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Contractors Electrical Plus Emphasizes Education, Peace of Mind

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Company owners Kristin Wampler (left) and Kristen Sgroi.
Construction

Beyond the Quick Fix

Company owners Kristin Wampler (left) and Kristen Sgroi.

Company owners Kristin Wampler (left) and Kristen Sgroi.

When Kristin Wampler and Kristen Sgroi met, they became fast friends. And now, they’ve turned that friendship into a women-owned electrical contracting company that has carved out an intriguing niche in Western Mass.

Specifically, they met while working for a commercial electrician, and they hit it off immediately. So when they started talking about launching a business of their own — Wampler has a long entrepreneurial background — an electrical firm made sense. Even though they’re not electricians themselves, they knew enough about the trade — and plenty more about running the back end of a business — to give it a go.

But as they launched Contractors Electrical Plus in Westfield, they quickly pivoted away from the commercial and industrial side, instead planting a flag in what they felt was an undertapped market in residential jobs.

“My husband does home improvement, a lot of remodeling, and he’s always looking for electricians and plumbers and HVAC people,” Wampler said. “So I said to Kristen one day as we were driving, ‘you know, with all the knowledge that we’ve gained, we can open up our own residential service and repair business.’”

So they did — and their model proved to be a successful one.

“Our motto is that we protect your most valuable assets, which are the people in your home,” Sgroi said, adding that they aim to be a more relatable company for women.

“My husband does home improvement, a lot of remodeling, and he’s always looking for electricians and plumbers and HVAC people.”

“Who tends to call for services? It’s more often women who call,” she noted, adding that she and Wampler stress peace of mind in customer interactions, as all technicians are thoroughly background checked and drug tested, scheduled times are strictly kept, and all pricing is detailed up front, with no surprises later — with the same price offered weekdays, nights, or weekends.

Also, “one of us usually comes out, and we introduce ourselves. That puts the homeowner at ease, too,” Wampler said. “When another woman is coming to the house, you have that commonality. We understand what it’s like to be a woman home alone when somebody comes knocking at your door. It’s been awesome, the people we’ve met, and some of our customers have become good friends of ours.”

The company offers an annual membership plan as well, which offers perks like always having an electrician on call, services warrantied for the life of the membership, and discounts on the work itself.

But where Contractors Electrical Plus really sets itself apart is the way it educates customers.

“A friend of mine lost her home to an electrical fire,” Wampler said. “So we really want to educate customers on the risks of their electrical panel — because she actually had some rodents coming in the wintertime; they built a home in her panel, which caught a spark and ignited the house.

“With our program, we do home safety inspections. Once a year, we’ll come through your house and educate you on your electrical system — because you’re using electricity 365 days a year. That’s the heart of your home.”

Even during routine jobs, the company’s technicians make a point of pointing out and clearly explaining issues — and how to prevent them in the future.

Master electrician Gary Martineau, a former teacher, has been effective at educating customers and mentoring younger employees.

Master electrician Gary Martineau, a former teacher, has been effective at educating customers and mentoring younger employees.

“When you’re working in the big industrial space, everything is kind of open, where, in a house, everything is behind walls. Nobody sees it,” Wampler said. “When you go into parking garages, you can see all the conduit, but nobody gets to showcase their good work in residential. When we do new builds, we’ll take pictures, but once the panel goes up, you never see it again. But there’s so much that happens behind the walls.”

As an example, she noted that a customer recently had some bathroom fans changed out. “You wouldn’t believe how disgusting they were. When we took it down, it was just corroded with stuff. The homeowner was like, ‘wow.’ It’s the dust, and you don’t realize that’s coming back into the air. So with our home inspections, we’re checking all of that, and we’re making sure you’re breathing clean air, your smoke detectors are up to date, and all your safety hazards are taken care of.”

She shared other electrical hazard stories — of a smoking thermostat, improper phone chargers, and other small issues that had the potential to turn into bigger issues, and even fires.

“There could be a million electricians out there, but what’s going to set you apart from the other ones is being relatable, being empowering, and the customer knowing that they’re actually talking to somebody who cares enough to educate them. They don’t just come to your house and say, ‘OK, that’ll be $150’ or ‘that’ll be $300,’ and not tell you what made that happen, so you can prevent it in the future.”

 

Knowledge Is Power

The business partners take their motto seriously.

“This really is about protecting our most valuable assets,” Wampler told BusinessWest. “Like I said, my friend lost everything in that fire. Thank goodness she didn’t lose her kids or anything. But there are sentimental pieces that you can never get back.

“Electrical fires happen. Just recently, there were six fires in Springfield, and they were all from electrical malfunctions,” she went on. “So I really want to educate the homeowners on the safety risks. If we see something, we educate the homeowner. It doesn’t matter if you’re in our plan or you’re not in our plan, it does not matter. We educate the homeowner.”

“Electrical fires happen. Just recently, there were six fires in Springfield, and they were all from electrical malfunctions. So I really want to educate the homeowners on the safety risks.”

She noted that the company includes an actual teacher, Master Electrician Gary Martineau, a veteran of Westfield Technical Academy. “He’s a great educator when he goes out to homes and talks to homeowners. He’s also a great mentor to our apprentices. He takes his time with them and educates them. He’s been amazing.”

The mention of Martineau and his experience training teenagers got Wampler and Sgroi talking about the challenge of introducing young people to the trade, as her own son has been.

“The trades in general — that’s one thing AI is not going to replace,” Wampler said. “Like, plumbers are a dying breed. I feel like these young kids need to be more involved in getting into plumbing because there are so many old-timers in plumbing, and when they retire, they’ve got to pass this down — because AI is not going to replace them. Same thing with electrical or HVAC or carpentry.”

In that way, teaching young people the trades, including electrical work, is a way to empower them, she went on.

“Do something with your hands, because that’s never going to go away. You can always make money. You’re never going to be without a job because you can always do side stuff. My son has always loved electrical. He’s always wanted to know how things work. So he liked the flow of this work.

“Not everybody’s meant to sit behind a desk and do computer stuff,” she added. “They’re meant to be out there, and they want to build things. And that’s the future, building.”

Wampler said she and Sgroi plan to visit area vocational schools in an effort to bring more girls into the trade.

“If you’re in trade school, you don’t have to go into cosmetology; you can choose this. We want to empower them to choose a different path than they might have thought about.”

 

Team Players

Meanwhile, they continue to go into the field themselves, delivering parts, generally helping out, and talking to customers.

“It really shows your employees that you’re a team player — you’re not just the boss, you’re not just the one in the office, you’re not a dictator, but you’re out there with us,” Wampler said. “So we do that quite often.”

“And,” Sgroi added, “we try to keep open communication with all of our employees. It’s an open door policy, if they have any concerns.”

The bottom line, Wampler said, is that “we make sure we take care of our employees because our employees take care of us. That’s huge, knowing and appreciating the people that work with you. And they don’t work for us, they work with us. That’s what we try to instill — we’re here for you, and we’re doing this all together.”

They employ a team of six right now and provide constant opportunities for training, including how to sensitively talk with customers, but also be firm when an issue needs to be fixed.

“It’s communicating with the the homeowner on what things are urgent and what things can wait, and how to deal with somebody who hems and haws and is just looking for a Band-Aid,” Wampler said. “I’m not about a Band-Aid because the minute that we touch it, we now own it. And if we’re the last person to touch it, we’re going to fix it right the first time, or you can call somebody else.”

Area Landscapers Say Business Is in a Growth Mode

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Brian Campedelli says the harsh winter benefited landscapers in a few ways; it gave a solid start to those that plow snow, and it created great anticipation for spring.
Construction Special Coverage

Spring in Their Step

Brian Campedelli says the harsh winter benefited landscapers in a few ways; it gave a solid start to those that plow snow, and it created great anticipation for spring.

Brian Campedelli says the harsh winter benefited landscapers in a few ways; it gave a solid start to those that plow snow, and it created great anticipation for spring.

 

After the long, hard winter of 2025-26, Brian Campedelli notes, “people are saying, ‘get me outside — I don’t want to be in my house anymore.’”

And not just get out there, but enhance their outdoor spaces and make it so they can spend more quality time there.

He knows this because of the number and nature of the phone calls to his Easthampton-based business, Pioneer Landscapes, and also because of the turnout at the company’s booth at the recent Home & Garden Show at the Eastern States Exposition and the eagerness of many visitors to do something with their backyards.

“We got a lot of quality leads,” he said. “And these are people who came prepared; we saw people who came in with sketches, photos on their phones, and the ones who didn’t have photos were bringing up their ring cameras and showing us their yard. They knew the sizes of the patios they wanted, the water features … everyone was driven this year; they were ready to go.”

An overwhelming desire to move on from this past winter is just one of the many factors likely to contribute to a good year for businesses in the broad landscaping category in 2026. Another factor is that winter itself; indeed, many companies in this realm, like Pioneer, also handle commercial and residential snow removal, and Campedelli counted 14 plowable events and dozens more salting events over the past four months, helping the bottom line in 2025 and getting 2026 off to a solid start, much better than many recent winters.

“Everything that takes your weekend away from you throughout the summer … we can handle that for you.”

Other factors include a still-strong market for everything from patios and retaining walls to waterfalls and koi ponds, the need for many residents to put a fresh face on work done years ago, and an improved labor market generated by slower times in other sectors. The landscape professionals we spoke with also describe a growing reluctance among homeowners to give up quality time to mowing, fertilizing, and trimming, and a growing desire to let someone else do all that.

“Everything that takes your weekend away from you throughout the summer … we can handle that for you,” said Campedelli, noting that, while a segment of the population has always been willing to pay to let professionals tend to their lawn and gardens, that constituency is growing, based on interest in the different packages offered by the company (more on them later).

Jacob Hall, an enterprising 17-year-old Minnechaug High School student who started his own landscaping business with two friends two years ago, agreed.

“They just don’t have the time to it, and they don’t want to get dirty,” he said, adding that this trend has helped him grow the mowing client list at Caesar’s Lawn & Landscape to more than 50. “In many cases, it can be cheaper in the long run to hire someone, and people are really busy; it just takes one thing off their plate.”

As for those backyard elements, everything from pavilions to firepits to waterfalls large and small, Stephen Roberts says they are part of an ongoing trend toward making these spaces entertainment centers that meld technology with comfort. And the list of what goes into backyards today continues to grow and evolve.

“There’s a lot that goes into creating a nice backyard with all the amenities,” the owner of Springfield-based Stephen A. Roberts Landscaping told BusinessWest. “There’s the shed, the pool house, fencing, retaining walls, paving, lighting, sound systems, and structures that can protect furniture from the elements.”

Roberts said his firm has a full slate of projects for the months to come — all of them booked last fall — and he’s spending his time now scheduling projects for later in the summer and fall, while also managing the expectations of those who thought they could call in March and get a pool put in by the start of summer.

 

Overall, he said the volume of work has declined from the boom times during the COVID years, when seemingly everyone was investing in their backyard. But it has picked up from a few years ago, when he was in “downsize mode” and doing more of the work himself.

If there is a concern heading into the meat of the landscaping season, it involves whether residents and businesses will continue to spend on their outdoor spaces amid rising prices for many items and general uncertainty about the economy and global conflicts, said Dan Ziomek, general manager of Sugarloaf Gardens in Sunderland, the retail arm of Snow & Sons Landscaping, which sells to the general public as well.

“People are investing more in their yards and gardens, but given the price of gas and the price of groceries, are people going to spend their disposable income with us?” he asked rhetorically. “We’re just going to have to see as we go along.”

But, overall, he and others we spoke with were generally optimistic that 2026 will be a year to grow — literally and figuratively.

 

A Cut Above

As he talked with BusinessWest, Roberts was working with a repeat customer — a Holyoke resident who was replacing a pool put in 20 years ago while also putting in a new backyard complete with retaining walls — and coping with a tight deadline.

“It’s a big project, and a lot goes into it because he wants to be swimming by May, and there’s a lot of pressure to get it done,” said Roberts, adding that this project typifies the opportunities and challenges facing those in this business.

“People are investing more in their yards and gardens, but given the price of gas and the price of groceries, are people going to spend their disposable income with us? We’re just going to have to see as we go along.”

There are many homeowners putting in new installations or upgrading old ones, he said, adding that managing expectations for many of these customers is now a big part of the job.

“A lot of people call and want miracles done in the spring,” he explained. “They need to realize that we’re booked up with projects that were signed up in the fall.”

Overall, business is good across the broad spectrum of the landscape business, from mowing lawns to designing and building those backyard elements.

Pioneer Landscapes does all of that, Campedelli said, adding that, on the design side, much of the project work involves designing and building what the industry calls outdoor rooms.

“They give you a space that makes you feel relaxed and cozy, between using all the elements such as lighting and music, waterfalls, and fire rocks — if you can dream it, we can do it.”

And what people are dreaming about are spaces where they can entertain, but that are also easy to maintain and protect from the elements, said Roberts, adding that many homeowners are moving from gazebos to pavilions.

“We’re seeing the outdoor rooms, the covered space outside, more than just a gazebo, which was a quick fix — those were mostly underutilized because there’s only so much you can do under a gazebo,” he explained. “People are putting in outdoor entertainment systems — maybe a drop-down TV, a fireplace, some nice couches that don’t get wet, sound systems, and outdoor lighting systems that are controlled by Wi-Fi so they can change colors and dim the lights.”

And, by and large, there remains strong interest in these big investments, said those we spoke with. While demand is not as strong as it was at the height of the pandemic, when the backyard was the only place people could go for vacation, it remains solid.

The Home & Garden Show provided ample evidence of this, said Campedelli, adding that most visitors to the Pioneer booth were driven and ready to move forward with projects.

“They were saying, ‘I want a fence,’ or ‘I want irrigation,’ or ‘I want a backyard makeover’ … there was a lot of that,” he said, adding that, while there is some uncertainty with the economy and concern over recent events globally, many consumers still have the requisite confidence to move forward with what can be a big-ticket item.

Roberts agreed, but said there is certainly some lingering angst concerning inflation and tensions overseas.

As for the businesses handling this work, the hard winter of 2025-26 was the best in years when it came to plowing, generating solid cash flow, and creating momentum for the seasons to follow.

“We’re rolling right now, and I hope it just keeps on going,” Campedelli said, adding that he expects it will, given all those factors he listed earlier.

 

Mow of the Same

These include that trend toward letting someone else mow the lawn and trim the hedges, he told BusinessWest, adding that, in addition to their backyards, people also value the time they spend in them.

And this has translated into growing interest in the company’s maintenance programs, which range in price from $130 to $995 a month, such as the ‘carefree weekend package,’ which includes mowing and trimming around beds, fences, and walkways, and blowing off driveways, sidewalks, and patios; the ‘outdoor living protection package,’ which includes a fertilization plan and mosquito and tick control services; and the ‘complete outdoor care and seasonal maintenance bundle,’ which includes spring and fall cleanups, aeration and overseeding, irrigation maintenance, and much more.

“These programs are becoming more popular,” he explained. “We just started offering the packages, and so far, they’re a hit.”

This trend helps explain the fast, steady growth of Caesar’s Lawn & Landscape, a company that, like many in this sector, started with a young person mowing lawns for family, friends, and neighbors, and eventually turning it into a business.

And like most entrepreneurs, Hall has been involved in all aspects of this endeavor, from naming it — Caesar is his middle name, and “I thought it had a nice ring to it” — to taking calls and giving estimates; from mowing lawns himself to doing the legwork on forming an LLC.

He started in 2024 with a small portfolio of 10 to 12 lawns and has since worked with partners Trevor Plante and Jonathon Knight to grow the venture and its list of services to include hardscape work such as patios and retaining walls, tree trimming, brush removal and land clearing, lawn maintenance, and, starting a few months ago, snow removal, using snow throwers and a salter on his truck.

“Those two big storms really helped us get that side of the business going, and we’re going to get more into that next year,” said Hall, a junior at Minnechaug, who works after school and on weekends, with his Ford F-250 serving as his workhorse vehicle and office.

Long-term, he and his partners plan to continue growing the venture, build on the momentum they’ve generated, and, for the short term, at least, find ways to balance school and work.

“It’s definitely fun, but also challenging to have your own business,” he said, noting that most high-schoolers work for someone else. “It’s rewarding to work hard and build something like this.”

The same can be said of homeowners and their gardens, said Ziomek, adding that gardening has always been a release for people, and he expects this will continue amid the economic uncertainty and global tensions of the moment.

“We’re hopeful that gardening remains an outlet for people to get away from all the noise happening the world,” he said. “And they’ll garden more because of that.”

Elaborating, he said that, in tough or uncertain times, people will grow more of their own vegetables and fruits as a hedge against higher prices, and he expects to see more of that this year.

“The other thing we notice is people just wanting to build a small oasis, if that’s the right word, to escape from all the stuff that’s going on in the world,” he went on. “It might just be a small perennial garden, or a few flowers in a spot where they see them all the time — just something to make them smile as they go in or out of the house.”

If these trends and the others mentioned above continue into 2026 and beyond, it will be all those in the broad landscape sector who will be smiling.

Coming Off Strong Year, Contractors Eye More of the Same in 2026

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Dave Fontaine inside the new East Longmeadow High School, now under construction.
Construction Special Coverage

Building Momentum

Dave Fontaine inside the new East Longmeadow High School, now under construction.

Dave Fontaine inside the new East Longmeadow High School, now under construction.

 

 

Bill Laplante says it wasn’t that long ago when a whole-house renovation with a price tag of $400,000, $500,000, or more was extremely rare.

Now, it’s commonplace,” said Laplante, owner of East Longmeadow-based Laplante Construction, which specializes in high-end homes, remodeling, and some light commercial work. “People are staying where they are and just putting the money into the house.”

Still, somewhat high interest rates have something to do with this surge in large-scale remodeling, he said, adding that many people bought their current homes at roughly 3% and are now looking at something just north of 6% (and it’s been higher the past few years) if they want to buy something new. So, in many respects, it makes sense to invest in the current home and stay in it, he went on.

This thinking helps explain why 2025 was one of the best the company has recorded, said Laplante, and also why 2026 is lining up to be another very solid year. “It was probably the largest-volume year in our history. We had a very, very, very good year — we had a lot of projects.”

“There were a lot of questions early last year regarding interest rates and whether they would go down or go up. I think people are feeling a little more comfortable with what they’re seeing recently.”

Bob Provost, co-owner of Greenfield-based general contractor Mowry & Schmidt, agreed, noting that 2025 was a good year for the company, with a diverse mix of projects, including the new hockey rink at Northfield Mount Hermon School and renovation of the former Greenfield Public Library into part of what could now be called the Greenfield Savings Bank campus in the heart of the city’s downtown.

“This past year was a very good for us, and it’s looking very promising for 2026 as well for both commercial work as well as residential,” he told BusinessWest. “There were a lot of questions early last year regarding interest rates and whether they would go down or go up. I think people are feeling a little more comfortable with what they’re seeing recently, and mortgage rates are lower than they have been. All this bodes well for builders.”

Mark Sullivan, president of Northampton-based D.A. Sullivan & Sons, which specializes in commercial and institutional work, agreed. He said the firm handled a lot of work for colleges during the summer break — he calls them ‘summer slams’ — as well as municipal projects in Chicopee and other communities, and has a good amount of similar work on the books for 2026.

There are some issues and headwinds confronting builders — finding enough help remains difficult, scheduling becomes more of a challenge as the volume of work increases, and Dave Fontaine Jr., president of Fontaine Brothers Construction in Springfield, noted that a slowdown in private sector work in the eastern part of the state is creating more competition for public projects, such as a new middle school in East Bridgewater that the firm bid on.

Bill Laplante says a good number of whole house renovations contributed to a record year for his company.Staff Photo

Bill Laplante says a good number of whole house renovations contributed to a record year for his company.
Staff Photo

“Because the firms that generally focus on private work in Eastern Mass. are slow, we’re seeing a lot more competition for work throughout the rest of the state,” he explained. “We just interviewed for the project in East Bridgewater; generally, there would be anywhere between three and four other firms competing, but on that project, I think there were a total of nine firms that submitted bids.”

Still, for the most part, these are good times for construction firms, which are taking full advantage of somewhat greater stability on the national and global fronts (as of mid-January, anyway) and accompanying confidence among business owners and residents alike to move forward with projects.

“We just interviewed for the project in East Bridgewater; generally, there would be anywhere between three and four other firms competing, but on that project, I think there were a total of nine firms that submitted bids.”

Meanwhile, there is a solid amount of public work taking place and on the drawing board, which is good news for firms that specialize in that kind of work, including Fontaine.

Indeed, the firm is moving toward the conclusion of one major school project locally (East Longmeadow High School), in the middle stages of another (Agawam High School), and getting ready to start a third (the new Longmeadow Middle School). And there are projects in other corners of the state as well.

And if all goes well, the company will have to balance all that with construction of a new courthouse in Springfield, one that will likely have a price tag approaching or exceeding $500 million — Fontaine is one of the lead players in a proposal (one of 11 now being considered by the state’s Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance) to build a 15-story courthouse roughly across State Street from the current facility.

When asked if the firm could handle all that, Fontaine laughed and said, “I hope that’s a question we have to answer; we’ll manage somehow.”

Renovation of the former Greenfield Public Library into part of the Greenfield Savings Bank campus is one of many projects in the Mowry & Schmidt portfolio.

Renovation of the former Greenfield Public Library into part of the Greenfield Savings Bank campus is one of many projects in the Mowry & Schmidt portfolio.

Right now, most construction firms are managing quite well, and while all those we spoke with cautioned that the scene (globally and nationally) could change quickly, the outlook for 2026 is generally positive.

 

Going Up

Laplante told BusinessWest that, while there was a solid mix of work in 2025, with residential and light commercial contributing to that solid bottom-line performance, it was the high-end renovations that stood out and gave the year some definition.

As he noted, there were more of them, and they signify a trend that likely has some staying power until interest rates come down significantly.

And when he talks about whole house renovations, he means whole house.

“They want a new kitchen, they want new appliances, they want all the bathrooms done over, they want to change out the windows, the siding … everything,” he said, adding that, depending on the size of the house — and most of these are quite large — the final price tag can exceed $400,000, $500,000, or even $600,000.

This new home in Longmeadow is one of many built by Laplante Construction in 2025.

This new home in Longmeadow is one of many built by Laplante Construction in 2025.

As noted, Laplante’s firm did several of those in 2025, most in Longmeadow, East Longmeadow, and Wilbraham. In addition to these renovations, the firm built roughly a dozen high-end new homes — in Western Mass. and also on the Cape, where the company opened a satellite office a few years ago to better serve customers looking to build there or renovate existing homes.

There were also several commercial projects of various sizes and in different stages of completion, including a dental office in East Longmeadow, a warehouse building for Revitalize CDC in Springfield, and another warehouse for GoGraphix in East Longmeadow.

Commercial work comprises just 20% of the firm’s book of business, but it’s an important part of the portfolio, he noted, adding that the company has more from that sector on the books for 2026, including a 24,000-square-foot memory care facility expected to break ground in the spring.

Meanwhile, there is a steady diet of more residential work, especially those high-end renovations, slated for 2026, said Laplante, adding quickly that, as the volume of such work increases, getting on the schedule becomes more of a challenge.

