berg, Zachary Gilden, Howard Shearer, Scott Luman), Alaris Equity (Gregg Delcourt, Connor Lesperance, Dan Maceachen), and Board Members (Bill Childs, Frank Settleman).

Federal Tax ID Berg Demo Group LLC: 52-2135644

Phone: 410-233-5525

Part II. What They Demolish

Completed projects — from the internal register as of April 1, 2026:

Project Address Client / GC Contract Landmark Mall 5801 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA Landmark Land Holding / Clark Construction $16,803,636 Perkins Homes Ph. 3–5 1401 E Pratt St, Baltimore, MD Housing Authority of Baltimore City / Gilbane $14,288,658 Aberdeen Proving Ground Aberdeen, MD Dept. of the Army / US Army Corps of Engineers / Kemron $7,434,033 Air & Space Museum 600 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC Smithsonian Institution / Clark Construction $6,580,525 Johns Hopkins Reed Hall 624 N Broadway, Baltimore, MD Johns Hopkins University / Gilbane $6,415,636 Pimlico Race Course Baltimore, MD Clark Construction Group $6,528,779 Total (top 6) ~$58,051,267

Work scope by project:

Pimlico Race Course: demolition of the historic Baltimore racetrack — home of the Preakness Stakes. Completed 2025–2026. Gross profit: $2,850,937 (43.7% margin).

Landmark Mall: "Asbestos Abatement, Interior Gut, Structural Separation and Full Raze"

Perkins Homes: "Complete Demolition of 35 Apartment Buildings"

Aberdeen Proving Ground: "Asbestos abatement and full raze of 60 buildings"

Air & Space Museum: "Abate, Stripout, Selective Structural of Active Museum"

Johns Hopkins Reed Hall: "Abatement, Gut and Wreck of Former Dormitories"

Asbestos abatement is present in most projects — including on the active grounds of the federal Smithsonian museum, a U.S. Army installation, and Baltimore housing stock.

Additionally, Berg has a direct government contract with the Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA) under Project C.O.R.E. (Creating Opportunities for Renewal and Enterprise, "DD 016") — a program for demolishing vacant housing stock, funded by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. The contract was signed on June 4, 2024 , signatory for MSA — Executive Director Michael J. Frenz ( mfrenz@mdstad.com ), for Berg — Durant Walters; legal review — Amy K. Mataban, Assistant Attorney General . Scope includes not only asbestos but also " disposal of lead-based paint from properties; the removal and disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), mercury containing waste materials and other universal or regulated wastes. "

A critically important clause in the MSA contract — Article 21 :

The Contractor shall not sign, approve, or execute any manifests, certificates, other documents required by the Environmental Protection Agency, or any state, for transport and deposit of materials deemed hazardous or certified non-hazardous."

Berg, under a government contract, is not authorized to sign EPA documents for the transport and disposal of hazardous materials. This means that the party legally responsible for transporting hazardous waste from Berg's sites is someone else — a licensed transporter signing the manifest. It is precisely in this role that the "related party" HAWKINS MSNG appears, having received $7,094,615 over 17 months (see Part X).

Part III. Financial Picture

2025 Results

Data from the Covenant Comparison — a document showing compliance with bank covenants.

Metric Amount Net Income $6,707,000 EBITDA $8,532,000 Alaris Preferred Distributions $2,165,000 Tax Distributions to Owners $960,000 FCCR (Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio) 2.48x

Verbatim from the document:

FCCR (min of 1.20x) 2.48x / Result On-Side"

Distributions as % of net income 32.3% / Threshold 50.0% / Result On-Side"

Excess Free Cash Flow (above 1.20x) $3,743"

Current Data: TTM and May 2026

Berg Demo Holdings LLC consolidated financial statements for May 2026 (issued June 18, 2026) cover both the current year and trailing 12 months (TTM).

Revenue and Profit:

Period Revenue Gross Profit GP% Net Income EBITDA May 2026 (month) $4,977,676 $1,657,176 33.3% $731,832 $883,786 YTD (Jan–May 2026) $27,124,574 $6,449,235 23.8% $1,984,813 $2,790,261 TTM (Jun 2025 – May 2026) $61,733,829 $11,854,639 19.2% $5,128,622 $7,186,538

Comparison with prior periods on gross margin — historical trend:

2023: 32.70%

2024: 27.20%

2025: 28.27%

TTM May 2026: 19.20%

Margin compression of more than 13 percentage points over three years — alongside revenue growth from $45M to $61.7M. Trucking & Disposal for the TTM amounted to $16,684,570 (27% of revenue), while the budget had assumed 21%.

Scrap Revenue in May 2026 was $1,345,143 — double the same month in 2025 ($649,477). For the first five months of 2026: $2,763,054 in ferrous and non-ferrous metals.

