This summer, BERGFELD’s celebrates heading into our 30th year.
Memories of when and how we started in 1987 are vivid to this day.
Divorce. It was so sudden. My life changed radically. I was in NYC feeling shattered and alone, with very little money of my own, anxious about my future. No time to fret. I moved forward.
BERGFELD’s DBA
I’d always dreamed of creating my own company. I was not clear on what my company would actually do. I was clear on these 3 principles that would be its foundation:
- Environmentally sound (I am an original founder of Earth Day in New York, 1970),
- Provide needed client based public service,
- Be self-sustaining and expansive.
In the summer of 1987, on what would have been my father’s 77th birthday had he survived cancer, I went to City Hall, filed my business as a ‘DBA’ and got a federal ID number. Knowing that it would evolve into a range of services, I opted for the broadest industry category assigned by New York State. Type of business? “Housekeeping Services”.
My father, Albert J. Bergfeld, started his work life as a brick layer on construction sites when he graduated from high school to put himself through college. He worked his way up, eventually owning a management consulting firm in 5 countries, headquartered in 30 Rockefeller Plaza. I am blessed to inherit his genes and energy for creating new businesses. I wanted to honor his memory, and mark my new beginning. Name of business? Simply “BERGFELD’s”.
Next steps? Set up shop. Find an accountant and bookkeeper. To get business, I posted notices and placed ads in “penny savers” and in free newspapers for Housekeeping Services.
BERGFELD’s began.