“We have a dozen new home starts, the memory care facility, and more renovation work in the pipeline, to the point where we’re having to push out when it comes to scheduling them,” he explained. “One of the tough things is that we can’t start a major renovation in a month now … we’re having to space them out and schedule them well ahead of time and make sure we get everything ordered and ready to go.

“Overall, we have work on the books for 2026 that should make it as good if not better than 2025,” he went on. “We have a lot in the pipeline.”

Sullivan echoed those sentiments. He said 2025 was a solid year, joking that the firm took on maybe a few more summer slams than it should have, but it fit them all in.

“You can’t start until the students are out, and you have to finish before they get back,” he said, adding that firm handled work at Smith, Mount Holyoke, UMass Amherst, and other schools. “Everything gets squeezed in the middle, so you’re behind before you start, so those are always anxious projects, but they’re interesting.”

In addition, the firm had several anchor projects, as he called them, including renovation of the former public library in Chicopee into meeting space and ongoing renovations to City Hall there (see related story, page 13), as well as a library addition in Fitchburg, work at the Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, projects at UMass Amherst, and other initiatives.

He said colleges and municipalities have the resources and confidence to move ahead with projects after a few sluggish years following COVID.

And for 2026, the company already has a good amount of work on the books.

“We entered the year with probably 60% of our targeted year, which is where we want to be, and we have a few potential projects queued up,” he said. “They haven’t been finalized, but they’re trending in that direction, and if they happen, we’ll be over our annual volume goal.”

 

Firm Foundation

Provost offered similar sentiments, noting that, while the outlook is mostly positive, things can change quickly — and profoundly — and this is why diversity is so important for builders, including his firm.

“Being in this area, being in Western Mass., and especially Franklin County, for us, there’s always been a need to stay diverse,” he noted. “You never know where the market’s leaning, so we stay busy in both residential and commercial.”

The latter comprises 65% to 70% of the portfolio, he went on, adding that recent projects in that realm include the ice hockey arena at Northfield Mount Hermon, a $12 million undertaking that will be ready for the 2026-27 season, as well as the historic renovation of the former Greenfield Public Library, a project nearing its completion.

On the residential side, Mowry & Schmidt handles both new construction and renovation, with many extensive projects in that latter category.

“We do a lot of bathroom, kitchen, and addition remodels; we’ve got one going now that involves a sunroom addition, new mudroom entry, and full kitchen addition — basically a whole house renovation,” Provost said, echoing Laplantewhen he noted that more people are staying put and investing in their current home rather than trying to find another one, especially as prices increase and interest rates remain somewhat high.

And there is plenty potentially coming onto the books in 2026, he continued, adding that the firm is bidding on a number of projects — with many customers leaning toward the design-build model, with one firm handling both under a single contract.

By and large, there is confidence within the private sector, on both the commercial and residential sides of the ledger, to move ahead with projects.

“There was a stretch over the past six to eight months where people were a little uneasy,” Laplante said. “But I think they’re starting to relax and say, ‘the world isn’t such a bad place,’ and move forward and don’t worry about everything.”

Fontaine agreed, but said there is still a good amount of volatility to contend with, and the broad construction sector is especially vulnerable to such forces. “I think we’re seeing a market slowdown in the private sector, particularly in Eastern Mass.”

This slowdown began more than a year ago, by most accounts, he went on, adding that it has been fueled by still-high interest rates and uncertainly about if, when, and by how much they will fall, but also by tariffs and price increases on certain products.

Still, Fontaine is busy, with those school projects, in this market and elsewhere; other public sector work, such as an extensive renovation and expansion of Jones Library in Amherst (a project delayed by cost escalation and redesigns) and a public safety complex in Easton; as well as private sector work such as the $70 million initiative to expand and modernize Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington.

The firm generally handles a dozen or so projects at a time, he said, adding that it’s always working to keep a steady flow of work in the pipeline and balance out the projects that are being wrapped up with new initiatives.

And that’s the case with projects like East Longmeadow winding down (it will be ready for the new school year), and others, like Fairview Hospital and Jones Library, just getting started. And bidding never stops for new projects, such as the new middle school in East Bridgewater, Fontaine said, adding that it can be — and often is — several years between when a project first comes on the radar and when a shovel is put in the ground.

The firm is awaiting word on that project, as well as the courthouse — no word on when that verdict will be handed down — while also keeping a vigilant eye out for new opportunities.

By most accounts, there will be a good supply of them in the near future as confidence builds — and individuals, businesses, and municipalities look to build.

Commonwealth Packaging Brings More Clients into the Fold

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Elizabeth Gosselin Kouflie didn’t plan on taking over the family business, but she eventually found a passion for it.
Construction Special Coverage

Thinking Outside the Box

Elizabeth Gosselin Kouflie didn’t plan on taking over the family business, but she eventually found a passion for it.

Elizabeth Gosselin Kouflie didn’t plan on taking over the family business, but she eventually found a passion for it.

Elizabeth Gosselin Kouflie says she can’t pinpoint the time when she first came to realize the COVID pandemic was likely to be the best thing to ever happen to Commonwealth Packaging.

But she started to get that sense when customers and potential customers didn’t even bother asking for a price on a job — which, in this business, is saying something.

“Normally, it’s ‘I’d like a quote on this many.’ Then, it was ‘how fast can you get me this; I don’t care what it costs.’ That’s when we knew this was going to be a real opportunity,” said Kouflie, adding that, as the world shut down and people couldn’t get the products they wanted, everything had to be shipped. And that added up to a banner year for Commonwealth, the company started by Kouflie’s father, Joe, in 1982, which she was now managing.

Indeed, in a business where margins are as thin as the cardboard sheets in the warehouse and customers can be lured away by competitors offering to do things for a few pennies less per item, Commonwealth recorded more than 20% growth year over year in 2020, said Kouflie, adding that the plant was busier than it had ever been.

“COVID opened my eyes to what we can produce out of this one-shift factory, and that’s what I want to get back to,” said Kouflie, who officially took ownership of the business in 2019 and has been bringing much-needed change to a company where there had been little of it in the three and half decades prior.

That includes a thorough renovation of the plant on Sheridan Street in Chicopee, its first in decades, as well as new machinery, the addition of a design team, better use of IT — and now AI — as well as a stronger push, with the addition of a sales rep, into Rhode Island.

It also includes marketing, something the company had never really done before, previously relying almost entirely on word of mouth and its reputation for quality and customer service in a business where there is so much emphasis on price.

Commonwealth has started to reach out to customers and potential customers with materials highlighting everything from Kouflie’s ties to Rhode Island (she graduated from Providence College and wears a PC sweatshirt in one marketing piece) to Commonwealth’s status as woman-owned, to the fact that its packages “go out first class” — literally.

Indeed, the shipping and safety supervisor’s name is David First Class.

“His last name is Class, and his middle name is First,” said Kouflie, adding that the marketing efforts, which began roughly a year ago, are starting to pay off.

“A lot of people are talking about Commonwealth right now — people are calling me up that never called before,” she noted, adding that the marketing piece targeting Rhode Island businesses is an example of efforts that have helped grow sales.

“I spent a couple of years just keeping the ship afloat and doing everything so I wouldn’t mess it up, because I was terrified of messing it up, and then I finally got comfortable a few years ago and made this my business. And we’ve changed quite a lot since then.”

“It’s working … we’re getting a lot of business,” she said. “People in Rhode Island love to do business with Rhode Islanders; it’s definitely getting some traction.”

These marketing efforts comprise one of many ways Kouflie is putting her stamp on the company (more on this later), while also maintaining its traditional focus on quality, service, and a ‘customer is king’ philosophy.

For this issue and focus on construction and manufacturing, BusinessWest talked at length with Kouflie about Commonwealth and how this is not her father’s packaging company — or your father’s packaging company — anymore.

 

A Cut Above

As she was earning her degree in business management at Providence College, Kouflie wasn’t sure what she was going to do with it. And eventually running the family business was not a thought that really crossed her mind.

Indeed, while she remembers getting rides on the forklift at the plant’s first location across from the Big E in West Springfield when she was young, and then holding a succession of summer jobs at the company during high school and college, she never intended to make Commonwealth a career.

All that changed in 2003, when, a year after graduating, she returned home to help her father care for her mother, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. There was an opening for a bookkeeper at Commonwealth; she took that job thinking it would be a temporary assignment, but soon settled in at the family business.

“It was kind of trial by fire — help out wherever you can,” she recalled. “I started doing all the HR stuff, started learning how to spec build, started taking orders … in a family business, that’s typically how it goes — you do whatever needs to be done, help out with the IT, build a web page, whatever.”

Tracing the history of the company, Kouflie said her father worked for Mount Tom Box in West Springfield, gradually moving up in the ranks. When management wouldn’t make him a partner, he bought his own box company, Loreno Packaging in West Springfield.

“He used to tell me that he’d run the boxes in the morning, take customers out to lunch, get the orders, and come back in the morning and run the boxes,” said Kouflie, adding that the business continued to grow over the years, but always kept that customer-focused flavor.

Never big into titles — she says they don’t mean much in a family business — Kouflie held many in the years after joining the business, including Human Resource manager, her role when she was named to BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty class of 2011, when she was just 30.

In 2013, her father took a step back from the business to spend more time at home and be a caregiver, while also battling cancer himself. And Kouflie continued to take on more responsibilities.

“He stopped coming to the office every day … he gave me some freedom to show what I could do — as long as I did whatever he said,” she noted with a laugh. “I’d have to send him my monthly statements showing him what I did, and he would let me know all the things I could be doing better; that’s how we operated for six years.”

She officially took the helm when her father passed away in 2019, and, after a few years of essentially maintaining the status quo — while also coping with the challenges and huge opportunities presented by the pandemic — started putting her own mark on the business.

“Before, I was running the company the way my dad wanted me to — the same way we’d always done everything; it was just follow the dotted line and do what we’ve always done,” she told BusinessWest. “When he passed away, I spent a couple of years just keeping the ship afloat and doing everything so I wouldn’t mess it up, because I was terrified of messing it up, and then I finally got comfortable a few years ago and made this my business. And we’ve changed quite a lot since then.”

 

The Complete Package

When asked to elaborate, she said the business model has changed, with an emphasis on being more competitive on price, while also maintaining its traditional emphasis on quality and service.

Other changes have included the addition of a design staff with a full-time designer, putting in a CAD table, marketing, renovating the entire building, adding new machinery, updating computer hardware and software, and exploring the use of AI to streamline quoting and other processes.

These steps and others are positioning the company for growth in a highly competitive industry, one often described with the single word ‘cutthroat’ and dominated historically by “price, price, price, price, price,” Kouflie said.

But increasingly, quality is becoming more a factor for many customers, she went on, citing the example of a prominent regional brewer — for years one of the company’s larger customers (Commonwealth makes its beer trays), but one that left when a customer offered a lower price.

“They dumped me, and six or seven months later, they called and I asked if I could come and sit down,” she recalled. “With their new supplier, the glue wasn’t holding on the trays when they put the beer in; the trays are coming in, the bottles are dropping in, the boxes are blowing open, and the beer is going all over the floor. They lost so much product — the pennies they saved on the boxes, they lost in product.”

It’s a story that’s been repeated countless times over the years, she said, adding that, moving forward, the company is looking to retain existing customers and add new ones by more aggressively telling its story and stressing its many qualities and selling points.

These include everything from Kouflie’s Rhode Island ties to the recently garnered ‘woman-owned business’ status.

“It’s part of a multi-pronged effort,” she said of the latter. “I think it catches people’s eyes — there are not a lot of woman-owned box makers.”

Part of the storytelling will be a focus on people — from David First Class to Customer Service Manager Kim Weagraff, highlighted in a different marketing piece.

“We want to show the end users, the buyers, who we are — our people — and the fact that we’re a young group,” Kouflie said. “A lot of our customers feel like we’re their best friends, and a lot of customers think they can just call us up and we’ll take care of them, and we will. But we want our customers to think they’re our only customer, and that we’re sitting here waiting for them to call, and we’re going to take care of them.

“These kinds of things are helping them feel connected to Commonwealth,” she went on. “I like to say that we’re not your dad’s box factory anymore. Lots of box factories are run by older gentlemen who are set in their ways; we’re trying to show our buyers who we are.”

Whether Commonwealth can return to that frenetic pace achieved during the height of the pandemic remains to be seen, but Kouflie is pushing the envelope — or, in this case, pushing the two-piece folder box — to achieve continued growth.

New Guide Helps Construction Professionals Protect Soil Health

By Contributor
Construction

From the Ground Up

Regenerative Design Group, a landscape architecture firm based in Greenfield, recently announced that the Massachusetts Healthy Soils Guide for Site Design and Construction is now live at masshealthysoils.org.

Developed by the Regenerative Design Group and its collaborators, with support from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, this online guide provides practical, site-specific strategies for protecting and enhancing soil health, as well as increasing carbon sequestration, throughout all phases of land development.

Soil health is vital to climate resilience, food security, and ecosystem function, but it’s often overlooked in conventional construction practices, both residential and commercial, said Rachel Lindsay, senior designer at Regenerative Design Group.

“Landscapes are the only element of the built environment that have the potential to provide ongoing carbon sequestration after the completion of a project,” she explained. “This guide provides clear, actionable guidance on how typical activities such as excavation or soil stockpiling can be adjusted to better protect and maximize the amount of soil organic carbon retained throughout the construction process.”

The Massachusetts Healthy Soils Action Plan (HSAP), the state’s first-in-the-nation framework for protecting and restoring soil function across all land uses, identifies soil organic carbon (SOC) as the cornerstone of healthy soil functions. The living carbon component of soil increases drought resilience, mitigates flooding, filters sediments and pollutants, and supports vigorous plant and tree growth.

Rachel Lindsay

Rachel Lindsay

“Preserving and enhancing healthy soils during the construction process may have the greatest positive impact on the long-term health of the soil and soil organic carbon accumulation over the life of the project.”

“Preserving and enhancing healthy soils during the construction process may have the greatest positive impact on the long-term health of the soil and soil organic carbon accumulation over the life of the project,” Lindsay said.

Every time soil is disturbed, SOC is transformed into carbon dioxide and lost back into the air. The building sector is the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts, accounting for 35%.

The difference developers and construction professionals can make is significant: there is roughly twice the amount of land in turf and ornamental landscapes in Massachusetts as there is in agricultural land. Small shifts in design and management practices — such as planting 25% of open lawn with trees, and increasing organic matter content in the top eight inches of lawns to a minimum of 3% — could sequester an additional 180,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, the same as taking over 38,000 gas-powered passenger vehicles off the road.

The Healthy Soils Guide for Site Design and Construction offers tools and strategies for implementing ‘soil-smart’ practices that improve healthy soil outcomes before, during, and after construction projects. The website also features access to the full HSAP, a curated resource library, events, and industry engagement and adaptation efforts. More than 360,000 additional acres of soil in Massachusetts may be impacted by development over the next 35 years, a critical period that could impact the trajectory of net carbon emissions in the state.

“This guide is designed to meet professionals where they are, whether they’re managing a construction site, developing soil specifications, or planning a resilient landscape,” Lindsay said. “It’s about making soil health easier to understand and implement across real-world projects.”

The guide is the result of a multi-firm collaboration led by Regenerative Design Group, Linnean Solutions, BSC Group, and Sasaki, with industry support from A.D. Makepeace, Read Custom Soils, and others. Funding was made possible through a $99,900 Healthy Soils Challenge Grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

Regenerative Design Group is a worker-owned ecological design practice. Since 2009, it has advanced resilient communities and landscapes through regenerative design, planning, and nature-based solutions.

Area Contractors Report Steady Pipeline of Projects

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A finished project from Sexton Roofing & Siding.
Construction Special Coverage

Looking Up

A finished project from Sexton Roofing & Siding.

A finished project from Sexton Roofing & Siding.

 

The construction industry remains one marked by both challenge and opportunity — and that goes for businesses that have been around for just a few years, or many decades.

In the former group is Sasha Wilde, who bought Sexton Roofing & Siding two years ago and has continued to grow the Hatfield-based business with a mix of residential roofing projects — the company’s bread and butter — and other services, including siding, windows, and exterior doors.

“We’re still doing all of that, making sure we can provide clients with a seamless experience. There’s a huge amount of opportunity,” she told BusinessWest.

“Last year was pretty down across the industry,” Wilde noted. “There was a hangover from COVID. So many people had accelerated home improvement projects during COVID, and last year, it seemed like everyone took a breath. And with the political climate uncertain, they didn’t want to spend as much money. This year, we’ve definitely seen people’s willingness to pull the trigger on projects. That’s been really helpful for us.”

“So many people had accelerated home improvement projects during COVID, and last year, it seemed like everyone took a breath. And with the political climate uncertain, they didn’t want to spend as much money. This year, we’ve definitely seen people’s willingness to pull the trigger on projects.”

In the more venerable category is Mowry & Schmidt in Greenfield, which has been in business for the past 78 years and is also extremely busy.

“I don’t see anything slowing down in the near future, which is a good thing,” co-owner Bob Provost said. “We’re usually trying to finish up some of the big spring, summer, and fall projects before the winter, but we’re just rolling right through. I don’t see a slowdown.”

The firm takes on a robust mix of new construction and renovation work, typically about 60% to 70% on the commercial side, with the rest residential, he explained, a diversity that buffers the company against industry trends.

Mowry & Schmidt is building a new ice hockey arena at Northfield Mount Hermon School.

“The last couple years, we’ve seen a steady flow of new home construction and higher-end kitchens and bath renovations, but the commercial volume is still a little higher. If the economy seems to affect one type of building and not the other, we’ve been able to adapt and make that transformation back and forth. It’s definitely key to staying busy, no doubt.”

Two of Mowry & Schmidt’s more interesting current projects are the construction of an ice hockey arena at Northfield Mount Hermon School and the renovation of the historic Leavitt-Hovey House — the former home of Greenfield Public Library — into a location for Greenfield Savings Bank.

“That’s a historical building, so there are a lot of facets there,” Provost said. “You get ready to go in a direction, then hold up, wait a little bit to get clarifications from the historical society, wait for approval, continue on. But it’s going well. It’s a nice property to work on.”

Clearly, despite challenges ranging from supply costs to workforce needs, contractors in Western Mass. are finding plenty of opportunities to grow their business.

 

Growth Opportunities

One of those is Keiter, a 17-year-old firm based in West Springfield that recently announced it is expanding into Berkshire County with a physical presence in that region, specifically the Clock Tower Business Center at 75 Church St. in Pittsfield. This marks the company’s second expansion in two years.

The move made sense, CEO Scott Keiter said, with past clients in the Berkshires including Mass Audubon Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, Bousquet Sport, Premium Waters, Berkshire Medical Center, the town of Lenox, Saint Patrick and Raphael Church, as well as several residential clients. 

“Since we started doing a more regimented and strategic interview process, we’ve been able to find better people. We’ve weeded out the folks that look good on paper but are maybe not so aligned with the way we think.”

“For several years, we’ve had the opportunity to work with incredible clients and professionals throughout the Berkshires, and it felt like the right time to officially set roots,” he noted. “We’re proud to continue to grow in a region where we’ve already begun to build strong partnerships.”

Wilde said trying to grow her company is complicated by a tight potential worker pool, a persistent problem across the construction field.

“The home improvement business has been great, but not without its challenges, since we are trying to grow and scale this business. Scaling sometimes comes with its own set of challenges, one of them being just finding great people to add to the team,” she said, adding that she’s dealt with some “hiccups” in that area, but still saw her staff expand to nine this year, in addition to the subcontracting teams.

“I tried hard to get referrals from people we know, and we listed on the major sites like ZipRecruiter and Indeed. But it really comes down to the interview process,” Wilde told BusinessWest, adding that the way she handles that process has changed in positive ways.

Sasha Wilde (right) has grown her team to nine at Sexton Roofing & Siding — and wants to grow it further.

“The first interview anyone does with the team, I wind up talking about our company’s mission and core values, and whether they’re a cultural fit with us,” she explained. “Since we started doing a more regimented and strategic interview process, we’ve been able to find better people. We’ve weeded out the folks that look good on paper but are maybe not so aligned with the way we think.”

And finding talent that will stick is important in an industry where retirements continue to outpace young, incoming talent, she noted. “When I think about fellow business owners in construction, their people are approaching retirement age, and from what I can tell, there’s a shortage of actual people to do the work.”

Provost said Mowry & Schmidt typically employs between 13 and 15 people in the field and three or four more in the office.

“We’re pretty fortunate. We’ve got our employees that have been with us for quite some time. But it does create some challenges looking down the road. When we have to bring in new people, the new hires just aren’t there. I still have to rely on subcontractors, and you want them to be a good extension of what you’re offering in-house; you want to make sure that the subcontractors you bring in are equally good as our employees. There’s a definite shortage of construction trade workers out there.”

To that end, Provost has been involved with Franklin County Technical School to cultivate young talent and interest them in construction careers.

“We’ve brought in some work co-op kids. It’s a way to start them at a young age and keep them going. But it’s rough. Kids come out of school, and they’re not sure what they want to do.”

The other major challenges of the past few years, supply costs and availability, have settled down to an extent, Provost added, although tariffs have thrown in a new wrinkle.

“Supply of materials has gotten better,” he said. “Windows and doors and cabinets have caught up, but it can be challenging depending on certain materials.”

One new challenge is private equity firms moving into roofing, Wilde said.

“In prior years, they were focused on other trades, but they are now honing on roofing. We’ve had a couple of new competitors this year backed by private equity, and we’re trying to stay relevant and outmaneuver them in this market. But they have an unlimited marketing spend — I can’t spend that kind of money.”

One key is focusing on the local angle — not just being based in Western Mass. and doing projects here, but being involved in the community, she said.

“That’s how I think we’ll maintain our competitive edge over those companies. Western Mass. wants to take care of Western Mass. and support people who are here. We are your neighbors.”

 

Spreading the Word

Another key to growth is improving internal processes and communication with clients, so everything turns out the way the client expects with no surprises, Wilde noted.

“We’ve had a lot of learning around what documents to create to make sure that the jobs are communicated very clearly, to translate what’s in the homeowner’s head to what they’re building, and making sure that happens. We’ve done a lot of improving in this area.”

The team also tries to communicate with customers’ neighbors about work on their street, which is another chance to make connections; meanwhile, Sexton gives a discount on projects when the client keeps its yard sign up for four months — another way to raise the company’s visibility in an increasingly competitive market.

Provost said he takes pride in having a good base of repeat customers, which is essential to landing opportunities and responding to demand.

“We’re fortunate to be going strong here. We’re facing some uncertainties, but there’s a lot of work out there,” he said. “People are being more selective in the process of who’s going to do the work for them. Customers are more savvy these days, and they’re looking to make sure that the people that are working for them are qualified.”

Walt Tomala Helps Students Discover Passion for Construction

By
Walt Tomala (center) with apprentices Ben Harrington (left) and Matt Ganhao.
Construction Special Coverage

Spark of Youth

Walt Tomala (center) with apprentices Ben Harrington (left) and Matt Ganhao.

Walt Tomala (center) with apprentices Ben Harrington (left) and Matt Ganhao.