Balance Sheet as of May 31, 2026

Item May 2026 May 2025 Change Cash $6,178,876 $2,889,790 +114% Accounts Receivable $13,223,199 $11,559,835 +14% Underbillings (Costs in Excess) $2,850,481 — n/a Total Current Assets $24,701,715 $17,992,168 +37% Fixed Assets (net) $6,309,576 $4,580,629 +38% Total Assets $32,020,021 $23,671,719 +35% Accounts Payable $6,510,672 $6,433,330 +1% Overbillings (Billings in Excess) $3,212,298 — n/a Distributions Payable $885,000 $885,000 — Long-Term Liabilities (Notes Payable) $3,994,070 $1,951,414 +105% Total Liabilities $16,713,353 $11,022,646 +52% Equity $15,306,668 $12,649,073 +21%

Notes Payable grew from $1.95M to $3.99M — the company is increasing its equipment debt load. Debt-to-Equity: 1.09x (versus 0.86x a year ago).

Retained earnings on the balance sheet grew: $16,679,930 (Prev Retained Earnings) — carryover from FY2025. Current distributions:

Item Amount Owners Distribution (Berg + partners) ($2,852,298) — accumulated Owners Distribution — Alaris Preferred ($3,235,630) — accumulated since investment

Alaris had received a cumulative $3,235,630 in preferred distributions by May 2026 — this is the amount over 15 months since the investment (February 2025). Forecast for end of 2026: ~$3.9M at a rate of $180,000–270,000 per month.

FCCR Dynamics

The company tracks FCCR (Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio) annually. Data by year (PNC Bank methodology, minimum 1.25x):

Year FCCR 2023 4.67x 2024 0.77x (covenant breach) 2025 2.72x TTM May 2026 1.72x

In 2024, FCCR dropped to 0.77x — below the bank threshold of 1.25x. In 2025 it returned to 2.72x. By May 2026, the trailing metric had declined again to 1.72x.

Alaris uses a different FCCR methodology with a lower threshold of 1.20x — by that measure, the 2025 figure was 2.48x ( "FCCR (min of 1.20x) 2.48x / Result On-Side" ). One company — two different FCCRs for the same year, for two different creditors.

Alaris — Presence in Management

Alaris Equity Partners (TSX: AD) — a Canadian permanent capital company. Invested in Berg Demo Holdings LLC on February 5, 2025.

Structure data:

Preferred Equity (Alaris): $17,150,000

Common Equity (Alaris): $3,850,000

From the 2026–2027 insurance proposal, Subjectivities section:

Executive package — confirm Alaris Equity Partners has board representation to remove shareholder exclusion"

Three Alaris representatives — Gregg Delcourt, Connor Lesperance, Dan Maceachen — receive monthly financial statements alongside independent board members Bill Childs and Frank Settleman . Annual board fees: $20,834/month ($250,000/year), reflected in the P&L's G&A under "Consulting — Board Fees."

Part IV. President at 58%: Internal Performance Reviews

April 2025. Two months after closing the Alaris deal, Berg conducted annual employee performance reviews on the KPA platform. Documents contain peer evaluations across seven categories, written comments, and management self-assessments.

The company's President — Durant Walters , Title: President, The Berg Corporation. His self-assessment was recorded on April 25, 2025. Under the KPA system, Walters tracks daily "Key Performance Areas": project status walkthroughs, open PCO monitoring, revenue forecasts — including a line item for " Caton Avenue " alongside ferrous scrap, non-ferrous scrap, and metal recycling.

Subordinates evaluated Walters as follows:

Reviewer Group Average Score Project Managers 81% General Superintendents 56% CFO (Howard Shearer) 52% Director of Safety (Chris Brophy) 57% VP of Training (Chris Trendell) 43% Overall Average 58%

CFO Howard Shearer , 52%, verbatim:

Durant is a smart person. Understands contract language and scope of work. I do not believe he handles himself as a President but more as a Project Executive. I truly believe that role would be fit for him because of his skill set and background. At times, I think his sarcasm is unprofessional in certain settings. There are times that I am not following what he is saying and he makes you feel like an idiot with his sarcasm. I do not believe he is strong enough to be the top leader of our organization."

Shearer marked "Needs Improvement" under "Exhibits professionalism/courtesy" — meaning the CFO considers the President's behavior unprofessional.

One General Superintendent (anonymous), 54%:

Unfortunately he's more fit to be a project manager. Since taking over the PM role with Joe Fluer it's obvious where he needs to be. Only my opinion."

Chris Trendell , VP of Training and Employee Development, 43%:

I have very little interaction with the President on a daily or weekly basis. We used to have a once a week meeting but it died on the vine as there was never any positive outcome in any of the fields regarding the nature of our line of work."

In his self-assessment, Walters writes under "What needs to change — Employee Retention":

Stop the broadcasting of negativity from Chris T., Tracy M. and others."

Chris T. — that same Chris Trendell, VP, who gave him 43%. Tracy M. — Tracy Morgan, a direct report to the COO.

On the question "whom are you grooming as a replacement": Unknown . On "what next position do you want": N/A .

The Succession Tender

From below: Brandon Bonanno, COO. He was evaluated by four direct reports — average: 66.1% . Tracy Morgan (Shop Manager): "Brandon needs to be able to make decisions on his own." Chris Brophy (Director of Safety): "I think both he and Berg would benefit from giving him more autonomy in decision making regarding personnel."