 

While he was already interested in the construction field, Matt Ganhao had never actually been on a job site before starting a co-op with TNT General Contracting in Westfield, which he procured through the Lower Pioneer Valley Career Technical Education Center, or CTEC.

“I was really excited — it was a new experience for me,” he told BusinessWest. “Once I finally got to work out in the field and actually get to see what goes into building a deck or building stairs, doing a roof, whatever, it really sparked something in my mind that maybe this is something that I want to do. And then, as I kept working my co-op apprenticeship, I decided I want to go full-time.”

That’s music to the ears of Walt Tomala, president of TNT, who has brought a number of teenagers onto job sites for lengthy co-op experiences in order to introduce them to a career path that, both locally and nationally, is in desperate need of young talent, as retirements continue to outpace new workers.

Tomala understands a youthful passion for this work; he started his company right out of high school and has done everything from changing screen doors to large remodels, additions, new homes, and even two Extreme Makeover builds.

“We’ve tried different strategies and different business models,” he explained. “And one that I just kept coming back to is working with our youth. Someone put some time and energy into me and helped me along the way, and if I didn’t have that, I don’t know that I’d be here and still loving the industry the way I do, or as passionate about it.”

“Once I finally got to work out in the field and actually get to see what goes into building a deck or building stairs, doing a roof, whatever, it really sparked something in my mind that maybe this is something that I want to do.”

Ben Harrington will be entering his junior year at Westfield Technical Academy this fall and already has real-world construction experience outside the shop environment at school.

“I just like being out here, working on different things, learning new skills — and I feel like being in this trade is very good for me,” he said, adding that it’s beneficial to learn from both teachers in school and construction professionals on job sites. “It’s good to know multiple people’s ways. If I ask Walt questions, he’ll give me different answers than somebody else, but if I listen to both answers, it helps me a lot. And it feels good knowing I’m doing something right for Walt.”

And that’s one thing Tomala emphasizes with his apprentices — the gratification of a job well done and understanding the why as much as the how.

“We do certain things all day, every day, and it can feel like the same thing over and over. But we take the time and make it our mission to make sure everybody understands why we’re doing this and why it’s so important,” he explained.

“They have to understand the passion that we have,” he went on. “No employee is ever going to be as passionate as you are about your business, but they can be as passionate about the industry. And it may mean they move on and start their own company or become a subcontractor. Or it may mean they just really embrace our beliefs and passions and then stay with us for as long as they choose to. There’s plenty of room for growth.”

Ganhao, who graduated from both West Springfield-based CTEC and Ludlow High School this past spring, is already convinced.

“I don’t really want to go to school and learn a different trade; I did decide that I want to go full-time,” he said. “It’s a new experience, and it’s something that not everyone’s going to like. But if you’re interested in the industry, this is something you should try out.”

Walt Tomala gives some instruction to Ben Harrington on a job site in Westfield.

Walt Tomala gives some instruction to Ben Harrington on a job site in Westfield.

When he was 16, Tomala said, he didn’t know if this was the industry for him; he needed exposure and experience.

“These young people should have an opportunity to really learn, and not just be kind of barked orders at. They’re full employees, on payroll, and we also teach them the whole finance component — how to open up checking accounts, getting direct deposits. So we’re preparing them for the real world, no matter what they choose to do. And hopefully, it’s construction.”

 

Desire to Inspire

Tomala has served in leadership with local, state, and national trade organizations, with the overall goal of “just kind of making sure that we’re all doing things the right way, the proper way.”

And building things to code is only the bare minimum, he added. “It’s like graduating with a D. You still pass, but did you do a great job? Our focus is showing everybody that it doesn’t have to be difficult — that it really can be an easy transition to just doing things better. It’s about collaborating with the right manufacturers and the right products and finding the systems that really work for you.”

That philosophy carries over to the way he mentors young people in the field. “I think my message to other builders out there is, take the time; put the energy in. Don’t show them just how to dig a hole, but why we dig that hole and, better yet, the importance of doing it right before we have to dig a hole. Make sure the foundation’s sealed correctly; make sure the roof is put on with all the right underlayments; make sure the windows are taped and sealed.

“Someone put some time and energy into me and helped me along the way, and if I didn’t have that, I don’t know that I’d be here and still loving the industry the way I do, or as passionate about it.”

“I’ve found, throughout my years, that a lot of times, we get some older people in the industry who just wanted to do a job. They didn’t want to learn how. So I sit on the board for three trade schools [Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy in Springfield is the third] because I want these young folks while they’re fresh, while they’re still excited. And the program we implement is, ‘hey, come on board. Come on for the summer; see if you like it. You’re in a trade school right now, but you might not know if this is the industry for you.’”

The backdrop to all these efforts, of course, is a persistent shortage of construction talent, which is why Tomala values apprenticeship.

“It’s not just important; it’s critical. I think we’ve been talking about this as an industry for 15 years,” he said, noting that Fine Homebuilding magazine has a program called Keep the Craft Alive, through which contractors donate funds to help support trade schools and improve their offerings.

“We’re now at a point where most of my subcontractors are going to age out and retire, and we just don’t have enough of the youth understanding how important this industry is, how rewarding it is, and how you can make an extremely good living here,” he said.

Matt Ganhao checks out a residential basement crack.

Matt Ganhao checks out a residential basement crack.

“It’s not like, ‘oh, you’re a roofer, so you’re only going to get paid so much,’” he went on. “No, there’s a really, really good paycheck at the end of the day, especially when you know what you’re doing and you deliver on the expectations. And that’s why it’s so important to know what the client wants and to be able to deliver on that. I’m not saying it’s the right fit for everybody, but I want to remind the world that the are companies out here taking the reins and giving these young folks an opportunity.”

 

World of Experience

Tomala said his influence on local young people interested in construction started with visits to the trade schools.

“They wanted someone to come in and talk, to just inspire students overall. And that worked out pretty nicely. I’d spend two hours with the students, and I enjoyed it,” he recalled. “But it wasn’t until after COVID that I was like, you know what? I get to see these kids for a day, but there should be more of a connection, and there should be more of an avenue for them to get to us.

“So I sat down with a lot of the teachers and said, ‘this is what I want to do, this is what I want my business model to be, and is there an opportunity for us to collaborate and to bring students on?’” I also said, ‘I don’t want to stop them from going to other places as well, but I’d like them to have an opportunity to interview with me, to just sit down to see if we’re a good fit or not.’”

“There’s a really, really good paycheck at the end of the day, especially when you know what you’re doing and you deliver on the expectations. And that’s why it’s so important to know what the client wants and to be able to deliver on that.”

He had nothing but praise for the teachers and programs in those schools. “Students are coming out with real knowledge. They’ve got some really great, committed teachers who are getting that curriculum going and inspiring the youth coming through that program.”

Ganhao said his classmates in Ludlow have been curious about his real-world experience.

“I’ve been asked questions like, ‘is that something you’re going to do for the rest of your life? Are you just doing it just for the heck of it? What’s up with that?’ And I feel like kids are missing out on the opportunities,” he said. “I feel like it should be more publicized because a lot of kids do want to try out a trade.”

Tomala it’s easy to become passionate about construction on actual job sites, finishing real projects. He was working with Ganhao and Harrington on a home in Westfield the day they spoke with BusinessWest, repairing a basement leak and replacing windows and shutters; a third apprentice, also from Westfield Technical Academy, wasn’t on the job that day.

“I think it’s rewarding for them to be able to start something and finish it and see that completed project because, often in the school system, they don’t get to complete a project in full,” Tomala noted. “And they’re learning how to work with each other in different skill sets and different personalities. They’re all having such a good time doing it, and it’s just such a good experience overall.

“I want them to form relationships and friendships and to just understand that the client is a human being — everything we do, whether it’s a deck or a whole house, is for somebody else,” he added. “It might be a small project to us, but it’s their entire world at one point in time. So they get that feeling of satisfaction and camaraderie, understanding how important it is to the client.”

And, hopefully, they find a passion they can turn into a career, in a field where young talent remains elusive.

“Just being able to see the customer at the end, satisfied with our work,” Ganhao added, “it’s something else.”

Governor’s Executive Order Targets Public Construction Projects

By Contributor
Construction

The Case for Project Labor Agreements

 

Gov. Maura Healey recently signed an executive order requiring that administrators of state-funded construction projects with budgets over $35 million take steps to ensure on-time, on-budget delivery of the jobs — including through the consideration of project labor agreements (PLAs), which have been demonstrated to reduce costs and ensure timely completion.

“There are so many critical construction projects underway all across the state — upgrading our roads and bridges, improving infrastructure for small businesses, and more,” Healey said. “We know that it’s really important that these projects are set up for success. This means ensuring that contractors have a trained and ready workforce to turn to and a plan for meeting deadlines, staying within budget and keeping everyone safe. In many cases, PLAs can help make that happen, while promoting good job opportunities for workers of all backgrounds, including veterans, women, and minorities.”

The order calls for the state to sign a PLA if it is in the best interest of the project, workers, and community. The state analysis will be based on the project’s scope, complexity, proposed schedule, site conditions, and the size and nature of the construction workforce required.

Healey signed the order at the Massachusetts Building Trades Unions’ (MBTU) 106th annual convention at MGM Springfield, surrounded by local construction workers and labor advocates, including workers who were employed as part of the construction of the new Massachusetts Veterans Home in Holyoke.

“This executive order will make a huge impact on the quality of life for current and future workers in the construction industry,” MBTU President Frank Callahan said. “It will contribute to ensuring fair competition for all contractors while creating opportunities for great careers and opportunities for workers. Every worker in the construction industry deserves the opportunity to earn good wages and benefits with safe working conditions that ensure they return to their loved ones each day after work. By signing this executive order, Governor Healey is helping to expand those opportunities for construction workers all across Massachusetts.”

A PLA is a collective bargaining agreement, executed between contractors and labor organizations, that establishes the terms and conditions of employment for all contractors, subcontractors, and craft labor employees performing work on a specific construction project.

Advocates say PLAs help deliver high-quality jobs for a diverse workforce and maintain competitive costs and project timelines. Studies have also found that PLAs do not add costs to construction projects, and in fact lower them. A recent analysis of a similar policy in Illinois found that PLAs increased competition and helped lower costs for taxpayers.

“Project labor agreements have been proven to result in successful construction projects in the public and private sectors, from the new Holyoke Veterans Home to Gillette Stadium and TD Garden,” Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said. “We’re proud to take this action today that will make sure our agencies are paying close attention to ways in which they can maximize the success of their projects while supporting our incredible, diverse workforce in Massachusetts.”

 

Matters of Compliance

The executive order lays out the process for implementing PLAs on public-works projects to comply with a measure in the state economic-development bill signed by Healey last year, which called for agencies to require a PLA when in the best interests of Massachusetts. The order does not require a PLA for any construction project and allows for union and non-union bids.

“Our administration looks forward to leveraging this as a tool, when applicable, complemented by efforts to build a more diverse pool of apprentices and reduce barriers to attract more women and people of color as we work collaboratively with the industry to grow the workforce,” said Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Lauren Jones, who joined the governor at the order signing at MGM.

Andrew DeAngelo, Executive Director of the Greater Boston Plumbing Contractors Assoc., which represents more than 70 union plumbing businesses in Massachusetts, added that “the contractor community applauds Governor Healey for this executive order. Project labor agreements not only make sense for worker safety and job-site protections, they also make business sense for both the contractor and the end user. By leveling the playing field for those bidding and ensuring an efficient and on-time completion, more subcontractors bid on the work competitively — and the end user gets the best finished product achievable.”

Chrissy Lynch, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, argued that “project labor agreements guarantee good wages and benefits, safe working conditions, and sustained investment in the local economy and workforce.

“These agreements ensure that projects create meaningful opportunities for workers across the board,” she added. “Currently, unions train 80% of all apprentices of color and 88% of all women apprentices in our state, and they have been critical to achieving the Commonwealth’s diversity goals for construction. PLAs also have a proven track record in Massachusetts, where they keep projects moving and costs low. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO applauds this executive order for doing better by workers, the community, and taxpayers across the Commonwealth.”

 

More Statements of Support

Karen Courtney, executive director of the Foundation for Fair Contracting of Massachusetts, called the executive order “a major step forward in ensuring that public projects not only deliver high-quality infrastructure but also uphold the principles of fairness, transparency, and opportunity for workers across Massachusetts. By strengthening oversight and accountability on projects exceeding $35 million, we are reinforcing the state’s commitment to equitable access, ensuring that skilled workers receive fair wages and providing a level playing field for all contractors.”

Ziquelle Smalls, senior organizer with Community Labor United, called the executive order “a monumental step toward an equitable and sustainable future for Massachusetts. Committing to strong project labor agreements across sectors will create family-sustaining careers, advance opportunities for women and communities of color, and build the infrastructure our state urgently needs.”

Cindy Luppi, national field director with Clean Water Action, characterized the executive order as “a pivotal moment for both climate justice and public health. By focusing on sustainable infrastructure, we have the chance to address urgent environmental needs — improving our water system, reducing pollution, and creating green careers that support our communities. It’s essential that, when Massachusetts invests in major projects, we not only tackle climate change, but also safeguard the well-being of those most impacted, ensuring clean, safe environments for future generations.”

Mimi Ramos, executive director of New England Community Project, called the announcement a game-changer for New England communities, especially for those seeking access to green careers and childcare opportunities. “At the New England Community Project, we know that a just transition means creating pathways to family-sustaining careers as well as building more green, affordable, equitable, and accessible housing.”

Finally, Dwaign Tyndal, executive director of Alternatives for Community & Environment, noted that, “for frontline communities across New England, and especially in Massachusetts, the executive order on PLAs for state-funded projects over $35 million presents a pivotal opportunity to create green transit infrastructure that addresses both the climate crisis and long-standing inequities. This investment provides a chance to build transit systems that not only reduce carbon emissions but also ensure that working-class communities have access to reliable, sustainable transportation.”

Apprenticeship Programs Fail to Meet Construction Workforce Needs

By
Construction

Problems in the Pipeline

At current rates of participation and completion, federal and state government-registered apprenticeship programs, or GRAPs, are still failing to meet the construction industry’s short- and long-term skilled workforce-development needs, according to an annual Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of recently released U.S. Department of Labor data.

ABC estimates that, in fiscal year 2024, the construction industry’s federal and state GRAPs had about 290,000 apprentice participants and yielded fewer than 40,000 completers.

“Unfortunately, America’s government-registered apprenticeship system isn’t keeping up with construction-industry demand for skilled craft professionals, despite encouraging progress by many stakeholders to create new programs, attract new apprentices, and graduate journeymen and women at the end of a rigorous, four- to five-year apprenticeship program,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC’s vice president of Regulatory, Labor, and State Affairs.

“Despite the growth of nonunion GRAPs,” he added, “this data is further evidence that an all-of-the-above approach to workforce development — in contrast to the Biden administration’s policy that advanced only government-registered apprenticeship programs — is the best way to address the construction industry’s chronic skilled labor shortage.”

ABC recently projected the construction industry workforce shortage to be 439,000 in 2025.

“Unfortunately, America’s government-registered apprenticeship system isn’t keeping up with construction-industry demand for skilled craft professionals, despite encouraging progress by many stakeholders to create new programs, attract new apprentices, and graduate journeymen and women at the end of a rigorous, four- to five-year apprenticeship program.”

U.S. Department of Labor data presents five-year trend lines indicating there has been stronger proportional growth in the number of nonunion GRAPs, apprentice participants, and apprentice completers compared to union-affiliated GRAPs since 2019.

In FY 2024, 84% of the construction industry’s GRAPs were non-union providers. The number of non-union GRAPs has grown by 25% since 2019, compared to a 7% decrease in union-affiliated GRAPs since FY 2019.

Participants in non-union GRAPs increased by 43% from FY 2019 to FY 2024, compared to 11% for union programs. Completers of non-union GRAPs increased by 31% from FY 2019 to FY 2024, compared to 11% for union programs.

However, in FY 2024, 31% of all construction-industry GRAP participants were in non-union programs.

“With construction unions representing a record-low 10.3% of the workforce, the fact that 69% of all apprenticeship program participants are in union programs illustrates why the union lobby pushes for registered apprenticeship requirements on taxpayer-funded construction projects and advocates for federal grant money for GRAPs as a whole,” Brubeck said. “Workforce-development solutions outside of the GRAP paradigm are a threat to union market share.

“ABC champions government-registered apprenticeships as part of a diverse, all-of-the-above solution to workforce-development needs to solve the construction industry’s demand for skilled craft professionals, as well as engineers, estimators, and project managers,” he added. “ABC’s 67 chapters are educating craft, safety, and management professionals using innovative and flexible learning models like just-in-time task training, competency-based progression, and work-based learning, in addition to more than 450 federal and state GRAPs in more than 20 different occupations across America, in order to develop a safe, skilled, and productive workforce. ABC members invested an estimated $1.6 billion in construction-industry workforce development to upskill 1.3 million course attendees in 2023, including hundreds of GRAPs administered independently by ABC member companies.”

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the construction industry had 8.31 million employees as of February 2025 and experienced an unemployment rate between 3.2% and 4.2% during peak construction months in 2024.

According to DOL apprenticeship data, apprentices enrolled in construction-industry GRAPs comprise 35.7% of the 679,105 apprentices enrolled in GRAPs across all industries in FY 2024.

Construction Spending Up, but Hires, Job Openings Slump

By
Construction

Mixed Signals

Construction spending increased 0.7% from January to February, even as contractors kept hiring and job opening rates at low levels, according to an analysis of two new government reports by Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials noted that industry hiring appears to be slowing as demand for most types of construction cools.

“Construction spending rebounded in February, following widespread severe weather that may have slowed projects in January,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist of Associated General Contractors of America. “Investment remains positive compared to a year ago, but the growth rate for all major categories has cooled, while contractors have trimmed hiring and slashed job openings.”

Spending totaled $2.20 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in February. The total was 0.7% higher than the January rate, but only 2.9% above the February 2024 level. Simonson noted that year-over-year growth rates in January (2.7%) and February were the slowest since 2019.

“Investment remains positive compared to a year ago, but the growth rate for all major categories has cooled, while contractors have trimmed hiring and slashed job openings.”

A separate government report showed that the number of workers hired by construction firms in February totaled 354,000, seasonally adjusted, a decline of 20,000, or 5.3%, from a year earlier. The number of job openings on the last day of February totaled 264,000, a drop of 165,000, or 38%, from a year earlier, while the rate of job openings fell to 3.1%, the lowest February rate since 2018. Simonson said these figures show contractors expect to need fewer workers in the near future, a sign that spending may slow further.

Private residential construction climbed 1.3% for the month, led by a 2.0% increase in improvements to owner-occupied homes and a 1.0% rise in single-family homebuilding. Spending rose 2.0% year over year, a slowdown from the 7.9% gain from February 2023 to February 2024.

Private non-residential construction increased 0.4% for the month, with a pickup in nearly every segment. The year-over-year increase totaled 2.5%, down from 9.3% a year earlier.

Public construction edged up 0.2% from January and rose 6.0% from February 2024. A year earlier, public construction jumped 14.0% from the February 2023 total.

Association officials said they were working with Trump administration and Congress to explore ways to reduce regulatory burdens and limit the time it takes to greenlight work on new infrastructure and other economic-development projects. They noted that cutting red tape could help boost activity levels for many types of publicly funded construction projects.

“We are working closely with administration officials to streamline the environmental permitting process and eliminate needless regulatory burdens,” said Jeffrey Shoaf, CEO of Associated General Contractors of America. “There is a way to hold projects to the same high standards of environmental protection without delaying decisions for years at a time.”

Kitchen Concepts Specializes in Rooms for Improvement

By
Owners Ellen and Jim Boyle
Construction Cover Story

Home Team

Owners Ellen and Jim Boyle

Owners Ellen and Jim Boyle

 

Any customer who hires Kitchen Concepts for a home-improvement job is asked to sign a piece of paper. On it is a promise they won’t yell at the contractors.

“Because someone did that one day, and I had had enough,” said Ellen Boyle, who co-owns the business with her husband, Jim Boyle. “I told Jim, ‘we’re making some changes.’ It’s just a simple piece of paper with a general explanation that they have to sign, and it’s made such a huge difference in our work because nobody deserves to be talked to like that, and I don’t want to ever speak to somebody like that. But it also creates this kind of camaraderie.”

It’s also part of a general focus on strong communication, she told BusinessWest.

“If someone decides to move ahead with us, we detail their payment schedule, so there’s never an uncomfortable moment of saying, ‘by the way, I need a check today.’ It’s set up from the beginning. Before we even get started, we explain what their schedule is going to look like, so there’s no question of when we’re starting and what our anticipated finish is going to be.”

And then, of course, there’s that expectation of mutual respect, right up front.

“As we’re walking into someone’s home, everybody that works for us is respectful, but we expect the same thing in return,” Ellen said. “We don’t have anybody above us, so if someone has an issue, we’re the ones that take care of it, but it has to be on a very mature and adult level.”

Jim said clients chuckle a little bit about signing the paper, but they also understand it — and it makes a difference.

“I think sometimes people have this expectation of contractors being gruff and rough and disappointing in nature. But we have done an incredible job over the years without having that kind of demeanor.”

“It just ruins the relationship if people yell at somebody over a knob or coming at 8 o’clock instead of quarter of 8,” he noted. “So we have a conversation for five minutes about all the little things that can happen when you’re in the house. And now, when something happens, this is what we get: ‘Ellen, I know I promised not to yell, but I’m a little upset.’ And they tell you the thing, but they preface it with that, and they don’t yell. And we easily handle whatever problem has come up and kind of move on.”

The consistent growth of Kitchen Concepts over the past quarter-century, much of it driven by word of mouth and customer loyalty, has validated that unusual ‘contract,’ if one could call it that. It’s also an effective icebreaker, Ellen said.

“I think sometimes people have this expectation of contractors being gruff and rough and disappointing in nature. But we have done an incredible job over the years without having that kind of demeanor. It’s not necessary, you know?”

 

From Painting to Kitchens … and More

Before meeting Ellen, Jim started a business called ASAP Painting — by accident, sort of — in 1998.

“I had started kind of cutting grass and doing some other stuff. I left an ad for painting in the paper by mistake, and somebody called me on it. So I painted an exterior house with a buddy of mine. We bought a couple brushes and paint, and that’s how that was born.”

Ellen was an executive secretary at Holyoke Community College when they met, and she eventually began helping with Jim’s business in an administrative role, handling scheduling, estimates, and the like.

“It grew right away,” he said. “It kind of organized us, and it made me able to concentrate on the work itself. And we grew incredibly fast.”

Kitchen Concepts grew out of Jim Boyle learning cabinet installation, and has grown from there.

Kitchen Concepts grew out of Jim Boyle learning cabinet installation, and has grown from there.

They moved to an office in Hadley in 2001. “It was a dilapidated building that we renovated, and we were able to buy work vehicles and improve our equipment and bring on guys; I think we had at least four full painting crews,” Ellen said.

In addition to those interior and exterior paint jobs, they also built about 20 houses during that decade, drawing on Jim’s background in construction; his father was a developer. And they quickly outgrew their space and moved, in 2011, to their current, larger space on Russell Street, which used to house the Hadley Post Office and, later, an insurance company.

But the Great Recession had begun to take a bite out of the home-construction business, so they pivoted to selling cabinets and countertops, and eventually to full kitchen and bath renovations.

“We went out and did some training on how to design,” Ellen said. “And we had to renovate this entire building. We’ve made a lot of changes over the years, and we renovated this whole space to make it the showroom that it is. And maybe seven or eight years ago, we decided to solely concentrate on kitchen and bath remodeling.”

More specifically, they ditched whole-home construction; ASAP Painting is still going strong, as is a third business, called Premier Self Storage, which currently has a facility open in Greenfield and one under development in Southwick.

Their business partnership works for multiple reasons, Jim said. One is that they get along well as co-workers; not every couple does. The other is that they excel at different things. Jim realized early on he was much better at managing work crews and projects in the field, while Ellen, besides her organizational and administrative prowess, was much more at ease talking at length to customers about what they were looking for in a renovation.

“We’ve made a lot of changes over the years, and we renovated this whole space to make it the showroom that it is. And maybe seven or eight years ago, we decided to solely concentrate on kitchen and bath remodeling.”

Jim tells the story of spending two hours with a client early in the kitchen business and becoming frustrated.

“I’m a contractor-type person, so I care about being on budget, making sure the tiles and materials are there, making sure the guys are doing everything like they’re supposed to. I don’t necessarily care about colors and shades and things like that. When I buy cabinets, it takes me five minutes: ‘what are my colors? What’s my shape? OK, that’ll be good. Can you send me the price?’ And I’m done. And I thought that’s what everybody did.

“What we found was that she cares about all that stuff. So now, I have very little to do with scheduling or meeting with the customers. From that day, she started dealing with the clients, and I would get tied up with the guys, making sure they’re on budget, that they’re there on time. And she actually built the company to kind of a powerhouse, where we’re doing 15 to 25 kitchens a year, and maybe 25 to 30 bathrooms a year. It works really well.”

 

Time Management

The Boyles’ operation employs between nine and 15 employees, depending on the season, while the subcontractors that do plumbing, electrical work, and cabinet installation tend to be the same from project to project.

“Many of our people have been with us for a long time,” Jim said. “I have one guy that started with me since day one. Our assistant’s been with us 12 years. Two other guys have been here 17, 18 years. Everybody’s been around for a long time.”

Speaking of a long time, most remodels are completed in three weeks, though some larger, more complex jobs may go four or five. The three-week goal is out of respect for customers, he noted.

“If I build a garage for you at your house, if I take too much time, you could care less. I’m outside every day, and you might come say ‘hi’ to me when you leave for work and when you get back. But if I’m in your kitchen, when you get into a third week and everything’s still going on, it can be difficult for your wife or your partner, and if you get into a fourth week, they don’t want you there anymore; they need their stuff back.”

That consideration was even more acute during the pandemic — a time when home-improvement businesses everywhere reported soaring demand as people stayed home, stopped investing in vacations, and ramped up household projects.

“We were working at least 50, 60 hours a week. There was zero downtime,” Ellen said. “I had my two best years for kitchen consultancy. But yes, there was definitely a learning curve with how to interact with homeowners.

The bathroom and kitchen renovation business surged during the pandemic and has stayed relatively robust.

The bathroom and kitchen renovation business surged during the pandemic and has stayed relatively robust.

“Social distancing was new to everybody. But, again, we had honest conversations with homeowners, like, ‘this is how we will come into your house, this is how we will meet to do an estimate and a design, and this is how we will work to get the job done.’ And things took a little bit longer because we couldn’t really pile a lot of people into someone’s home, but the customers would just come in later in the day after we took off.”

Whatever the circumstance, Ellen said most clients have specific ideas in mind when they enlist Kitchen Concepts for a project.

“There’s a lot of information out there, and what makes us unique is having the construction background — so there’s what you see in a magazine or online, or what you’ve seen on TV, and then there’s the reality of what can be done,” she explained. “If someone has a certain dollar amount that they can spend, that definitely directs us where we need to go to. I never want to show somebody something that is three times the amount of money they’d actually be able to spend. So we do have discussions on what their total budget is going to get them and what we can do.”

How a customer intends to use the property makes a difference as well, she added. “Is someone renovating to sell their house? Are they renovating, but they’re only going to be there for five years? Or are they renovating because this is it — this is where they’re going to be for the rest of their lives?

“There are people who walk in and say, ‘I need a new kitchen, and I have no idea what’s out there.’ But I always encourage people to do all of the hard stuff first,” she went on. “I never want someone to come in here and feel like they have to pick their cabinets and pick their countertops. The hard stuff is understanding what design change would make it more efficient for you, and especially working in someone’s budget.”

Premier Self Storage, including this facility in Greenfield, is a successful side business for the Boyles.

Premier Self Storage, including this facility in Greenfield, is a successful side business for the Boyles.

Because budget is key, Ellen said, no matter the customer.

“One of our countertop companies, Cambria, has beautiful quartz countertops. But a lot of their designs are geared more toward, say, Boston-area homeowners, where it’s a very different demographic, a very different type of budget. Here in the college towns, some of the more expensive materials don’t fit into what their budget is going to be. So we have that conversation very openly with our Cambria reps, that we love these contemporary materials that they offer, and they’re big sellers in one area, but we say, ‘that’s never going to sell here.’

“But those products are out there, and you never know what someone will walk in and say they want,” she added. “Our cabinets are well-priced cabinets, so we have everything from standard SKU models up to full custom cabinetry.”

 

Another New Day

Jim called his partnership with Ellen — in life and in business — a good one, saying his day begins with a morning goodbye kiss, but they often see each other soon after — unless he’s on a job site.

“We’ve been working together since the beginning,” Ellen added. “We take separate cars to and from work, which gives us flexibility if he’s out on the road and I’m here, or vice versa. It’s good. It works.”

Marois Construction Completes a Transition at the Top

By
Joe Marois, left, and Carl Mercieri.
Construction

Chairman of the Boards

Joe Marois, left, and Carl Mercieri.

Joe Marois, left, and Carl Mercieri.

 

When asked why he left work as an insurance adjuster to start his own construction business, Joe Marois gave an answer as direct as it was insightful.

“It was a conscious decision to do something on my own so I wouldn’t have anyone to blame if I was a failure,” he told BusinessWest. “In the corporate world … I played that game for a while, but I wasn’t going to try to rely on someone when I was older, waiting for that promotion; I couldn’t deal with that.”

A half-century of change and economic ups and downs later, ‘failure’ is certainly not a word that comes to mind when assessing not only Marois Construction, but also his other ventures, the Orion Farm equestrian centers — there are two, one in South Hadley and the other in Wellington, Fla. — and what could be called his commercial real-estate subsidiary as a self-storage business. Indeed, they are all success stories.

And now, 52 years after he got his start in his mother’s garage, Marois will be spending maybe a little more time with those latter two ventures.

Indeed, he is passing the torch of management at Marois Construction to Carl Mercieri, a 35-year employee of the company who, like Marois, got his start as a field carpenter and then worked his way up to estimating and eventually project management.

Mercieri will take the title of president, while Marois will serve as chairman of the board. Together, they plan to continue following the blueprint drafted in 1972, one of seizing opportunities as they emerge and following what has become the company’s marketing tagline: “Building What Others Envision.”

They also plan to continue a course of expansion and diversity, one that has seen the company take on more public-sector work and broaden its geographic reach up and down the I-91 corridor, into Berkshire County and beyond.

“It’s simple … we want to keep growing and building on what we’ve been able to accomplish,” said Mercieri, adding that, aside from some titles and responsibilities, little else will change at this company that can borrow a term from the horse farm and say it has a great track record.

 

Building on the Foundation

Marois, who copied Morse code while serving in the Air Force in Alaska before landing work as an insurance adjuster, said he started his construction venture with a tool belt and a used Royal typewriter to type invoices.

He also had the requisite entrepreneurial energy, that aforementioned desire to control his own fate, and confidence in his own abilities born from experience — as well as lessons and encouragement from mentors.

“I always had a proclivity for carpentry,” he explained. “I worked in high school for some contractors, framing houses and so forth. I liked it, and I had some good mentors in those days; they recognized that I had some ability, and they took the time to teach me stuff.”

“It was a conscious decision to do something on my own so I wouldn’t have anyone to blame if I was a failure. In the corporate world … I played that game for a while, but I wasn’t going to try to rely on someone when I was older, waiting for that promotion; I couldn’t deal with that.”

Marois also had a few contacts, and one of them helped him land a job rehabbing the lower floors of a block of buildings in Holyoke into apartments.

“I did the drawings at my house on the kitchen table,” he said, adding that the project eventually led to others in the Paper City, and soon he had a foundation on which to build his company.

Over the years, the firm has handled a good mix of public and private work, with clients ranging from most of the area’s colleges and universities to municipalities (public-safety facilities are one of the firm’s niches) to several area banks and other businesses.

Recent projects have included everything from extensive renovation of a former computer-assembly facility into the new home of Veritas Preparatory Charter School to an emergency-systems upgrade at the John Adams high-rise dorm at UMass Amherst; from a LEED-rated PeoplesBank branch in Northampton to conversion of the former HUB Insurance building in Agawam into a new public-safety facility.

Such diversity, crucial to success in this sector, is what has developed over the years, said Mercieri, who, as noted, also started out as a carpenter.

“I was a millwright, and I worked at a mill; a friend of mine’s father was a VP at this company, and he got me a job,” he recalled. “I was young, so I was the guy carrying everyone’s tools, and I worked for plumbers, electricians, masons … I learned all the different trades. I spent 10 years there earning my ribbons, and then I went out on my own and did residential work for four or five years before landing here.

“Going back to my millwright days, that was quite the experience, learning all those different trades,” he went on. “I go to a job site, and I see electricians and plumbers … I’m no expert at it, but we can speak the same language.”

“I was young, so I was the guy carrying everyone’s tools, and I worked for plumbers, electricians, masons … I learned all the different trades.”

Building on the company’s portfolio of diverse projects and keeping a steady flow of projects in the pipeline are the primary goals as Mercieri and Marois complete this transition of leadership, something that has been in the works for several years now.

“Succession planning is important, and it’s unique to each company that does it,” Marois said. “It’s been a smooth, amicable process on our side … it was just about the bells and whistles.”

What emerged is a plan whereby Mercieri will manage the construction company and Marois will maintain ownership of — and remain active in — the various businesses under what could be called the Marois umbrella.

That includes a portfolio of commercial real-estate properties, as well as Orion Farms North and South, with the former sitting on 40 rolling acres in South Hadley, an old dairy farm that Marois acquired decades ago, and the latter an equestrian facility in Wellington, Fla., where Evans trains during the cold months and competes at the Winter Equestrian Festival.

“I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but the more I got into it, the more I fell in love with the prospect of having some type of farm there,” he said, noting that the acreage is now home to a multi-faceted business. He and partner Linda Evans, an accomplished rider and trainer who has competed in shows resulting in many national champions, have a riding school catering to beginners and experts alike, with a stable of 40 horses (Warmblood show jumpers for the most part), as well as boarding and other services.

Like the construction company, the horse farms are a labor of love for Marois, who grew up near the South Hadley farm and developed a passion for riding himself, although he’s mostly retired from that activity.

 

Bottom Line

He has no plans to retire from his various businesses, though.

He joked that the announced transition plans are designed to “let people know that they don’t have to call me; they can call Carl — although they can call me if they want.

“And I can focus on getting old,” he continued with a laugh, adding quickly that his focus will actually be on his businesses, people, horses, and the continuation of what he started 52 years ago.

That would be a success story on every level imaginable.

Excel Dryer Continues to Push the Envelope in an Emerging Sector

By
Bill Gagnon stands near one of the living walls
Construction Manufacturing Special Coverage

An Industry Leader — Hands Down

Bill Gagnon stands near one of the living walls

Bill Gagnon stands near one of the living walls in the environmentally friendly, and worker-friendly, addition to the company’s plant in East Longmeadow.

 

“David vs. Goliath.”

That was how Bill Gagnon chose to describe the ongoing fight between the still-emerging high-speed hand-dryer industry and the huge paper industry for the right to put their products in restrooms across the county and the around the globe.

It’s always been an uphill battle, said Gagnon, executive vice president and chief operating officer at East Longmeadow-based Excel Dryer, noting that the paper industry has spared no expense, and no energy, in its quest to portray hand dryers as unhygienic — essentially blowing germs around the bathroom and on one’s hands.

But through a series of commissioned studies and diligent work to educate consumers, the high-speed hand-dryer sector was making some real progress on the battlefront. That was, until … the pandemic.

Indeed, COVID hit many industries hard, and in different ways, from restaurants that saw business come to a virtual standstill to event venues that could no longer book gatherings. But COVID threw a huge wrench into the hand-dryer sector, Gagnon explained, resulting in several years of turmoil from which it is still emerging.

“I lost 10 years of my life those three years,” he said of the period from early 2020 to early 2023, when the dust started to settle somewhat.

And now, COVID may wind up being … not a blessing, but a benefit for this sector thanks to all the work done to promote the health of these products, to bring industry players together as they had never been before, and to weather a huge storm.

“We basically wanted to create a model for other people who are designing commercial spaces on how to achieve a sustainable and healthy workplace that could be both LEED- and WELL-certified.”

“I believe the pandemic, while it took the legs out from under us, will be a giant springboard for our entire industry globally and drive our success in the future,” he said, “because people realized there was so much conspiracy and snake oil and BS during the pandemic — knee-jerk reactions with nothing backed by science.”

Recovery from the havoc wreaked by COVID and its aftereffects — including the skyrocketing cost of new construction, which stalled or scrapped the building of many new facilities into which Excel products could be placed — is one of many storylines involving this company, which burst onto the scene nearly a quarter-century ago with the XLERATOR, a hand dryer that would do what its predecessors couldn’t: thoroughly dry one’s hands.

Others include everything from donating mobile hand dryers to relief sites in Turkey, where survivors are rebuilding from an earthquake 18 months ago, to an addition to the plant in East Longmeadow that is environmentally friendly and worker-friendly as well, featuring everything from ‘living walls’ to carpets made from used fishing nets to lights that follow the natural circadian rhythm of humans.

A mobile XLERATOR hand-dryer station in a Turkish container shelter community following the deadly earthquake in 2023.Photo courtesy of Excel Dryer

A mobile XLERATOR hand-dryer station in a Turkish container shelter community following the deadly earthquake in 2023.
Photo courtesy of Excel Dryer

“We basically wanted to create a model for other people who are designing commercial spaces on how to achieve a sustainable and healthy workplace that could be both LEED- and WELL-certified,” said Gagnon, referring to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design designation and a standard for delivering more thoughtful and intentional spaces that enhance human health and well-being, respectively.

“We’ve won a dozen awards on the design of this space in architecture magazines,” he went on, adding that more important than these accolades is the manner in which the space creates an attractive, healthy space in which to work.

Meanwhile, efforts to bring high-speed hand dryers into more restrooms continues, he said, adding that, in this country, hand dryers are included in only 10% to 15% of new construction. That’s an improvement over the 5% rate years ago, but there is still considerable room for improvement, which is another area of focus moving forward.

And one potential strong avenue for growth, said Gagnon, is hybrid systems make use of Excel’s sink systems — integrated products whereby users can wash their hands and dry them at the same sink — along with paper towels.

“That’s the best of both worlds; it doesn’t have to be one or the other — it can be both,” he told BusinessWest. “You put the dryer next to the faucet for hand drying, and if people need paper for anything else or just to dry their hands, it’s there.”

Such hybrid systems could be a viable alternative for the architects and business owners still favoring paper, he said, citing the case of the USDA headquarters in Washington, a 1 million-square-foot building where bathrooms with two sinks and two towel dispensers were switched to two sinks, one towel dispenser, and one high-speed hand dryer.

“Every single thing in this office I picked myself with the architect, and it has a story behind it. Whether it helps with health and wellness or it uses recycled materials, everything here helps in some way.”

“They ran the stats, and it led to one fewer full dumpster load of waste per week,” he noted. “That equated to a $30,000-a-year savings in waste alone, just from the dumpster fees, not even looking at the cost of buying, shipping, and installing paper towels, and this is something we’re educating architects on.”

For this issue and its focus on manufacturing and construction, we talked with Gagnon about the XLERATOR and its continued evolution, as well as the Excel company, how far it’s come over the past 25 years or so, and where the growth potential lies as David continues to battle Goliath.

 

Air Apparent

Turning block the clock to January 2020, Gagnon recalled watching the news on television, having his eyes diverted to a crawler at the bottom of the screen, and seeing some reference to a coronavirus in China.

He couldn’t have imagined what was to come, but he already knew that this was real trouble for his company and his sector.

And he was right.

Excel Dryer’s leaders aimed to make the recent office renovation both energy-efficient and human-centric.Photo courtesy of Excel Dryer

Excel Dryer’s leaders aimed to make the recent office renovation both energy-efficient and human-centric.
Photo courtesy of Excel Dryer

With the world soon laser-focused on controlling the spread of germs, the high-speed hand dryer was soon to come under more scrutiny than ever, with orders for the products slowing and long-time clients asking questions about just how safe they were to use.

“The pandemic was a gift that fell right into the paper industry’s lap,” Gagnon explained. “They’d been saying that hand dryers blow bacteria and germs all over the air, and here comes an airborne virus. There couldn’t be anything worse to happen to the high-speed hand-dryer industry; it bubbled that stuff back up, and we were in crisis mode during the pandemic.”

One low point, and there were many, came early on during the pandemic, when Denver International Airport, one of the largest and most modern in the country, placed stickers on its XLERATORs stating, “for your safety, these hand dryers have been turned off.”

“Think about all the traffic going in and seeing our product tied to coronavirus and that it wasn’t safe to use,” he said. “That was a killer.”

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control, in its many messages urging people to wash their hands — and showing them how best to do so — featured paper towels as the drying method.

“Only in one place on one page did it say that you use either towels or a hand dryer — and I thought to myself, ‘we need to update this,’” said Gagnon, noting that he didn’t really know where to begin or whom to call to achieve change at Denver’s airport, the CDC’s public-service messages, and other fronts in this battle, but he went to work rallying the players in the industry and devising a strategy for digging out.

He commissioned a study on the company’s recently introduced HEPA filters and their ability to filter viruses — not knowing what the results would be. That study, which involved 3 million viruses going through the dryer to see what would come out the other end, revealed a striking 99.99% filtration of viruses.

“I said, ‘that’s great news — we have to market the heck out of this,’” he recalled. “That gave me something to work with, and I ended up reaching out to everyone that I knew in my network asking for help to get to the CDC and get this information to the right people.”

“Every single thing in this office I picked myself with the architect, and it has a story behind it. Whether it helps with health and wellness or it uses recycled materials, everything here helps in some way.”

In fact, he called this his new mission.

“I talked to a business coach of mine, and he connected me to someone who used to work for the government in the state of Massachusetts who knew a lobbyist who could help get you to D.C. and places — we had never used a lobbyist before,” he said. “And this is the short version of that story; I’m calling everybody and looking at everything to find some path. And I found a path.”

Indeed, eventually the stickers came off the dryers in Denver, he said, and, through the lobbyist, Gagnon was able connect with then-Vice President Mike Pence’s COVID team, which helped set up a call with the coronavirus team at the CDC it was working with.

“We found a way in, and by the end of the year, the CDC had updated all its hand-washing pages and its main images to show a paper towel and a hand dryer, and that was a huge win for us,” he said, adding that these developments helped save the business, although it was still a very challenging time.

“Every sale became harder, and every single person we talked to … we had to address the health issue,” he went on, adding that these ultra-trying times have ultimately helped put the product, and the company, in what could be called a better place — and give the hand-dryer industry a louder voice.

 

Net Results

While helping to create this better place and louder voice, the team at Excel has been making advances on other fronts as well, including the expansion of the plant on Chestnut Street in East Longmeadow.

This expansion became a labor of love for Gagnon, who, as noted earlier, wanted to create a model for other businesses to follow. And he spared little expense in doing so.

He said the various design elements were spurred by statistics showing that people spend 80% to 90% of their time indoors, putting an exclamation point on the need to improve what’s known as indoor environmental quality, or IEQ.

Excel produced custom XLERATOR hand dryers featuring designs by art students.Photo courtesy of Excel Dryer

Excel produced custom XLERATOR hand dryers featuring designs by art students.
Photo courtesy of Excel Dryer

“Every single thing in this office I picked myself with the architect, and it has a story behind it. Whether it helps with health and wellness or it uses recycled materials, everything here helps in some way,” he said, pointing to the carpet in the conference room as just one example.

“It’s made, 100%, from used fishing nets in third-world countries,” he explained. “They would either get thrown away, or they would just leave them in the water, which is really bad for the ecosystem; it’s bad for those nets to stay in the water.”

The carpeting, walls, lights, windows, and more all contribute to improved IEQ and provide a space people want to work in, he added. “I tasked the interior designer … I said from the beginning, ‘we are going to tell a story with this space, and we’re going to show people how to create the most beautiful, sustainable, and healthiest office space possible.’”

The space, which is outfitted with Excel products, also serves as a marketing vehicle, he said, adding that this helped justify the price tag.

Asked to look ahead to 2025, Gagnon started by saying that 2024 was a somewhat slow year as large corporations and small businesses alike waited to see what would happen with interest rates, inflation, the overall economy, and the presidential election. But he is already seeing signs that 2025 will be a much better year.

“It’s going to bounce back, and it’s going to bounce back fast — we’re starting to see it already,” he said, noting that Walmart has committed $5.5 billion to upgrades in Mexico and $8 billion to upgrades in the U.S. and Canada, with bathrooms bring a primary focus. And he expects other chains to follow suit as construction costs stabilize and even come down slightly, a new administration takes over in Washington, and there is ever-more focus put on the cleanliness of facilities, and especially restrooms.

If this bounceback comes as he expects, that will be yet another positive development for a company that has consistently broken new ground in this emerging sector and emerged as one of its clear leaders — hands down.

 

How to Measure the Financial Health of a Construction Company

By Contributor
Construction

Know Your Ratios

By Matthew Nash, CPA

The construction industry is unique and complex, with its own set of financial challenges and opportunities. Understanding the financial health of a construction company is crucial to making informed business decisions. Financial ratios are powerful tools that provide valuable insights into profitability, liquidity, solvency, efficiency, and project performance.

Ratios are resources to more than just investors, shareholders, and management teams. They are also used by lenders and creditors to evaluate credit risk, by contractors and subcontractors to gauge the financial health of potential partners and ensure the ability to meet obligations, and by regulatory agencies to ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations.

This article highlights key financial ratios tailored specifically to construction companies, which are used to analyze a construction company’s stability and operational efficiency.

 

Profitability Ratios

Gross profit margin indicates how efficiently a construction company is managing its direct costs associated with projects. A higher gross profit margin suggests that the company is effective in controlling project costs and pricing. Calculation: gross profit margin = gross profit divided by revenue multiplied by 100.

Operating profit margin measures the percentage of revenue that remains after covering operating expenses, excluding interest and taxes. The operating profit margin reflects how well and how efficiently a company manages its core business operations. Calculation: operating profit margin = operating income divided by revenue multiplied by 100.