On March 31, 2025, Bonanno sent his subordinate reviews not to Durant Walters, but to Zachary Gilden — with the note: "Zach – Below are my comments/initial thoughts for my reviews. I welcome your thoughts/input." This reveals the real hierarchy: the COO reports to the President of Berg Demo Group LLC, not to the President of The Berg Corporation.

From Bonanno's review of field staff: "Field personnel are learning to call Brandon instead of Zach when they need issues solved." Zach — the former first call for the field.

Confirmed roles from the April 2025 performance reviews:

Name Title Brandon Bonanno COO ( bbonanno@bergdemo.com ) Scott Anderson Chief of Estimating and Business Development Chris Brophy Director of Safety Brent Walker Sr Project Manager Joe Fluehr Estimator / Project Manager Adam Trendell General Superintendent Rick Maska General Superintendent Tracy Morgan Shop Manager Nick Huppman Inventory and Operations Manager

The Trendell Family

Three individuals with the same surname work at the same company:

Name Title President's Rating Chris Trendell VP of Training and Employee Development 81% Adam Trendell General Superintendent not rated by President Matt Trendell Assistant Project Manager 67%

Matt Trendell on his own position: "PM ish." On whom he is grooming as a successor: "No One."

From President → Matt (67%) review:

Often, Matt is argumentative and pushes back when given assignments. Matt requires constant reminding to get his assignments completed and his work requires detailed quality control to ensure accuracy."

Chris Trendell on desired next position: "PRESIDENT OF TRAINING AND EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT." Grooming as replacement for his VP role: Adam Trendell and Rick Maska.

Brent Walker: 43% and "Our Weakest Attribute as a Company"

Sr Project Manager Brent Walker received 43% from the President — out of 10 KPIs, eight were rated "Needs Improvement (1)." Verbatim on specific projects as of March 31, 2025:

Status sheets are not being updated, despite multiple requests. (Job not touched as of 3/31/25: 25-009 255 Rockville, 25-008 Top Golf, 25-006 13775 McLearen, 25-002 Montgomery Center)"

Walker in his own self-assessment — on customer service:

We can have an open conversation on this, and document as needed. This is our weakest attribute as a company."

Under Productivity and Employee Retention, he repeated the same point three times: "Hire appropriate supervision."

On the profitability of some projects — verbatim:

For projects that have insufficient estimates/budgets or unrealistic schedule commitments I have had to focus the majority of my efforts to minimize losses. Profitability has unfortunately not been an option."

On staffing: "We do not have the appropriate supervision to staff all of our projects."

Caton Avenue: A Yard With a Manager

COO Brandon Bonanno in his review of Adam Trendell (General Superintendent), April 2025:

Better management of the daily activities and organization of Caton Ave"

More effort on selling material from Caton Ave"

Director of Safety Chris Brophy — in his own self-assessment, April 2025:

Have the Caton Ave. manager reach out to smaller local contractors (home builders and smaller site work companies) to sell material consistently."

Bonanno to Nick Huppman (Inventory and Operations Manager):

Needs to be more aggressive in the selling of the recycled material at Caton Ave and clay from Hawkins"

Caton Avenue — a physical facility in Baltimore, managed by Adam Trendell. Function: selling recycled materials from demolition projects — scrap metal, recycled concrete, clay. Hawkins MSNG, the largest "related party" ($7.09M over 17 months), appears in the same context as Caton Ave as a buyer/intermediary in selling excavated clay. In the Alaris register, CATON AVE is listed as receiving a fixed payment of $10,300/month. In President Durant Walters' KPA, "Caton Avenue" appears as a separate line item of monthly revenue, alongside ferrous and non-ferrous scrap.

What the Performance Reviews Say About the Company Overall

Several employees independently, in separate self-assessments, identified the same institutional problems.

Bonus system. Chris Brophy, April 2025: "The establishment of a transparent and achievable bonus structure would also be beneficial for retention." Brent Walker: "Have scheduled reviews with employees to discuss their work and raises." Matt Trendell repeated the same thing verbatim. No formal transparent bonus system exists at Berg.

Retirement benefits. Brophy: "Offer improved benefits related to a true 401K program (roth and traditional) vs a SIMPLE IRA and potentially an HSA offering due to offering high deductible plans primarily. Most of our competitors already have these offerings that are similar in size, so it becomes important to level the playing field." Berg offers employees a SIMPLE IRA — the most basic retirement vehicle — alongside a high-deductible health plan.

Career development. Brent Walker (Sr PM) on successor: "N/A. We do not have a development program and there is no one in the company that has expressed interest in being a PM to my knowledge." Matt Trendell (APM) on successor: "No One." Durant Walters (President) on successor: "Unknown."

Three levels of management — President, Senior PM, and APM — cannot name a person who would take their place.

Berg Equipment on the Key Bridge Debris

April 24, 2024 — 29 days after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse — Berg entered into a heavy equipment rental agreement with Carter Site Services, Inc. for the KEY BRIDGE project:

Machine Model Attachment Value Rent/28 days Mobilization Excavator Komatsu PC650LC-11 (SN: 80012) Genesis 995R XT shear (