Matthew Nash

Matthew Nash

“Ratios are resources to more than just investors, shareholders, and management teams. They are also used by lenders and creditors to evaluate credit risk, by contractors and subcontractors to gauge the financial health of potential partners and ensure the ability to meet obligations, and by regulatory agencies to ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations.”

Net profit margin shows the percentage of revenue that remains as profit after all expenses, including interest and taxes, have been deducted. A strong net profit margin indicates overall profitability and effective management of both operational and non-operational expenses. Calculation: net profit margin = net income divided by revenue multiplied by 100.

 

Liquidity Ratios

Current ratio assesses a company’s ability to meet its short-term liabilities with its short-term assets. For construction companies, which often deal with significant short-term obligations due to project timelines and payment cycles, maintaining a current ratio above 1.0 indicates that the company could pay off its liabilities if they become immediately due. Calculation: current ratio = current assets divided by current liabilities.

Quick ratio, or acid-test ratio, provides a stricter measure of liquidity by excluding inventory from current assets. Given that construction companies may have substantial inventory tied up in ongoing projects, the quick ratio offers a clearer picture of the company’s ability to cover immediate obligations. Similar to the current ratio, a good quick ratio should be higher than 1.0. Calculation: quick ratio = current assets minus inventory divided by current liabilities.

 

Solvency Ratios

Debt-to-equity ratio indicates the proportion of debt used to finance the company’s assets relative to shareholders’ equity. A high ratio suggests greater financial leverage and risk, while a lower ratio indicates a more conservative approach to financing. For construction companies, which often rely on substantial borrowing for project financing, monitoring this ratio is critical. Ratios higher than 2.0 can indicate that a company has taken on too much debt. Calculation: debt-to-equity ratio = total liabilities divided by equity.

Interest coverage ratio measures a company’s ability to pay interest on its debt with its earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT). A higher ratio indicates that the company comfortably covers its interest payments, reducing financial risk. For construction firms, which may have fluctuating income based on project timelines, this ratio helps assess debt sustainability. Calculation: interest coverage ratio = EBIT divided by interest expense.

 

Efficiency Ratios

Working capital turnover ratio reflects how efficiently a company uses its capital to support sales and company growth. The ratio provides a company with an understanding of revenue generated for every dollar of working capital used. A high ratio indicates that the company is efficient in using its assets and liabilities to support sales, with lower ratios indicating less efficiency. However, a ratio above 30.0 could signal that a company may need more working capital to continue to grow in the future. Calculation: working capital turnover ratio = total construction sales divided by working capital. (Working capital = current assets minus current liabilities.)

Equity turnover ratio, similar to working capital turnover ratio, reflects how efficiently a company uses its value — in this case, equity — to drive construction revenue. A ratio above 15.0 may signal that a company will have trouble growing in the future. Calculation: equity turnover ratio = revenue divided by equity.

 

Project-specific Ratios

Work-in-progress (WIP) ratio assesses the proportion of work completed relative to the total contract value. This ratio helps gauge project progress and can indicate potential issues with project execution or financial planning. Calculation: WIP ratio = work completed to date divided by total contract value.

Contract profitability ratio evaluates the profitability of individual contracts. This ratio provides insights into how well each project contributes to overall profitability, helping in assessing project management and pricing strategies. Calculation: contract profitability ratio = contract profit divided by contract revenue multiplied by 100.

 

Conclusion

Financial ratios are indispensable tools for understanding the financial health of construction companies. No single ratio will provide an overall picture for the health of a construction company. However, looking at several key financial ratios can help investors, shareholders, and management teams make informed decisions, identify potential risks, and implement strategies to enhance financial and operation stability, both now and in the future.

For construction companies, maintaining a balanced approach to managing these financial metrics is pivotal to sustaining long-term success in a competitive and often unpredictable industry.

 

Matthew Nash, CPA is a partner with Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.

Construction Sector Remains Busy, but Some Clients Are Hitting Pause Button

By
Dave Fontaine
Construction Special Coverage

Cooling Trend

Dave Fontaine

Dave Fontaine at the site of the new Peck Middle School in Holyoke.

 

Bill Jodice has lived through several economic cycles since he and a few partners bought the engineering and construction firm started by his father in 1964.

And he was quick to note that this current downturn, if it can even be called that, pales in comparison to the Great Recession of 2008, the post-9/11 slump, and even the prolonged recession of the early to mid-’90s, times when the phone seemingly stopped ringing.

Still, it’s been ringing a little less often (in a figurative sense) over the past several months, said Jodice, president of Bloomfield, Conn.-based PDS Engineering & Construction, noting that, while his firm is still quite busy, things are slowing down somewhat, a result of some clients hitting the pause button starting a little over a year ago, waiting for interest rates to come down, the presidential race to be decided, or both.

“We’ve heard some people say it all depends on what happens with the election and who’s managing the finances of the country when it comes to whether they move forward with a project,” he said. “If Trump gets in, they’re going to absolutely move ahead; if Kamala gets in, they’re maybe not going to do it, or at least give it some second thoughts. Some people get nervous around elections, and we hear about it.”

Scott Keiter, president of West Springfield-based Keiter Corp., reports a slowing of many segments within this sector, especially new residential construction, one of his firm’s specialties.

“We’ve seen a lot of deals and projects that were planned with lower interest rates — those in the 2021, 2022 range — in mind that have hit some roadblocks as the interest rates have been rising, borrowing costs have been going up, and the math starts to get difficult.”

He noted that his firm has been averaging five to 10 new homes a year over the past several years, and is certainly on the low end of that range this year, primarily because of higher interest rates and comparatively attractive prices for homes on the market.

“The combination of higher interest rates and well-priced options for people to move to has definitely hit home,” said Keiter, adding that his firm is still busy with work in several areas, from projects for colleges and nonprofits to home renovations, and enjoying the benefits of a diverse portfolio.

Welcome Center at Western New England University

The interior of the new Welcome Center at Western New England University, one of the many institutional projects in the Keiter Corp. portfolio.

John and Josh Raymaaker, co-owners, with their parents, of Westfield-based J.L. Raymaakers and Sons Inc., agreed. John noted that the number of invitations to bid on projects (especially on the private side) started trending downward several months ago and remains well below the pace of a few years ago.

“They’ve slowed from maybe 10 to 15 a month to eight to 10 a month — it’s not drastic, but it’s definitely noticeable,” he said, adding that the public side of the ledger, which comprises 75% of the firm’s portfolio, remains solid and seemingly unfazed by recent events.

Bill Jodice

Bill Jodice

“We’ve heard some people say it all depends on what happens with the election and who’s managing the finances of the country when it comes to whether they move forward with a project.”

Dave Fontaine, CEO of Springfield-based Fontaine Bros., noted that, generally speaking, the broad construction sector is somewhat of a lagging indicator, meaning decisions to pause or discontinue projects often don’t impact contractors until months later, meaning most firms still have projects on the books.

“We’ve seen a lot of deals and projects that were planned with lower interest rates — those in the 2021, 2022 range — in mind that have hit some roadblocks as the interest rates have been rising, borrowing costs have been going up, and the math starts to get difficult,” he said, noting that most of the hesitancy has been on the private-sector side. “We’ve seen some projects that have been put on hold and others that have been canceled.”

Meanwhile, this slowdown has manifested itself in several different ways, said Fontaine, noting everything from a general cooling of construction material costs from their peak highs (although labor costs continue climbing) to subcontractors, which were booked solid during COVID and the following years, being “hungrier” and more available (more on that later).

But, as noted, this sector remains quite busy, and most players, meaning general contractors, architects, and engineers, have plenty of work on the books now — and, for the most part, for the start of next year as well.

Michael (left) and Brian Sweitzer

Michael (left) and Brian Sweitzer at the site of the new Embr cannabis retail facility on Boston Road in Springfield.

“The money is still flowing, and we anticipate that it will continue to flow,” said Curtis Edgin, a principal with the Chicopee-based architecture firm Caolo & Bieniek Associates, which counts both public and private projects on the books, everything from an elementary school in Westfield to a new Rocky’s hardware store in South Hadley.

“It seems that people are somewhat apprehensive right now, but we’re still busy and hope to still be busy a year from now,” said Edgin, who was one of many to use the phrase ‘cautiously optimistic’ to describe the outlook for the foreseeable future.

 

Busy Signals

Jodice calls it a “wave.”

He was referring to the explosion of new car-wash centers in Connecticut, a development that has certainly benefited his firm.

“It’s moving across the state,” he said of this wave, mostly involving facilities that offer monthly wash passes that provide benefits to consumers (if they use them) and guaranteed income to those building these facilities.

Curtis Edgin

Curtis Edgin

“It seems that people are somewhat apprehensive right now, but we’re still busy and hope to still be busy a year from now.”

Beyond the car-wash wave, PDS is also benefiting from what Jodice called an ongoing “arms race” in the auto business whereby makers — Ford and Chevrolet are among the latest — are continuously refreshing dealerships to lure customers to showrooms and service bays, as well as an ongoing self-storage boom and Connecticut’s dire need to rehabilitate some aging prisons.

All of the above have brought new projects to the PDS portfolio in recent months, he said, noting that it includes several car washes for a chain called Russell Speeder’s; new dealerships or renovations for Executive Kia in Wallingford, New Country Porsche in Greenwich, and Curran Volkswagen in Stratford; and work at a prison in Cheshire.

But there has been a discernable slowing across the board, particularly in some sectors, including the defense industry (PDS has done work for several of the smaller companies that supply large defense contractors like GE and Pratt & Whitney), which he finds puzzling given the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

A new self-storage facility in East Longmeadow

A new self-storage facility in East Longmeadow is one of many recent projects in the PDS Engineering & Construction portfolio.

Overall, rising interest rates have prompted some commercial and residential clients to hit pause, or at least think about whether to pause, said those we spoke with. They noted that, while interest rates are still historically low, they are certainly much higher than they’ve been over the past five or six years.

And with the Fed’s move to finally lower rates by half a percentage point last month, there is the possibility, if not the expectation, that they will go lower in either the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of next year.

Pat and Craig Sweitzer, the husband-and-wife owners of Monson-based Sweitzer Construction, said they’ve already seen one client benefit from waiting until this fall to build rather than early this year, as originally scheduled, and they believe there is a lot of that going on.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard someone say they were happy there were delays,” said Craig, noting that many clients did their original pro formas based on 3% interest rates, and with rates at or around 7%, profit margins are smaller, breeding hesitancy.

Still, like the others we spoke with, the Sweitzers, who share management responsibilities with sons Brian and Michael, are busy, having just wrapped up a new cannabis retail facility called Embr on the large, long-vacant site of the former Russell’s restaurant on Boston Road in Springfield.

The firm specializes in medical facilities, especially dental offices, but has taken on several projects in the cannabis realm over the past several years, said Pat, adding that, at this time, or any time, for that matter, diversity is an important asset.

Josh Raymaaker agreed, noting that his family’s firm remains busy with both private and especially public projects. The list for the former includes a new Dunkin’ Donuts in Easthampton, a new hangar at Barnes Airport, and construction of a new headquarters for the Raymaakers firm on Falcon Drive in Westfield.

On the public side, the firm has several projects in progress, including new sewer lines in Suffield, Conn., pump-station rehabs in Great Barrington, bridge projects in Braintree and Alford, and a new hangar for C5s at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee.

“The combination of interest rates and the costs of construction have definitely affected which version of the project our clients are able to proceed with; in order for them to make their numbers work, they are having to make some concessions.”

Keiter said that, while things are slower, his firm is busy on several fronts, from a move to a new headquarters building in West Springfield to projects across several realms.

Indeed, he said residential renovation work remains vibrant, despite the higher interest rates, while the firm is also handling projects for several colleges and universities, as well as nonprofits, including Girls Inc. of the Valley, which is moving onto the latest phase of renovations to its new home in the former Daniel O’Connell’s Sons headquarters in Holyoke.

“We continue to work with our nonprofit partners — we’re still seeing a good pipeline there — and with the private sector as well,” he said. “But the combination of interest rates and the costs of construction have definitely affected which version of the project our clients are able to proceed with; in order for them to make their numbers work, they are having to make some concessions.”

Elaborating, Keiter said that, while prices for materials and labor are still comparatively high, they are lower than what has been seen since the pandemic. The same is true for availability.

“Our benchmark is … screwy,” he told BusinessWest. “When you say materials availability is better, it’s in reference to a time when it was abnormally askew.”

 

 

Moving Forward

Fontaine noted that, while he can certainly understand why some businesses institutions — and homeowners — would put projects on hold until interest rates come down, there are definitely advantages to going forward now as opposed to waiting.

At the top of that list is a cooling of construction prices and better availability of materials, which are already impacting some of the projects the firm is handling, including the new East Longmeadow High School, the new Peck Middle School in Holyoke, and work at Deerfield Academy and the College of the Holy Cross.

“Just the fact that the costs have steadied and that there is increased predictability of costs is starting to be a good thing again for the market; we’re even starting to see some isolated decreases in costs,” he said, adding that these developments could and should incentivize action now, rather than waiting.

“If you can get a lower construction cost, that’s a finite figure for a project,” Fontaine noted. “People always have the option to refinance later if rates come down, but you only have one chance at lower construction costs, and that’s why this might be a good time to build.”

Keiter wouldn’t go that far, noting that no one really knows what tomorrow will bring.

“It’s always a good time to build — it just has to work for you,” he said, adding that, for some clients across different segments of this sector, it’s more difficult to make things work.

And that’s why there is anxiety and some hesitancy among those considering residential and commercial building projects.

Still, as Jodice noted at the top, while this is a slowdown, it doesn’t compare with the far more serious cycles that have visited this sector. And that’s certainly something to build on.

Senate Unanimously Passes $5.4 Billion Affordable Homes Act

By
Commercial Real Estate
Construction

Toward More Accessible Housing

 

On June 27, the Massachusetts Senate passed its Affordable Homes Act, authorizing $5.4 billion in borrowing and making policy changes with the goal of building new housing, accelerating the rehabilitation of existing housing, reducing barriers to development, and promoting affordable housing.

The legislation passed unanimously. With separate versions having passed the Senate and the House of Representatives, the two branches will now reconcile the differences.

State Sen. Adam Gomez, who has personally experienced housing insecurity, lauded the bill’s passage.

“The housing crisis we are seeing nationwide is one of the major challenges of our lifetime, and a challenge we can’t shy away from if our state is going to remain competitive and viable for families and individuals who want to set their roots here,” he said. “Today, we took important steps to address this issue and make the housing market more approachable to first-time buyers and people of color, as well as renters looking for affordability in the areas they work. I am proud of our work here and look forward to seeing this blueprint put in motion.”

Sen. Adam Gomez

Sen. Adam Gomez

“The housing crisis we are seeing nationwide is one of the major challenges of our lifetime, and a challenge we can’t shy away from if our state is going to remain competitive and viable for families and individuals who want to set their roots here.”

According to a release by the Massachusetts Senate press room, the bill’s components include the following:

 

Creating and Repairing Public Housing

The Senate’s Affordable Homes Act provides $2.2 billion for repairs, rehabilitation, and renovation across the 43,000 units of state-aided public housing. This investment aims to ensure that the state’s public housing infrastructure remains safe, modern, and sustainable so it can continue providing quality living conditions for thousands of families.

To ensure that the Commonwealth makes strides towards its climate goals as it creates housing, $150 million of the funding for public housing is specifically allocated to making energy-efficient upgrades.

 

Spurring Affordable Housing Units

A further $425 million will go to the Housing Stabilization and Investment Trust Fund, working with municipalities, nonprofits, and developers to support housing preservation, new construction, and rehabilitation projects for affordable rental units. This is intended to help the longevity and sustainability of affordable housing stock, addressing both immediate needs and long-term housing solutions.

In addition, the bill includes $800 million for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to create and preserve housing for households with an income at or below 110% of area median income, helping to bridge the gap between the high cost of housing and what many families can afford.

 

Building Sustainably

This bond bill includes $275 million for innovative, sustainable, and green housing initiatives. By finding new ways to build that don’t have such a detrimental environmental impact, these initiatives will help pave the way for a greener housing portfolio in Massachusetts and will be an important part of the state’s response to the climate crisis.

 

Supporting First-time Homebuyers in Gateway Cities

The Senate’s Affordable Homes Act authorizes $200 million for the CommonWealth Builder program to further the production of housing in gateway cities for first-time homebuyers. This initiative supports economic development in these cities, helping families achieve homeownership and contributing to the revitalization of urban areas.

The legislation also includes $50 million for MassDreams, a program that provides down-payment and closing-cost grants to first-time homebuyers who meet the program’s eligibility criteria and who currently live in one of the 29 communities that were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Maintaining Essential Infrastructure

The bill provides $375 million for HousingWorks, a program that awards grants to municipalities and other public entities for a variety of infrastructure-related support.

Of this amount, $100 million will be dedicated to addressing water, sewer, and septic challenges tied to housing developments, and $100 million will help incentivize best practices in communities that have adopted the Community Preservation Act (CPA) and are spending a high percentage of those funds on housing, as well as MBTA communities that are going beyond the minimum requirements set forth in the MBTA zoning law passed in 2021. Communities that have been proactive in creating transit-oriented development, which reduces traffic congestion and promotes sustainable urban growth, will be eligible.

 

Addressing Regional Equity

The legislation includes $150 million in dedicated funds to address the unique housing needs of rural towns, seasonal communities, and mid-sized communities, aiming to ensure that all areas of the state, regardless of size or location, have the resources to meet their specific housing challenges.

 

Policy Proposals

The Senate’s Affordable Homes Act also contains multiple policy proposals to go hand in hand with the new authorizations, including:

• Protecting Tenants from Broker Fees. By requiring that real-estate brokers’ fees be paid solely by the party that contracted with them, this legislation aims to ensure that buyers are not burdened with unexpected and extraordinary costs, while also promoting transparency and fairness in real-estate transactions.

• Establishing Equity-focused Housing Offices. The Office of Fair Housing and the Office of Livable Communities and Community Services will be established under the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. These offices aim to set the Commonwealth on a path to address many decades of housing discrimination by prioritizing equity issues in housing, ensuring equal access to housing opportunities for all residents, and offering technical assistance to cities and towns that can sometimes lack dedicated housing staff.

• Eviction Record Sealing. The bill introduces a process for tenants to seal their eviction records in cases of no-fault evictions and other limited scenarios. This policy protects vulnerable tenants from the long-term stigma of eviction records, enhancing their ability to secure future housing and promoting housing stability.

• Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). The legislation prohibits the banning or unreasonable restriction of ADUs in single-family residential zones, promoting flexible housing options. This policy aims to enable homeowners to create additional living spaces, increase housing supply, and provide more affordable rental options within established neighborhoods.

• Homeownership Tax Credit. This new tax credit will be available for the production of homeownership units for households that make up to 120% of the area median income, incentivizing housing production and promoting homeownership opportunities.

 

‘A Bold Commitment’

State Sen. Lydia Edwards, chair of the Senate Committee on Housing, called the bill “more than a legislative measure; it is a bold commitment to the principles of production, preservation, and protection of housing across the Commonwealth. With a $5.4 billion investment, we are building new homes, preserving existing ones, and ensuring that all residents, especially the most vulnerable, have access to safe and affordable housing.

“This bill can’t fix everything or undo past injustices, but it can course correct and set us on the right path,” she added. “It acknowledges that solving the housing crisis is a long-term effort, one that requires innovative solutions and ongoing commitment. This act focuses on supporting the vanishing middle class, sealing eviction records, and providing protections for seniors and working-class individuals like teachers, healthcare workers, small-business owners, and public servants. Our goal is to create a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable future for all in Massachusetts.”

Rocky’s Ace Hardware to Expand South Hadley Store

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Rocky’s broke ground on June 19
Construction

Room to Grow

Rocky’s broke ground on June 19

Rocky’s broke ground on June 19 for the new, expanded South Hadley store.

 

Rocky’s Ace Hardware, one of the country’s largest family-owned Ace Hardware dealers, held a groundbreaking ceremony on June 19 for a new, expanded store in the South Hadley Plaza at 501 Newton St., which is co-owned locally by the Falcone, Picknelly, and Yee families. The anticipated opening of the new store is March 2025, replacing the existing store in the same plaza.

“This is going to be a 13,000-square-foot new building, all new construction,” Rocky’s Ace Hardware President and CEO Rocco Falcone II said. “We will be relocating from a 10,000-square-foot store, expanding the sales floor and adding a 2,000-square-foot garden center for live plants, Christmas trees, and things of that nature.”

Plans for the new Rocky’s store also include expanded paint and grilling centers, as well as a workwear department featuring the Carhartt brand.

“We’ll carry all the quality name brands we’re known for, such as Benjamin Moore paint; Weber, Traeger, and Big Green Egg in grilling; and Milwaukee, Dewalt, Stihl, Ego, and Craftsman in power tools, to name a few,” Falcone said. “We’ve got a big partnership with Scotts in lawn and garden, and the indoor and outdoor power-equipment department is going to be a knock-your-socks-off experience.”

Falcone noted that, when the Falcone, Picknelly, and Yee families purchased the plaza in 2016, it contained an empty former grocery store and wasn’t being used to its potential. He said the second phase of the project, slated to begin in March 2025 in conjunction with Way Finders, is to construct a six-unit apartment building.

“We’re pretty excited to become more ingrained into the South Hadley community as a property owner and not just a tenant.”

Edison Yee, a partner in the project, said, “I grew up in the town of South Hadley, and in the late ’70s and early ’80s, this used to be our hangout, a gathering spot for meeting up for the night. There used to be a Friendly’s and a Waldbaum’s grocery store. Waldbaum’s closed in 2013, and it’s been relatively dormant since then. I think this revitalization signifies a new era for South Hadley, to hopefully bring the community together and back to this area.”

Falcone said he remembers signing the lease on the South Hadley store back in the ’80s. “It was our seventh store location, and now we have 50. We’re pretty excited to become more ingrained into the South Hadley community as a property owner and not just a tenant.”

The current Rocky’s store will remain open with minimal disruptions during construction and will be available for lease after the store moves to its new home. Construction of the new store is being led by Caolo & Bieniek Architects and Inglewood General Contractors, in conjunction with Falcone Development.

Gains in Several Sectors Boost Construction Industry Across U.S.

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Construction

Building on Momentum

 

 

Total construction starts rose 10% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.24 trillion, according to Dodge Construction Network. Non-building starts gained 49% during the month, driven by the start of an offshore wind project and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, while residential starts lost 7%, and non-residential building starts were down 2%.

On a year-to-date basis through May, total construction starts were up 11% from the first five months of 2023. Residential starts were up 16%, while non-building starts gained 17%, and non-residential building starts rose 3%.

For the 12 months ending May 2024, total construction starts were up 2% from the 12 months ending May 2023. Non-residential building starts were down 7%, residential starts were up 5%, and non-building starts were up 14% on a 12-month rolling sum basis.

“Single-family starts in particular have risen in eight of the last 12 months despite high mortgage rates. Growth in single-family will incentivize further demand for retail, health, and education starts, among others.”

“Even though May’s gain in construction starts was mainly due to a handful of large projects, the data highlights that there is some grassroots demand building in the market,” said Richard Branch, chief economist of Dodge Construction Network. “Single-family starts in particular have risen in eight of the last 12 months despite high mortgage rates. Growth in single-family will incentivize further demand for retail, health, and education starts, among others, and the stability in the Dodge Momentum Index, which tracks projects in planning, underscores this optimism.”

 

Non-building

Nonbuilding construction starts rose 49% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $463 billion. The increase was solely on the back of a massive gain in gas and utility starts as two large projects (a $10 billion offshore wind project in Virginia and an $11 billion LNG project in Texas) got underway. Environmental public works starts fell 10%, miscellaneous non-building starts lost 16%, while highway and bridge starts were 22% lower in May.

On a year-to-date basis through May, total non-building starts were 17% higher. Gas and utility starts were up 35%, environmental public works and miscellaneous non-building were each up 24%, and highway and bridge starts were up 3% on a year-to-date basis through May.

For the 12 months ending May 2024, total non-building starts were 14% higher than the 12 months ending May 2023. Utility and gas starts were up 28%, miscellaneous non-building starts rose 19%, environmental public works starts moved 14% higher, and highway and bridge starts rose 4% for the 12 months ending May 2024.

 

Non-residential

Non-residential building starts fell 2% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $415 billion. Manufacturing starts lost 14% following a very strong April, while institutional starts dropped 6%. Commercial starts gained 10% due to gains in warehouse, office, and parking starts. On a year-to-date basis through May, total non-residential starts were up 3%. Institutional starts were 20% higher, while commercial starts were down 5%, and manufacturing starts were 19% lower on a year-to-date basis through May.

For the 12 months ending May 2024, non-residential building starts were 7% lower than the previous 12 months. Manufacturing starts were down 32%, and commercial starts were down 11%, while institutional starts were 10% higher for the 12 months ending May 2024.

 

Residential

Residential building starts moved 7% lower in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $365 billion. Single-family starts rose 2%, while multi-family starts lost 25%. On a year-to-date basis through five months, total residential starts were 16% higher. Single-family starts improved 29%, and multi-family starts were 5% lower on a year-to-date basis.

For the 12 months ending May 2024, residential starts were 5% higher than the previous 12 months. Single-family starts were 15% higher, while multi-family starts were 10% lower on a 12-month rolling-sum basis.

Regionally, total construction starts in May rose in the Midwest, South Atlantic, and South Central regions, but fell in the Northeast and West regions.

Mowry & Schmidt Builds on a Strong Legacy

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Construction Cover Story

Firm Foundation

Co-owners Robyn Provost and Bob Provost

Co-owners Robyn Provost and Bob Provost

 

Marking 75 years in business is a significant milestone for any company, and when Mowry & Schmidt Inc. hit that mark in 2022, it was extra gratifying, simply because of how it had survived the worst of the pandemic.

“We stayed working; we’re that essential workforce,” said Bob Provost, the third-generation co-owner of this family business with his sister, Robyn Provost. “People trusted us, we practiced the proper protocol, and we went in and out of people’s houses and people’s businesses. We never stopped. It was tough, what was going on, but at the same time, we were fortunate because we were able to work; our guys were able to work.”

Greenfield-based Mowry & Schmidt was also able to ride a wave of home improvement that arose when people began spending more time at home, as well as working from home, a trend that has solidified into something more or less permanent.

“You hate to shout out the positives from something that was so horrible, but we were able to stay in business through the worst of it, then things picked up dramatically,” Robyn said. “And that hasn’t changed. We’re still seeing a lot of work out there, and we actually have the ability to pick and choose a little bit more, to figure out what’s the right fit. There’s always a job that’s not the right fit, and you have to recognize that and be able to admit that. But it was an interesting phenomenon that happened, how construction exploded for a lot of people — if they could make it through that initial wave.”

“You hate to shout out the positives from something that was so horrible, but we were able to stay in business through the worst of it, then things picked up dramatically.”

The pandemic years were only the latest cycle in the long history of Mowry & Schmidt, which has been doing residential, commercial, and industrial work since its inception.

“It has kind of evolved over the years,” Bob said. “Years ago, a big part of it was industrial. But a lot of the paper mills and machine shops closed down, so it bounced more to residential and commercial. Even 20 years ago, we still had some pretty substantial industrial contracts. And now it’s maybe one or two, some smaller machine shops.

“So I’d say our work base now is commercial and residential, and that it kind of fluctuates depending on the market. We used to say we were 70% commercial and 30% residential. Now we might be 60-40, or maybe even 50-50 at times.”

The firm has tackled a wide range of jobs, from large construction jobs to smaller renovations and repairs, throughout its history, a diversity of expertise that has served as a buffer against shifting trends and economic tides.

The dining room inside the Farm Table

The dining room inside the Farm Table in Bernardston, where Mowry & Schmidt performed significant work across the campus.

“We do new construction, renovations, additions, alterations,” Bob told BusinessWest. “We still do small projects, decks on homes, window replacements, door replacements, repairs. And then we do larger projects, whether it’s building a new bank, building a new restaurant, new home construction, large additions, prefabricated metal buildings as well.”

For this issue’s focus on construction, we talked at length with the Provost siblings about how their business has stayed remarkably stable over the years, and how they’re tackling today’s challenges — from higher costs to fierce competition to workforce issues — with an eye toward growing the firm further as it approaches the century mark in the decades ahead.

 

History in the Making

Mowry & Schmidt was founded by David Mowry and Albert Schmidt in Greenfield in 1947, quickly gaining loyal customers and the reputation for diverse expertise it touts today. In 1977, when the founders retired, Robert Provost (David’s son-in-law) and Georges Wetterwald purchased the company and continued to grow it. In 1990, Wetterwald retired, and Robert became the sole owner.

During the 1990s, Bob and Robyn Provost, the current owners, started working in the office — Robyn from outside the company and Bob from its job sites, where he had labored since the 1980s — to work with their father on estimating, project management, and other roles. When the elder Provost died in 2007, ownership was transferred to his wife, Marcia Mowry Provost, and today, the third generation of Bob and Robyn manage all the day-to-day operations, with the help of Bob’s wife, Jessica Provost.

“If they had their kitchen renovated, but then, 20 years later, they come back and ask you to do their deck and porch or their bathroom, I think that’s a big deal.”

“A big part of our success is repeat business, whether it’s residential, commercial, or a commercial project leading to residential work,” Bob said, noting that longtime customers run the gamut from Greenfield Savings Bank — one recent project is the restoration of Greenfield’s former library, the Leavitt-Hovey House, into a new facility for the bank — to educational facilities like Northfield Mount Hermon, Stoneleigh Burnham, and Deerfield Academy.

“One of our last large jobs was the VESH veterinary clinic in West Springfield,” Robyn added. “That was a good-sized project, and we hope to become a repeat customer and able to do more work for them.”

That job is one example of how Mowry & Schmidt continues to expand its footprint outside of Franklin County.

Mowry & Schmidt’s work for VESH in West Springfield

Mowry & Schmidt’s work for VESH in West Springfield is an example of seeking jobs outside its traditional Franklin County footprint.

“We’re not afraid of travel. We’ll go where the customer base is, and if it’s a repeat customer, I’ll go anywhere for them,” Bob said, adding quickly that other firms are doing the same these days.

“We’re competing against contractors up here that we haven’t had to in the past,” Robyn agreed. “And then, vice versa, we’re walking into places that we haven’t been all the time. It’s happening everywhere.”

And it’s happening at a time of flux and challenge in other ways in the construction world, one example being the impact of high prices, she added.

“Our costs are high, and we have to pass that on to the consumer, so consumers are facing construction costs that are substantially higher than what they maybe think they should be. So we need to explain that and get people to understand that this is the time we live in; these are the costs.”

The other major issue across the construction spectrum these days is workforce — specifically, finding enough people to do the available work, a situation that has caused many firms to turn down work they might otherwise procure.

“There’s a lot of work out there still in construction; even though the prices are high, people are paying it. There’s a demand, and that creates a demand on the workforce,” Robyn noted. “People are needed to work in all of the industries, whether they’re making the material, trucking the material, or actually installing it.”

Fortunately, Bob added, Mowry & Schmidt hasn’t seen significant employee turnover, with team members who have been on board for anywhere from five to more than 20 years.

“If they had their kitchen renovated, but then, 20 years later, they come back and ask you to do their deck and porch or their bathroom, I think that’s a big deal.”

“As for the new guys, it’s hard to find younger folks, but some of our newer folks come from other companies closing up, or a lone sole proprietor who has come to a point in their life where they don’t want to deal with the bills, the headaches, all the office crap; they just want to come in and work. That’s been a good avenue for us to find people to come in and work for us. We also have people who’ve retired from other industries, other types of work; they’ve put their 20-plus years in, and they’ve still got a lot to offer.”

Often, they’re offering those services to clients that have been loyal to Mowry & Schmidt for generations, Bob said. “We keep them because they know they can trust us, and we go in there and do their work, and we’re fair.”

More challenging, he added, is developing trust with new clients, but the firm can lean on its reputation over 77 years in business, as well as its recent performance.

“When the same individuals come back time after time to do projects in their house, I think that speaks volumes,” Robyn said. “If they had their kitchen renovated, but then, 20 years later, they come back and ask you to do their deck and porch or their bathroom, I think that’s a big deal.”

The key is honesty and open communication, Bob added. “Don’t get me wrong; in 77 years, we’ve made mistakes. It’s how you finish it out and correct those mistakes … it’s how you take care of them and make sure everything’s squared away at the end.”

The company was founded in Greenfield in 1947

The company was founded in Greenfield in 1947 and is still headquartered in the city today.

Valuing transparency extends to the firm’s expectations for its subcontractors, Robyn said.

“Our crew doesn’t do everything on a project. We do X amount of the work, but we have to rely on subcontractors, or we would not exist. And being able to find trustworthy, transparent subcontractors is something we’ve worked really hard at achieving. And we maintain those relationships as long as we possibly can. We know that’s an important part of being a general contractor because you have to rely on these people.”

 

Looking to the Future

Bob told BusinessWest he has twins — a son and daughter — who both work at the firm, but he doesn’t know whether they’ll eventually want to become part of a fourth generation of family ownership — and, besides, he and Robyn have a long way to go in that role.

“I’m still pretty young, and I can’t imagine doing anything else. So we’ll be doing it for a while,” he said. “Hopefully another generation comes along, which wouldn’t break my heart if it did. I’m a firm believer that this is a good place, and there’s always going to be a need for general contracting and construction. You just have to run it the right way and keep moving forward; that’s the key.”

Whether it’s construction and renovation, design-build projects, construction management, or even small repairs, there’s still plenty of work in Franklin County and beyond, he added.

“It feels great when you finish a veterinary clinic, but you also feel great when you know that you’ve helped somebody stay in their home by renovating their bathroom or putting up a ramp.”

“Those are good customers. Your local banks, your YMCAs — they’re strong, they’re local, and they’re good repeat business. You could have some people on the board at the YMCA, where you’re working, and next thing you know, you’re working at their house. Getting an opportunity to work for all these people and customers, it’s very rewarding.”

Robyn noted that the city of Greenfield will often call Mowry & Schmidt to tackle an urgent job for the Fire Department or Board of Health. “Unfortunately, things happen, and they need somebody local they can call at a moment’s notice, that can put together a crew and send them out.”

It’s a nimble trait, and an earned one, Bob said.

“That’s having a quality crew. You’ve got to have guys that aren’t looking at you cross-eyed when you take them out of finishing somebody’s beautiful kitchen and say, ‘come with me; we have to go board up a house.’”

Another niche has been helping elders in their homes, figuring out ways to keep them aging in place, Robyn added.

“The other thing is just being there when someone who we’ve worked for for 30 years needs a cabinet door adjusted, and they call, and we do it,” she added. “We’ll send somebody over there as soon as we can to get it done.

“I think if we weren’t able to adjust so quickly and do those small things, that would be tough for us because it makes you feel good about what you do. It feels great when you finish a veterinary clinic, but you also feel great when you know that you’ve helped somebody stay in their home by renovating their bathroom or putting up a ramp.”

It’s just one more way Mowry & Schmidt isn’t just staying busy — it’s making an impact, one customer at a time.

Falcon Landing Wins Approvals for Warehouse, Distribution Facility

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Falcon Landing will be located just north of Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport.
Construction

Taking Flight

Falcon Landing will be located just north of Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport.

Falcon Landing will be located just north of Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport.

In a location that once thrived as part of a computer manufacturing facility for Digital Equipment Corp., a joint-venture development team of Winstanley Enterprises LLC and NorthPoint Development is moving forward with approved plans to build a general warehouse and distribution facility. The recently obtained state and local approvals for the sought-after location come as the warehouse and distribution sector continues to thrive.

Falcon Landing is an approved 524,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art general distribution facility that will be constructed for one or two tenants adjacent to Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport on Falcon Drive in Westfield. The 126-acre parcel will include 362 parking spaces to accommodate two employee shifts and 322 tractor-trailer spaces. The site boasts easy accessibility and is located about two and a half miles from Mass Pike exit 41.

Last August, the joint-venture development team focused its multi-disciplinary group of planners, engineers, and architects on developing a scaled-down distribution facility at this location. After they listened to neighborhood concerns, the site plan incorporated a meticulously designed robust stormwater-management plan and preservation of mature trees for buffering, and also eliminated any connections to North Road. The project received state approval in October and local approval in February.

“Our project team worked very hard to put forward a sensible plan that is rooted in community input, prioritizes protection of sensitive resources, and delivers economic-development benefits to Westfield,” said Adam Winstanley, principal of Winstanley Enterprises. “We are excited to move the project forward.”

Marketing efforts have ramped up to secure a suitable tenant; however, the warehouse will be built on spec if a tenant is not secured prior to construction. With the needed approvals in hand, the team will continue to coordinate closely on finalizing both building-design elements and traffic-mitigation improvements.

“Falcon Landing is an ideal location for companies looking to grow their business at a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility that offers easy accessibility from the Mass Pike,” said Andrew Villari, Development manager for NorthPoint Development. “We are proud to be a part of this project and excited about the future in Westfield.”

“Our project team worked very hard to put forward a sensible plan that is rooted in community input, prioritizes protection of sensitive resources, and delivers economic-development benefits to Westfield.”

Winstanley Enterprises, a family-owned and operated commercial development company, has been a property owner in Westfield since 2018, when it purchased 1111 Southampton Road.

Winstanley owns and operates 12.5 million square feet of commercial real estate and is one of the largest local landlords of commercial properties in New England. The company believes its local presence and commitment to listening to the community is bolstered by the national experience of NorthPoint Development.

Established in 2012, NorthPoint is a privately held real-estate operating company specializing in developing, acquiring, leasing, and managing class-A industrial and multi-family properties. It currently has a 150.2-million-square-foot industrial portfolio, about 5,400 multi-family units developed and managed, and $19.5 billion in assets under management.

The project team supporting NorthPoint Development and Winstanley Enterprises on Falcon Landing includes Epsilon Associates, VHB, Good Earth Advisors, and Watkins Strategies.

Area Contractors Hoping for a Strong 2024

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Wonderlyn Murphy (standing, center) with her leadership team at City Enterprise.
Construction Special Coverage

Building on Momentum

Wonderlyn Murphy (standing, center) with her leadership team at City Enterprise.

Wonderlyn Murphy (standing, center) with her leadership team at City Enterprise.

 

 

To Wonderlyn Murphy, a successful construction project can be defined in different ways. And one of those is how gratifying it is.

Take the new digital marquee sign at the MassMutual Center, which displays upcoming events, weather, and other information. Springfield-based City Enterprise built the structure that holds the digital display in place and ran the electrical work. The stone exterior in that area of the building had to be removed, reconfigured, and reinstalled after significant steel reinforcement was added to the wall structure to support the 40-by-25-foot display.

“That’s a brand-new sign, and it’s a big deal for Springfield and a big deal for us. We wanted that contract because of everything that Springfield is doing,” said Murphy, City Enterprise president, noting other developments happening in the downtown area, like the transformation of the former Court Square Hotel into housing. “To be part of what’s happening in Springfield, for me, is important.”

Another gratifying project is City Enterprise’s work on Martin Luther King Jr. Community Presbyerian Church, which was set ablaze by an arsonist in December 2021.

“We’re currently working on rebuilding that, to make sure that they have services again,” Murphy told BusinessWest. “It’s a very significant project for us, being a local contractor, and that being an African-American church with all its history. It’s an important project for us, very close to home.”

In terms of sheer volume of work, Murphy said, “it’s been challenging finding the right opportunities for us to bid. We have found them — we have an excellent estimating department that fishes out all these opportunities to bid. But it’s slim pickings out there.”

That said, she added, “it’s cyclical. As the summer comes along, we’ll find more opportunities that fit within our wheelhouse.”

City Enterprise has been involved in an array of intriguing projects, though, from laboratory renovations at UMass Lowell and two projects at UMass Amherst’s Mullins Center — an HVAC system overhaul and chiller replacement — to work at the Moakley federal courthouse in Boston and a complete rebuild of a security entryway for the Air National Guard at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport.

J.L. Raymaakers & Sons has been busy on a project at Gardner Municipal Airport.

J.L. Raymaakers & Sons has been busy on a project at Gardner Municipal Airport.

“That’s a very significant project,” Murphy said of the latter. “We’ll take on any type of challenge.”

Dan Jodice has a similar take on being involved in a variety of projects. As a co-owner of PDS Engineering & Construction in Bloomfield, Conn., he’s seen the 60-year-old firm specialize in a widening list of sectors, including automotive, aviation, education, healthcare, retail, public safety, and more.

“Self-storage facilities are popular now, and car washes and car dealerships have been very popular with our clients over the past three years,” he said. “We can also do schools; we’re renovating a $40 million school in Hartford right now. Usually we do one school at a time, so we’ll do a school job, and when that ends, we’ll start on another one. We’ve also done a handful of churches over the years, and aerospace and aviation are pretty popular.

“We probably could be busier, but we’re happier with what we have now,” Jodice went on. “I’d say 60% of our work is repeat clients, and the other 40% is just getting out there and finding every lead possible.”

 

Challenge and Opportunity

John Raymaakers Jr. and Josh Raymaakers, directors at J.L. Raymaakers & Sons in Westfield, are plenty optimistic about how business is going, noting that all this year’s projects had been booked by last June.

The firm specializes in excavation, site work, and construction projects of all kinds, including airport runways and taxiways, pump stations, and, most recently, the foundation technique known as sheet shoring. Recent jobs include multiple bridge projects, Gardner Municipal Airport, a pump station in Great Barrington, and a Dunkin’ Donuts in Easthampton. “I’d say it’s a good mix right now,” Josh said.

“These are jobs funded through federal money and have been trickling into our local economy, which is helping us out and giving work for our employees.”

That said, they’ve dealt — like every other firm — with the key challenges of the past several years in construction: higher costs, supply-chain delays, and workforce shortages.

“They’ve been challenges, every one of them,” Josh said. “The pump stations require a lot of electrical components, and those have been an issue.”

Jodice agreed. “The biggest supply-chain issue is for electrical switchgear. If you order that now, it seems like it’s a year out, for some reason. Since COVID, that has not rebounded at all. Everything else is back to normal. Prices aren’t the same — I wish the prices were lower — but the supply chain is better. Ordering a metal building during COVID took six months. Today, it’s three months or faster.”

As for workforce, “we do pretty well,” Josh Raymaakers Jr. said. “Obviously, we would like more, but it’s a difficult challenge to find good people who have experience in our field.”

John recognizes the challenges across the industry as retirees are outpacing new blood, but as someone who grew up around the family business, he said construction is a stable and satisfying career — for those willing to put in the work.

entryway for the Air National Guard in Westfield

One current job at City Enterprise is rebuilding a security entryway for the Air National Guard in Westfield.

“You can’t be scared to get your hands dirty at first. The problem is, everyone wants to start at the top. But you have to work in the field and get your hands dirty. You have to learn. That’s what our parents made us do,” he explained. “That knowledge from being in the field is crucial, and that’s the hardest thing we’ve got to teach people. We have a project manager and bidder who started as a laborer, then became an operator, then a foreman, and now he’s a project manager. And his experience has been crucial for us.”

Challenges aside, “we’re very busy, and it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down, even with the private-sector work,” John continued, noting that about 75% of Raymaakers jobs are public, and 25% private.”

A great deal of the public work is being driven by a recognition that much infrastructure in Massachusetts is in need of repair, and federal money has been flowing in to help address those needs.

“Those are good opportunities,” he told BusinessWest. “These are jobs funded through federal money and have been trickling into our local economy, which is helping us out and giving work for our employees.”

Jodice said PDS doesn’t do as much public bidding as it does private, bidding maybe six public-sector jobs a year. “We try to stay busy in the private market. Public, you’re bidding against 10 to 15 GCs, and private, it’s maybe five, so there’s a better chance you get the project. And if it’s private, you can land a job more by building on a relationship with the owner and having them select you rather than the low number getting the bid.”

PDS got started six decades ago erecting pre-engineered steel buildings, and still does that work today, along with a much wider variety of projects ranging from commercial and industrial buildings to small fit-outs and large college projects — typically about $60 million worth of work each year across Connecticut, Western Mass., and Rhode Island. It also touts its expertise in the design-build realm.

“The convenient thing is we do our own design in-house; we can design and build rather than have the client go to an architect and have several different parties involved. The process is quicker because we’re doing everything here.”

 

From the Ground Up

Several years ago, J.L. Raymaakers & Sons launched a second business called ROAR (Raymaakers Onsite Aggregate Recycling), through which it collected and resold the dirt it dug up from construction jobs. That enterprise, which then expanded into bark mulch, processed gravel, and all kinds of rock, now employs four people full-time.

Because both businesses have been growing, the family bought land on Progress Avenue in Westfield and is building a new, 4,000-square-foot office space, which will be followed next year by a 7,000-square-foot maintenance garage. That property will be the new home of J.L. Raymaakers & Sons, while the current headquarters on East Mountain Road will exclusively house the ROAR operation.

“ROAR started strong, and it complements our other company,” John Raymaakers Jr. said. “We’re able to take the topsoil materials off of our jobs and then recycle them and sell them. That’s been a huge aspect of our business.”

City Enterprise has seen growth over the years as well, and now touts “the best team in the industry,” Murphy said.

“I have core values here, and I have people working with me that are really aligned with those,” she added. “Each department has their expertise, and we have a vision, and we’re working to get things done.”

Project Will Create 88 Units of Affordable Housing for Older Adults

By Contributor
Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia
Construction

A Long-awaited Transformation

Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia

Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia says the mill-conversion project will impact the city for many years to come.

 

On Nov. 20, Holyoke city officials and legislative leaders joined WinnDevelopment executives and Massachusetts housing lenders to break ground on a $55.3 million adaptive-reuse project at a long-vacant, historic mill complex that will be transformed into 88 affordable apartment homes for seniors ages 55 and older.

The redevelopment at the Appleton Mill property in downtown Holyoke will create new, loft-style apartments in three interconnected, 111-year-old industrial buildings that were once home to Farr Alpaca Co. and have been vacant for decades. In addition, WinnDevelopment will construct a new community building and connect it to the residential space via a closed skybridge spanning nearby railroad tracks.

“We’re excited to get to work on preserving this important feature of Holyoke’s proud industrial legacy and transform it into much-need housing for seniors who want to stay in the community they love,” WinnDevelopment President and Managing Partner Larry Curtis said. “This project is the first part of a two-phase redevelopment effort that will revitalize this historic mill complex and provide an economic boost to Holyoke’s downtown.”

All 88 apartments will be reserved for low- and moderate-income seniors, with 12 units reserved for households below 30% of area median income (AMI), 63 for those below 60% of AMI, and 13 for households below 80% of AMI. Eight of the units will be available to eligible households through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s project-based voucher program, and five units will be set aside for Massachusetts Department of Mental Health clients through the Facilities Consolidation Fund.

“This project represents our commitment to history, preservation, and housing. It also represents our commitment to senior living, affordability, compassion, and care,” Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia said. “The renovation of the former 111-year-old Alpaca Mill building to achieve these commitments is another Holyoke thing we do. I am excited to witness this unfold at this time in our city’s history and even more excited to see the impact it will have for many years to come.”

The project was made possible with significant federal, state, local, and private financing. Bank of America is serving as the project construction lender and as the investor in the project’s state and federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits, authorized by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), and state and federal Historic Tax Credits, awarded by the Massachusetts Historic Commission and the U.S. National Park Service.

“We’re pleased to help finance much-needed affordable housing for seniors in Holyoke,” said Mary Thompson, senior vice president of Community Development Banking at Bank of America. “We applaud Winn for their sustainable design that incorporates modern, energy-efficient heating, cooling, and appliances, while preserving the historic character of the Farr Alpaca Company complex.”

MassHousing provided tax-exempt bonds for the project financing, while the EOHLC provided soft financing, along with its partners, the Community Economic Development Assistance Corp. and the MassHousing Affordable Housing Trust.

The property’s current condition is a stark contrast to what it will look like in the future, according to this rendering.

The property’s current condition is a stark contrast to what it will look like in the future, according to this rendering.

“This decades-long-vacant and blighted mill property in the heart of Holyoke will be transformed into new, vibrant housing for older residents who will be able to live affordably and comfortably in downtown Holyoke,” MassHousing CEO Chrystal Kornegay said. “WinnCompanies has the experience and expertise to make this abandoned eyesore into a new affordable-housing community that will serve city residents for many years to come. The city of Holyoke has provided strong support, and MassHousing is pleased to be among the many public and private partners working closely together to complete this important project.”

Enterprise Bank, a locally owned and managed full-service commercial bank based in Lowell, played a key role in the redevelopment through the direct purchase of the bonds and the provision of bridge financing.

“We are pleased to have been able to partner with WinnDevelopment, a respected, award-winning property manager and creator of high-quality and exceptionally managed affordable housing, on this transformative project,” Enterprise Bank CEO Jack Clancy said. “We continue to remain committed to supporting affordable-housing initiatives throughout our footprint.”

The Holyoke Redevelopment Authority (HRA) provided a ground lease for the mill structure for a discounted value and provided additional funds for structural stabilization of the mill complex. Additional local partners include the city of Holyoke and local nonprofit OneHolyoke, which provided critical gap financing through local ARPA and CDBG funds. BlueHub Capital served as lender on the state credit loans.

“The HRA is proud of the partnership with WinnDevelopment and excited to see this project come to fruition,” said Aaron Vega, Holyoke’s director of Planning and Economic Development. “The whole team in our office worked on this project, and we believe in its transformative impact for our downtown and in addressing the housing needs of our community.”

Once the largest alpaca wool mill in the world, the 168,000-square-foot, brick mill complex features nine buildings on six acres and is one of Holyoke’s most prominent historic properties. After the Farr Alpaca Co. ceased production in the early 1940s, the complex declined and has been largely vacant since the 1970s, with deteriorating conditions hindering efforts to revitalize the area.

Located across the street from a state park dedicated to showcasing Holyoke’s industrial and cultural heritage, the site has been a priority for redevelopment since the city took title to the property a decade ago.

WinnDevelopment’s work is focused on an 86,000-square-foot section of the complex that includes three structures: Building 4, erected in 1880 and the oldest on the site; Building 5, a storage, washing, and sorting facility erected in 1905; and Building 6, also built in 1905 and the largest structure on the property.

Designed to meet the sustainability criteria of Enterprise Green Communities, the new apartment community will be completely fossil-fuel-free and will feature LED lighting; Energy Star appliances; low-flow, water-conserving plumbing fixtures; and premium roof insulation.

Resident amenity spaces will include on-site management offices, a fitness center, a resident lounge, an outdoor recreation area along the adjacent canal, laundry facilities, and 109 parking spaces.

Scheduled for completion in the spring of 2025, the project is being led by WinnDevelopment Senior Project Director Matt Robayna, with support from Senior Project Director Lauren Canepari and Assistant Project Director Hagop Toghramadjian.

Keith Construction of Canton is serving as general contractor for the construction effort, with the Architectural Team of Chelsea serving as architect. VHB is providing civil engineering and permitting services through its office in Springfield. Robinson+Cole of Boston served as transaction counsel.

Construction Firms Acclimate to a Changing Landscape

By Contributor
Construction Special Coverage

Building Momentum

By Emily Thurlow

With the federal COVID-19 public-health declaration coming to an end this past May, the once-global pandemic may seem all but a distant memory. For many businesses, however, its impact certainly hasn’t vanished from sight.

Challenges in obtaining materials and equipment continue to vex general contractors in the construction industry in Western Mass. and across the nation. This extended period of uncertainty — in both duration and scope — has left many feeling uncertain about the future beyond 2023, but there are positive signs, too.

Rising building costs and higher interest rates have been of particular concern to Kevin Perrier, president and CEO of Five Star Building Corp. After work in the Easthampton company’s largest sector — aviation — was essentially grounded for the past two years, Perrier says he was expecting business to be on the slower side.

But to his pleasant surprise, he was wrong. Quite wrong.

“We really saw the aviation sector rebound this year. It makes up for essentially two years of no growth and no construction,” he said. “Honestly, this was one of our busiest years I can remember.”

And Five Star isn’t alone. In fact, despite ongoing resource constraints, construction firms like Laplante Construction Inc. in East Longmeadow and Sweitzer Construction LLC in Monson are reporting an increase in the volume of their work, while Fontaine Bros. Inc. in Springfield calls 2023 the firm’s best-ever year for revenue.

“We really saw the aviation sector rebound this year. It makes up for essentially two years of no growth and no construction. Honestly, this was one of our busiest years I can remember.”

“This year has been good. It’s been steady,” said David Fontaine Jr., CEO of Fontaine Bros. “I think our efforts to work really hard to deliver our projects on time and on budget have really strengthened our relationships with our clients because they’ve seen that we’re still getting things done, successfully, no matter how difficult the climate is.”

Reflecting back on those unprecedented times, BusinessWest spoke with several companies in the region who shared how they have been constantly rolling with the punches by being as strategic as possible when planning out projects and seeking alternatives in design, materials, or vendors when applicable, and, above all, maintaining the safety of everyone involved.

 

Gaining Altitude

Within two weeks of the national shutdowns to stop the spread of COVID-19 in March 2020, Perrier estimates that Five Star lost “millions upon millions of dollars worth of work.” Initially, projects were put on a temporary hold, but shortly thereafter, the majority of those projects were canceled, he said.

Laplante Construction recently completed this new home build in East Longmeadow.

Laplante Construction recently completed this new home build in East Longmeadow.

This year, the company, which has been working up and down the East Coast in the aviation sector for the past 13 years, has more than made up for that lost time working with clients like Delta Air Lines and HMSHost International, a U.S. highway and airport food and beverage service company that is a subsidiary of the Italian company Autogrill SpA.

Some of the projects Five Star has completed include the new Gachi Sushi House in Terminal C at Boston Logan International Airport, as well as a Hudson store, offering food, beverages, and travel amenities, in the Terminal B/C connector, and a Hudson Nonstop at Charleston International Airport in South Carolina.

More recent projects underway at Logan include a new hangar roof for Delta Air Lines, some infrastructure work in the lower levels of the airport, and building the new Fox & Flight Restaurant in Terminal A for travel retailer and restaurateur Paradies Lagardère. Perrier said the new restaurant is slated to be the largest restaurant at the airport.

“I think our efforts to work really hard to deliver our projects on time and on budget have really strengthened our relationships with our clients because they’ve seen that we’re still getting things done, successfully, no matter how difficult the climate is.”

“At any given time, we usually have six to 12 projects going in the aviation sector, primarily at Logan,” he said. “The new Terminal E expansion at Logan kept us very busy; it generated quite a bit of work for us to the point that we were actually turning down bids out there. We just kind of reached our capacity for the summer because it was such a push all at once.”

Combined with several mixed-use projects, Five Star had its hands full, he added.

Meanwhile, Laplante Construction and Fontaine Bros. also share glowing reports for their work in the residential and commercial sectors, respectively.

Since expanding his business three years ago to Cape Cod, specializing in mid- to high-end home building and remodeling, Bill Laplante, president of Laplante Construction, says he hasn’t seen any kind of slowdown as a result of increased interest rates. Approximately 80% of the company’s business involves residential projects.

“So the Cape market has been very, very good. There’s an awful lot of work out there,” he said. “I just think there are fewer people out there that are relying on mortgages and are self-financing, or they’re paying cash for work to be done out there.”

For Fontaine Bros., projects that have been publicly funded have remained more consistent than privately funded or developer-driven projects.

Recently, the company completed the three-story DeBerry-Swan Elementary School project on Union Street in Springfield, which opened in the fall. Fontaine is also currently working on school-building projects in Westfield, Worcester, Tyngsboro, Walpole, Fitchburg, and East Brookfield, as well as the UMass Amherst campus.

Pat Sweitzer, operations manager of Sweitzer Construction, also described 2023 as an especially good year. She said that she and her husband, Craig Sweitzer, who co-own and operate the company, attribute this year’s successes to their employees and partners.

Sweitzer Construction has developed an expertise in dental-office construction

Sweitzer Construction has developed an expertise in dental-office construction, including this project for Alliance Dental Care in East Longmeadow.

Pat also offered praise to her sons, Brian and Michael Sweitzer, as both have taken on leadership roles as the firm is in the process of transitioning into a second-generation company.

On the smaller end of projects, the company repaired some buildings at Smith College’s campus and built a new dental office at 265 Benton Dr. in East Longmeadow. One of the larger projects on the company’s docket this year was the conversion of a 19th-century mill building in Northampton into Cambium Analytica’s safety-compliance lab for cannabis products. The new sterile testing lab, which hasn’t opened yet, is located at 320 Riverside Dr., at the site of the former Northampton Cutlery Co.

“Taking a former very old factory building and turning it into a sterile testing lab … the outcome is just remarkable,” Sweitzer said.

Mark Sullivan, president and executive project manager for D.A. Sullivan & Sons Inc., called 2023 the Northampton company’s “first normal year” in several years, adding that things started to stabilize, in a post-COVID sense, during the second half of 2022, and that momentum has carried through 2023.

 

Strength Amid Challenges

While supply-chain issues have dramatically improved across the board since the middle of the pandemic, almost every contractor BusinessWest spoke to has highlighted challenges with electrical components and equipment like meter sockets, switch gears, generators, and transformers. The demand for transformers has been exacerbated by the lack of available domestic manufacturers to meet the increased need.

“Some of those electrical items still have ridiculously long lead times,” Laplante said. “We built a house — literally finished the house a year and a half ago — and there was supposed to be a ground-mounted transformer for the electric service to the house, and they didn’t have them.”

While waiting for the transformer to come in, he said the electric company has supplied the customer with temporary power. “That transformer has been on back order for a year and a half, and we probably won’t see it for another year. When it comes in, we’ll swap it out.”

For the most part, customers have remained understanding, he added. Other materials that continue to be difficult to source in a timely manner include mechanical equipment, like rooftop units for healing and cooling equipment.

“It seems like anything that has a manufacturing process that has a lot of little pieces and parts that are coming from all over continues to be difficult,” Fontaine said. “And for things like, say, a chiller or a piece of switchgear, they won’t start the manufacturing process until they have every little piece or part of what they need at the facility where they put it together.”

Highlighting a similar concern, Sweitzer said her company has made efforts to order products ahead of time. On Nov. 28, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for one of its projects, Embr Springfield, a $2 million dispensary on Boston Road. At nearly the same time, Sweitzer Construction was ordering the rooftop heating and cooling unit.

“We’re just digging the foundation now, and we already ordered the rooftop unit because it will take that long for it to come in,” she said. “The long lead times are a challenge.”

Sullivan noted that, because lead times for electrical components and mechanical equipment are still driving the overall work schedule for D.A. Sullivan & Sons, the firm’s focus has been on pre-construction services and identifying items they feel may trip up their plans.

Another niche facing long lead times is luxury appliance brands like Wolf and Sub-Zero, according to Laplante. Under current lead times, both brands are averaging roughly 12 months to arrive once ordered. Similar to the transformer problem, Laplante said both manufacturers are providing small, temporary refrigerators until the one that was ordered arrives.

“A lot of the appliance companies and the manufacturers are doing the best they can to provide a temporary fix until the final product is delivered,” he said.

 

View to the Future

As the end of the year beckons, many of the companies BusinessWest spoke to are feeling cautiously optimistic about 2024.

Sweitzer has a number of projects on the books, including a few with new partnerships with other contractors like Kleeberg Sheet Metal Inc. in Ludlow.

Sullivan said his firm is wrapping up some municipal work and starting some new projects at libraries, fire stations, and safety complexes, and even has a few projects at local universities and colleges in the queue for next year.

“Next year and beyond, we have the biggest backlog we’ve had in over 10 years,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fontaine Bros. has secured a healthy amount of public-education work for next year and is positioning itself to be ready for other projects on the horizon.

“I think, generally speaking, the industry is always changing. It’s always exciting,” Fontaine said. “It’s been a challenging couple of years, for sure, but it’s something new and exciting to wake up to every day, and we’re thankful that we’ve continued to be able to be successful through it. So hopefully, 2024 and on will get easier, but whatever happens, we’ll be ready to tackle it.”

Though the residential trend of smaller luxury homes looks to continue, Laplante said there are also a number of very large-scale luxury home builds on the books.

“We’ve seen people downsize and go from a large, two-story home to a high-end, smaller ranch with very, very nice amenities on one-floor living, but interestingly enough, we also have some very large homes in the pipeline for next year,” he said. “This is particularly interesting because, generally speaking, over the last five years, there’s been a trend to reduce the overall size of the homes that are being built to single-story living.”

As for Five Star, Perrier says the new year still holds a lot of question marks for him as the aviation sector tends to be a little more unpredictable. Though there are infrastructure and retail build-out projects on the books, higher fuel costs and tightening budgets can often bump jobs at the last second, he explained.

“What tomorrow brings, I don’t know. I guess I’m still going in with the same hesitation I had for 2023,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll be pleasantly surprised again.”

GCC Grant Aims to Drive Equitable Clean-energy Workforce Development

By Contributor
GCC campus, as a whole, is innovative and entrepreneurial
Construction

Greener Pastures

 

Greenfield Community College (GCC) will develop a new HVAC training program that’s focused on improving equity in the green workforce thanks to a grant from the Healey-Driscoll administration.

GCC’s Workforce Development division is developing the HVAC training program with funding from an $18 million grant designed to drive equitable clean-energy workforce development. The awards are being provided by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), a state agency dedicated to accelerating the growth of the clean-energy sector to meet the Commonwealth’s clean-energy, climate, and economic-development goals.

“We’re thrilled to partner with MassCEC to bring this high-demand workforce-training program to Greenfield,” said Kristin Cole, vice president of Workforce Development at GCC. “This grant award, rooted in equity, will allow GCC to train unemployed and underemployed individuals for a family-sustaining career in a growing industry. HVAC technicians will become increasingly more in-demand over the next few years to help meet the state’s climate targets for 2030 and 2050.”

michelle Schutt

Michelle Schutt

“Clean-energy jobs are good for the environment and good for family incomes. This is a win-win situation for GCC and our region.”

GCC is receiving $1.1 million to develop and deliver a HVAC training program that includes paid on-the-job training with employers. Trainees will be provided technical skills and career-readiness training, as well as professional certifications, comprehensive student support, and a two-month paid internship.

These efforts aim to provide career-ready individuals for an industry that will need to increase the number of professionals by 17% between now and 2030, according to a recently released needs assessment for the Massachusetts clean-energy workforce.

“Clean-energy jobs are good for the environment and good for family incomes. This is a win-win situation for GCC and our region,” GCC President Michelle Schutt said.

The college and its partners at MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center will specifically focus recruitment efforts on historically underrepresented individuals.

“Building and expanding our workforce is a foundational element of the clean-energy transition,” MassCEC CEO Jennifer Daloisio said. “The evolution of MassCEC’s programming in workforce development shows our commitment to inclusive and intentional growth that delivers good-paying jobs to families and clean energy to residents across the Commonwealth. We are grateful for the Healey-Driscoll administration’s continued support, and we look forward to seeing these organizations carry out their promising work.”

Sue Surner, CEO of Surner Heating Co. and a GCC employer partner, added that “this program will be a critical resource to prepare students for an excellent career path in the HVAC industry. We are excited to not only support GCC’s efforts to design a valuable training program with industry-recognized credentials as outcomes, but also to partner with GCC to provide paid internships to the participants coming out of this extensive training program.

“This grant will allow GCC to add 45 newly qualified individuals to our regional HVAC workforce pipeline,” she added, “and with the work ahead of us to move residents across the state off of fossil fuels and into cleaner energy, this couldn’t come at a better time.”

Marois Construction Builds on a Strong Foundation

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Construction Special Coverage

Setting Their Sites

Marois Construction

Marois Construction recently converted this single-family farmhouse built around 1860 into a three-story, 30-unit housing complex (top).

 

Construction is a lot like the mail. Projects have to be delivered on time, regardless of the weather.

And to say it’s been a rainy year is an undertstatement.

“Weather is a common occurrence in the construction industry. And, depending on what we have going on at any particular time, we typically have to continue operations, as long as it’s not a total washout,” said Carl Mercieri, vice president of Marois Construction in South Hadley.

On one day of downpours in mid-September, he recalled, “our crews were in the field. They were tying rebar for footings for a project they were doing for the Chicopee Water Department. They braved the weather and set up some collapsible canopies.

“Our project schedules don’t take weather into consideration. So we’ve got to complete them,” Mercieri added. “And not only that, but the crews doing that job need to move on to another job. So we do the best we can with what we got to work with. And, you know, I’ve been doing this for over 40 years, and the weather is not changing here in New England.”

But plenty else has changed in construction over the past 50 years, and Marois Construction — founded by company President Joe Marois in 1972 — celebrated that half-century milestone last year. Those changes run the gamut from new technology to cutting-edge materials to modern priorities in the building world, especially around green, energy-efficient building.

Through all of it, Marois has steadily built a solid reputation, and its current workload reflects that.

“Backing up a year, 2022 was a stellar year, and in 2023, we got off to the same start,” Mercieri said “Every year is a little bit different, though. This year has been a bit quirky. We’ve had a lot on our books, but for one reason or another, we’ve had some projects that got delayed.

“And then, of course, summer is our busy season, with all the college and school work. So we were working six days a week. Typically, when September rolls around, we start to slow down, and things get back to normal,” he went on. “But when those projects that actually got started got delayed, they all came to life in September. So we’re not seeing any slowdown here, looking at the third quarter and toward the end of the year. So it looks like it’s going to be another really good year for us.”

 

Broad Range of Expertise

Marois performs both public and private work, both new construction and renovations, across a range of sectors, including commercial, industrial, and educational projects, Mercieri said.

“Right now we’re doing a branch bank … we’ve got a couple of schools that we’re doing, kitchen renovations in schools. We’re also building a police department for one of the local municipalities.”

Carl Mercieri

Carl Mercieri

“I’d say probably 70% of the guys in the workforce are closer to retirement age than not. So it’s extremely important that we get some of the younger people in.”

This diversity can be a positive in an uncertain economy.

“With all the ARPA money out there, there’s a lot of school work going in the public sector,” he added. “And we’re seeing a trend toward the private schools and charter schools. We’ve got one that we’re working on right now out in Stockbridge.”

In the post-pandemic world, contractors have been faced with a number of challenges all at once, from the impact of inflation to supply shortages. Mercieri said those trends are starting to subside, but not as quickly as most would like.

“We continue to see issues. There seems to be longer lead times on products,” he noted, citing doors and windows as examples. “A few years ago, before COVID, we could call in an order in the morning for hollow metal door frames and have them by in the afternoon. Now, we’re seeing a lead time of several weeks, which really impacts the schedule.

“For a while there, lumber was scarce, but lumber seems to have rebounded,” he added. “Prices have come down somewhat, but they really didn’t get back to where they were.”

And when supplies and equipment are difficult to procure or beset by delays, “it keeps the project going. You can’t close it out, even though it’s substantially complete. So one of the things that we deal with is that, going into a project, you can anticipate these delays, but you really can’t put a finger on how long the delays are going to be; it really depends on the manufacturer’s production line and what they’re doing.”

In one case this year, involving a generator, he was given a delivery date of April, and a week or two before it was supposed to ship, the date was pushed to June, then it was pushed again to August.

“We ended up getting it the first or second week of September,” he went on. “So you have no control over that, and it’s an unfortunate situation. And we don’t know where the problem lies; we don’t know if it’s a matter of materials on the manufacturer’s end or labor or a combination of both. But it has a pretty big impact on the construction industry, for sure.”

So has a persistent workforce shortage, one that has affected many industries lately. “It’s tough, but that’s been a trending issue over the years; I don’t think that’s anything new in this industry,” Mercieri said.

“Ninety percent of it is showing up every day; 10% is paying attention and learning.”

“So … we’ve adapted,” he went on. “We run our crews a bit leaner, meaning when we set up a job, rather than having a large crew over there, we’ll set up a smaller core crew at each job. And then, as a task comes up, we’ll move people around to the job and build up the crew, get them in, get them out, and then move them on to another job.”

The leadership team at Marois is certainly not alone in noting the need for more young talent in the pipeline.

“I go to these job sites, and I see our own crew, or I see our subcontractors, and … some of these guys I’ve known for 35 years,” he told BusinessWest. “I’d say probably 70% of the guys in the workforce are closer to retirement age than not. So it’s extremely important that we get some of the younger people in.”

He said the industry has been hurt over the past couple decades by a prevalent message that young people need to go to college to be successful. In fact, Massachusetts ranks among the top states in sending high-school graduates to college. At the same time, industrial-arts programs have been cut from public-school curricula, due to liability, budget cuts, or other factors, Mercieri noted.

But there is a pitch to be made, at a time when families are growing more concerned with crushing debt coming out of college, that careers in construction are attainable, with a clear path to growth, without much, if any, debt.

“Ninety percent of it is showing up every day; 10% is paying attention and learning,” he said, citing the example of someone who wants to specialize in carpentry but might not have the skills for a specific niche right off the bat. “There are multiple facets in carpentry. And you may be better at one or the other. Maybe you’re good at rough carpentry, and maybe you’re not as good at finished carpentry. But over time, you’re going to be very experienced — and you’ll probably be good at both.”

 

From the Ground Up

Mercieri knows what he’s talking about; he fell into construction at a young age, doing work for a friend’s father who owned a construction business.

“Basically, I was the young kid, and I got to carry all the tools for the tradespeople. I learned the electrical trade, plumbing, carpentry. I got my hands and feet wet being a helper. Then, over the years, it kind of grew on me, and the rest is history.”

He’s been in the field long enough to experience the transition from bid requests via phone calls and snail mail to digital platforms.

“And you think about the field now. Back then, there were no cell phones; there were no iPads. If something came up, a guy would run to a phone booth, or we’d set up landlines with a trailer, and they’d be calling the office. Now our guys in the field have iPads; as soon as we receive something here in the office, it goes right upstream, and they receive it out in the field.”

It’s just one of many changes Mercieri has seen over his decades in construction. And with one more year almost in the books, he’s feeling optimistic about 2024.

“We’ve got a fair amount on the books,” he told BusinessWest. “Some of the jobs that we’re doing now will run into 2024. The bidding market seems very strong. So we think we’re going to do pretty well.”

Tight Labor Conditions See Construction Workers Return to Work

By Contributor
Construction

Back on the Job

The construction industry added 19,000 jobs in July even as the sector’s unemployment rate increased, according to an analysis of new government data by Associated General Contractors of America. Officials with the association noted that tight labor conditions are bringing more previously employed construction workers back into the job market as firms continue to boost pay levels.

“The construction industry continues to add workers at a steady clip as demand for many types of construction remains strong,” said Stephen Sandherr, the association’s CEO. “Firms are boosting pay to cope with tight labor-market conditions, which is bringing more former workers back into the job market.”

Construction employment in July totaled 7,971,000, seasonally adjusted, an addition of 19,000 compared to June. The sector has added 198,000 jobs, or 2.5%, during the past 12 months. Non-residential construction firms — non-residential building and specialty trade contractors along with heavy and civil-engineering construction firms — added 10,600 employees (3.1%) in July. Meanwhile, employment at residential building and specialty trade contractors grew by 7,800 (1.8%).

The unemployment rate among job seekers with construction experience rose from 3.5% in July 2022 to a still-low 3.9%. A separate government release reported there were 378,000 openings at construction firms on the last day of June, close to the record high for June set in 2022, indicating that demand for workers remains strong.

Average hourly earnings for production and non-supervisory employees in construction — covering most on-site craft workers as well as many office workers — jumped by 5.8% over the year to $34.24 per hour. Construction firms in July provided a wage ‘premium’ of just over 18% compared to the average hourly earnings for all private-sector production employees.

“The good news is that there remain private construction segments associated with rosier prospects, including manufacturing, data centers, and healthcare.”

Officials at Associated General Contractors of America noted that labor shortages in construction threaten to undermine new federal investments in infrastructure, semiconductor chip plants, and green-energy construction. They urged federal officials to boost funding for construction education and training programs, noting that the federal government currently spends five times as much encouraging students to go to college as it does on career and technical education programs.

“Unless federal officials begin to narrow the funding gap between college prep and career training, the construction industry will continue to struggle to find workers,” Sandherr said. “It is great that federal officials want to invest in construction projects; they also need to invest in construction workforce development.”

The report followed an Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of data published by the U.S. Census Bureau noting that national non-residential construction spending increased 0.1% in June. Spending is up 18% over the past 12 months. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, non-residential spending totaled $1.07 trillion in June.

Spending increased on a monthly basis in 12 of the 16 non-residential subcategories. Private non-residential spending was virtually unchanged, while public non-residential construction spending rose 0.3% in June.

“Non-residential construction spending growth downshifted over the past two months,” ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu said. “While stakeholders can expect ongoing spending growth in public non-residential construction segments as more Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act monies flow into the economy, private, developer-driven activity appears to be drying up in the context of higher costs of capital and tighter credit conditions.

“Among other things, these dynamics will translate into larger spreads in performance among contractors,” Basu added. “While those that focus on public work stand to remain busy for years to come, those who specialize in meeting the needs of developers of office buildings, hotels, and shopping centers are likely to struggle to support backlog going forward. The good news is that there remain private construction segments associated with rosier prospects, including manufacturing, data centers, and healthcare.”

JoinedForces Provides Assistance to Those Who Have Served

By
Oliver Layne
Construction Special Coverage

Bringing It Home

 

Oliver Layne

Oliver Layne stands in ‘his’ bathroom, with a walk-in shower, one of many projects undertaken by those involved in the JoinedForces program.

Oliver Layne has come to call it “my bathroom.” Others in his family simply call it “dad’s bathroom,” for reasons that will become clear.

This is the small half-bath in his home on Border Street in Springfield, the one that was renovated to include a walk-in shower, something that became a necessity for Layne, a U.S. Air Force veteran of both Gulf wars, after he was afflicted with a rare muscle disease whereby his immune system attacks his muscles. This disorder made lifting his leg to get into a bathtub difficult, if not impossible.

“My day starts off with my cane, by the middle of the day I’m in my walker, and by the evening I’m in my wheelchair — I just get more and more tired throughout the day; I’m very limited in what I can do,” said Layne, whose bathroom renovation was realized through the JoinedForces program administered by Revitalize Community Development Corp. (CDC) and funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and its Veterans Home Modification Program.

That well-thought-out name speaks volumes about this unique program and the many people who are involved in it.

For starters, the name helps convey that this is a program designed to assist veterans, many of whom are disabled and need help to stay in their homes or, in the case of Layne, live more comfortably in their home.

“Veterans are a big part of our focus,” said Colleen Loveless, president and CEO of Revitalize CDC, noting that the nonprofit agency also serves low-income families with children, the elderly, and individuals with special needs through initiatives such as its #GreenNFit and Healthy Homes programs. “Many are looking to age in place in their homes, many have injuries from their service, and this has become a particular focus of ours.”

“Veterans are a big part of our focus. Many are looking to age in place in their homes, many have injuries from their service, and this has become a particular focus of ours.”

The JoinedForces name also hints at how these projects to assist veterans are acts of collaboration, often involving a number of parties, including those at Revitalize CDC, other agencies focused on veterans and their needs, contractors, and area businesses.

That was certainly the case with Layne’s project, and also a coordinated effort to assist Ron Schneider and his wife, Cara, during a recent Volunteer Day initiative.

Schneider, a Vietnam War veteran now battling cancer he attributes to his exposure to Agent Orange, made his living as a general contractor. But his declining health left him unable to undertake many of the projects around the home that would have been so simple years earlier.

Fast-forward (we’ll fill in some details later) to this past spring, when there were two major projects at the Schneider home — one undertaken by a contractor to replace windows that had ceased to open easily, if at all, and the other involving an army (not a term we use loosely) of volunteers from Revitalize CDC and Home Depot to tackle a number of projects, from repairing the patio and driveway to building a shed and undertaking some landscaping work. New doors, also part of the mix, were put on earlier this month.

“All of this has taken a lot of pressure off me because I can’t do things around the house — I’m not physically able to do some of the projects that they handled,” Ron said. “And they did it in a day’s time because they had almost 100 volunteers.”

Suzanne Larocque (left, with Ethel Griffin)

Suzanne Larocque (left, with Ethel Griffin) says projects range from roof repairs and replacements to installation of handicap ramps and bathroom renovations.

These comments from Layne and Schneider effectively convey the sentiments of those veterans and their families who have had work done on their homes. As for those doing the work, they say there are many types of rewards, but especially the pride and satisfaction that come from helping those who served their country.

“I love it — it’s not about the money,” said Frank Campiti, a general contractor who handles many projects for Revitalize CDC and its #GreenNFit, JoinedForces, and Healthy Homes programs. “I get a lot of satisfaction from helping these veterans. We do everything we can to make their lives better with whatever their repair is.”

Myles Callender, who served as construction manager for Revitalize CDC before starting his own construction company with his brothers, and still handles projects for the agency, agreed.

“Some of these projects may not look big in terms of their size and scope,” he said. “But they make a huge difference in the lives of these veterans. It’s very rewarding to help improve the lives of those who have served.”

“All of this has taken a lot of pressure off me because I can’t do things around the house — I’m not physically able to do some of the projects that they handled. And they did it in a day’s time because they had almost 100 volunteers.”

For this issue and its focus on construction, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at the JoinedForces program and its efforts to help veterans and their families feel more at home — in all kinds of ways.

 

Building Hope

Layne told BusinessWest that his physical issues started several years after he returned from his service in the Gulf and started his professional career, working first at a college and then for AT&T. He suspects the disorder results from exposure to contamination at two bases where he served — Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Michigan (now closed), and Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas.

He started noticing that he was having trouble walking straight and that his hands didn’t work right.

“My body just didn’t work the same as it did before; I couldn’t run anymore, I couldn’t walk long distances,” he recalled, adding that it took doctors more than two and a half years to figure out what was wrong with him.

In 2017, he was officially diagnosed with a muscle disorder, and it was determined that there was no known cure. All medication was stopped, he said, adding that he is doing what he can to try to slow down or mitigate the condition’s progress, though diet and physical therapy, for example.

He has soldiered on, but increasingly has struggled with everyday tasks. He walls with a significant limp and can no longer navigate stairs — the Veterans Administration put a stair lift in his home — and has trouble getting in and out of the shower.

Ron and Cara Schneider (center, with their daughter, Bridget, between them)

Ron and Cara Schneider (center, with their daughter, Bridget, between them) celebrate the work done on their home in Ludlow by dozens of volunteers.

He became aware of Revitalize CDC and filled out an application for assistance late last fall. “That was on a Monday, and on Wednesday, I got a call; they were asking me what I needed done in my home and how they could help.”

Layne’s bathroom renovation is, in many ways, typical of the projects undertaken through the JoinedForces program, said Ethel Griffin, vice president of Community Engagement for Revitalize CDC.

She told BusinessWest the agency works with other veteran-related organizations on outreach to help make sure people know about JoinedForces and the agency’s other programs and encourage them to apply for assistance.

“Our work with veterans is important because they’ve served our country, and they deserve to have comfort in life,” she told BusinessWest. “A lot of our veterans are very old, and it’s amazing to see the conditions they are living in. We do spend a little more time and bit more money with the veterans — because they deserve it. This program gives us the feeling that we’re helping our country as well, even though we’re helping individuals; it’s our time to serve.”

Larocque agreed. “I don’t come from a military background at all, so meeting these veterans has been such a great experience. They’re so appreciative, and it’s been really rewarding to work with them.”

Since Loveless came on board in 2009, the agency has assisted between 200 and 300 veterans across the state, with the vast majority of them living in the 413, and veterans’ homes are included in all Revitalize CDC programs, including #GreenNFit.

Ron Schneider

Ron Schneider is grateful that JoinedForces has taken pressure off him because the volunteers completed projects he no longer can.

The projects vary in size and scope, said Suzanne Larocque, HUD project manager for Revitalize CDC, adding that they range from roof repairs and replacements to installation of handicap ramps and bathroom renovations like Layne’s.

Other projects have involved removal of asbestos from one home, installation of a drainage system and dehumidification system to relieve water issues in a basement, and many window-replacement initiatives. Meanwhile, the agency is undertaking more projects to replace heating systems with more modern — and green — systems.

Revitalize CDC hires licensed contractors to handle such work, obviously, Loveless said, adding that there is an emphasis on hiring minority- and women-owned firms. In some cases, the agency can get materials and labor donated, as it did for a veteran in Springfield who needed a new roof.

 

The Battle Is Joined

Ron Schneider, who served in the Army as an engineer building roads, tells a story somewhat similar to Layne’s, one of returning from service, launching a successful career, and then being beset with health problems that left him unable to do things around the house.

“I’m disabled, and I just can’t do much physically,” he said, noting that, in addition to his cancer fight, he has fought other health battles over the years.

As Ron’s condition deteriorated, and as needed work at his home on Prospect Gardens in Ludlow piled up — as noted earlier, many of the windows, originally installed in the 1940s, would no longer open or close easily, if at all — the Schneiders filled out an application for assistance through the JoinedForces program.

“Ron was a contractor for more than 40 years; these were all projects that he’s been hired to do over the course of his career that he can no longer do. For him, it was challenging; it was hard for him to be able to say ‘yes, I need help.”

That was prior to COVID, Ron said, adding that they received a call from Larocque early this year, and work commenced in phases this spring.

The first phase was replacement of the windows in April, work handled by a local contractor. Then, in May, Revitalize CDC joined forces (there’s that phrase again) with Home Depot, for a massive Volunteer Day effort at the home.

Cara Schneider put the improvements and what they mean to her husband and the rest of the family in their proper perspective.

“Ron was a contractor for more than 40 years; these were all projects that he’s been hired to do over the course of his career that he can no longer do. For him, it was challenging; it was hard for him to be able to say ‘yes, I need help,’ she said. “And then, to have these people come in and do it in a way that was respectful and that made our lives so much more functional and for him not to have to worry about these things while he’s going through treatment … it took all the stress off. And he’s able to open windows now.”

These sentiments hit at the true mission of the JoinedForces program, said Campiti, who has worked on dozens of projects over the past several years.

He said most are not large in scope, but can be rather involved. And in many cases, these are projects most contractors would pass on because of their degree of difficulty, the conditions in the home, or their small margin for real profit.

“I get involved with projects that other contractors look at, but they don’t even call them back,” Campiti said, adding that, in other cases, contractors will take on the work, but at a cost beyond what the veteran is willing or able to pay.

Such was the case with Layne, who said he looked into renovating his bathroom and installing a walk-in shower, but the cost was prohibitive. A friend, also a veteran, told him about Revitalize CDC, and he applied for assistance to undertake the bathroom renovation.

He was hesitant to install a walk-in shower in his main bathroom due to concerns about impact on the resale value of the home, but, after consultation with Campiti, was convinced that his half-bath, also home to his washer and dryer, could be renovated and outfitted with such a shower.

This was a fairly complicated project that involved moving the laundry equipment to the basement, constructing the shower, and redoing the floor, he went on, adding that it took several days to complete.

Overall, he’s working on two or three projects a month, most of them addressing the accessibility issues that many veterans face, whether it involves a bathtub, stairs, or a backyard deck.

“We do a lot of railings and grab bars in places that would be considered non-traditional,” he explained. “We put them in places beyond the bathroom, like with a person walking out to their patio; they can’t step down anymore.”

He stopped short of calling this work fun, but reiterated that it is gratifying on many levels.

 

On with the Fight

Returning to this concept of ‘his’ bathroom, Layne injected some needed background.

Indeed, he said he has four daughters, including twin 14-year-olds who still live at home.

“Bathroom time is extremely difficult to get,” he said with a laugh, adding that he obviously has to share his facility, which has actually become quite popular.

“They’ll say, ‘can I take a shower in your shower?’” he said of his children, adding that he used to ask why. “They say, ‘because it’s big; you can move around in there.’”

That’s because Campiti made it big enough to put in a chair, which is necessary, as Layne is prone to falling because his legs don’t move as they should.

It’s quite unfortunate that Layne, a veteran of two wars, needs this walk-in shower with all that room in it. But he — and his daughters, for that matter — are fortunate to have it.

And it was made possible by an agency with a name that truly says it all.

 

Massachusetts Central Rail Trail Completion Would Bring Benefits

By Contributor
An aerial view of part of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail.
Construction

Pathway of Progress

An aerial view of part of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail.

An aerial view of part of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail.

 

A study initiated by the Norwottuck Network to assess the benefits of the completion of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail (MRCT) system predicts that general health and wellness would improve and annual trail usage could quadruple, creating opportunities for overnight visitation, new jobs, increased local small businesses, and an overall economic benefit ranging from $87 to $182 million annually.

The nonprofit Norwottuck Network raised $75,000 to commission the study by Kittelson & Associates Inc. of Boston and Cambridge Econometrics of Northampton to evaluate the potential use and health and economic benefits of completing the 104-mile, multi-use bicycle and pedestrian trail system that runs east-west between Boston and Northampton along the historic Massachusetts Central Railroad corridor.

Findings outlined in “Envisioning a Statewide Connection: Mass Central Rail Trail Benefits Study,” released in mid-May, indicate that completion of the trail would result in increased usage of up to 4 million to 5 million people annually and reduced health costs from $4.1 to $5.8 million per year. On the economic side, a completed trail would create $87 to $182 million per year in new economic activity, including $55 to $114 million in new spending by trail users and up to 1,250 new jobs.

Leaders of the nine-member Norwottuck Network board, founded in 2000, will now ask the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to evaluate construction costs and create a timeline for completion.

Currently, 55 miles of the trail are officially open, with roughly 20 miles in the planning or construction stages. Challenging sections of the trail to be completed include areas where bridges are missing, trail segments that will need to be purchased from private owners, and needed repairs to a 1,000-foot tunnel near the Wachusett Reservoir.

A completed Mass Central trail would eliminate those barriers and open those sections, and also link the rail trail system to 18 additional existing and under-development rail trails, creating a 273-mile trail network within the state of Massachusetts.

“These long walking and biking trails produce a lot of benefits. The question was, is it worth spending public money? This report unequivocally says yes, it will be worth it.”

Craig Della Penna, president of the network board, said the DOT recently conducted a study to evaluate the feasibility of reassembling segments of the Mass Central Rail Trail into a unified trail system and released findings in 2021; no action was taken because the benefits had yet to be assessed.

“This report is the next step,” Della Penna said. “And we are not surprised by these findings. These long walking and biking trails produce a lot of benefits. The question was, is it worth spending public money? This report unequivocally says yes, it will be worth it.

“Consultants never overestimate benefits in an analysis,” he added, noting they are more apt to underestimate. “There are no negatives. Tourism is the third-largest industry in the state. A completed trail would allow people to bike right out of their neighborhood and explore the state in a way they’ve never been able to do before.”

Kittelson & Associates noted that the completed network would be within 10 miles of 64% of all Massachusetts residents and would offer a boost to 19 cities and towns defined by the consultants as gateway communities — those that face social and economic challenges but retain assets such as infrastructure or major institutions.

Among the gateway communities that would benefit are Barre, Billerica, Clinton, Easthampton, Hardwick, Hatfield, Lunenburg, Marlborough, New Braintree, Oakham, Palmer, Saugus, South Hadley, Southampton, Southwick, Ware, Warren, West Boylston, and West Brookfield.

The unequivocal positive impact on these gateway communities was the one surprise for Della Penna in the report. “This is a way to focus on making these communities better,” he said. “The state can’t help you improve your house, but it can help you improve your community. This is an infrastructure project that improves communities, helps to improve health outcomes, and will generate a significant positive economic benefit.”

 

Evolution of a Trail

Trains running along the Massachusetts Central Railroad traveled between Boston and Northampton, serving residents and industry through the early 1900s, until struggles with maintenance, negotiations over ownership, and damage from the hurricane of 1938 led to the railway’s eventual decline.

The MCRT began to form in 1980 when the MBTA and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management each purchased unused sections of the railroad corridor from the Boston & Maine Railroad.

The first section of the Mass Central Rail Trail was a segment called the Norwottuck Rail Trail. Completed in 1993, the Norwottuck Rail Trail segment between Northampton and Amherst was instantly popular.

“The state can’t help you improve your house, but it can help you improve your community. This is an infrastructure project that improves communities, helps to improve health outcomes, and will generate a significant positive economic benefit.”

In 1995, community leaders and volunteers in several Central Mass. communities formed Wachusett Greenways, a nonprofit with a goal to develop the Mass Central Rail Trail segment in the Wachusett region, including Sterling, West Boylston, Holden, Rutland, Oakham, and Barre. Their work inspired other communities to build their own sections of the MCRT corridor.

Kittelson & Associates said investments in multi-use trails throughout Massachusetts have provided meaningful economic and health benefits, and long-distance, continuous trails have greater impact. They attract through-cyclists and overnight visitors, which, in turn, results in increased spending on lodging and restaurants.

As part of its study, Kittelson & Associates surveyed current Mass Central Rail Trail users, receiving responses from more than 2,000 participants. These are among the findings:

• If the trail is completed, 26% of current users would use the MCRT for shopping, 16% to commute to work, 5% to commute to school, and 86% to access parks and other features;

• Ninety-three percent of respondents anticipate using the MCRT more frequently and traveling on the trail for longer distances; and

• Almost 50% would take a multi-day trip.

Other findings were based on economic and health results associated with use of the Erie Canalway Trail in New York and the Great Allegheny Passage in Maryland and Pennsylvania. These trails generate $253 million and $121 million per year, respectively, so the planners on the team of consultants estimate the MCRT could generate between $117 and $212 million annually.

“The MCRT shares many characteristics with these two trails, including similar tourism opportunities,” the report notes. “It would connect historic towns and improve access to outdoors destinations, such as rural areas outside of the Quabbin Reservoir area and in the Connecticut River Valley.”

The MCRT has an additional benefit in that it connects numerous rail trails in the Boston metropolitan area as well as Northampton and Amherst, which provide a second population anchor that will encourage travel along the completed route. One of the 18 trails that connects to the MCRT is the longest interstate rail trail in New England, the New Haven & Northampton Canal Greenway.

 

Broad Impact

Existing trail systems generate 1.3 million annual visits, with 15,000 overnight trips, giving Kittelson & Associates cause to estimate the completed MCRT would bring between 4.1 million and 5.5 million visitors, including 120,000 to 390,000 overnight visits.

Visitors to the existing MCRT currently spend about $19 million annually, and spending is expected to increase to between $74 million and $133 million annually for the completed MCRT.

The completed MCRT could also generate an increase of $87 million to $182 million from the economic activity associated with the existing sections of the MCRT, including up to roughly 1,500 new jobs, for total economic activity estimated at $117 million to $212 million.

Della Penna, a longtime advocate of rail-trail systems said of the study and next steps, “it’s big, and it’s ongoing.”

More than 10,000 volunteers across the state are involved in developing bicycle and pedestrian trails in the state. To read the report detailing the benefits of linking the undeveloped segments of the Mass Central Rail Trail into one unified multi-use trail across Massachusetts, and to learn more about the MCRT, visit masscentralrailtrail.org. To learn more about the Norwottuck Network, visit nnnetwork.net/about-us.

Gill-based Renaissance Builders Melds History with Modern Ideas

By
Stephen Greenwald
Construction Special Coverage

Past Meets Future

Stephen Greenwald

Stephen Greenwald has built a strong reputation in a variety of construction niches over the past 47 years.

 

For Stephen Greenwald, growing his construction company was tied closely to how he saw his role in it.

“I started as a one-person company — just me, doing whatever I could do,” he said of the origin of Renaissance Builders in 1976. “The very small remodeling jobs … those were the only kinds of jobs I could get back then.”

A little over a decade later, he had nine employees, but he felt he was spending too much time building and renovating, and not enough time managing and planning.

“I still put on a tool belt and went to work most days, pounding nails,” he recalled. “And if you’re out there working, pounding nails every day in the field, the biggest issue is time commitment. You just don’t have enough time to run a company. You’re not answering the phone, doing estimates, meeting with clients, working on designs, and bidding other projects.”

As a result, “there’s a certain limit to your income,” he added. “So in the very late ’80s or very early ’90s, I came to the conclusion that, if I ever wanted this company to be more than a company where I worked in the field every day, we needed to grow in size and systems and management. So I made a conscious decision that we’re going to start looking at bigger jobs.”

“I came to the conclusion that, if I ever wanted this company to be more than a company where I worked in the field every day, we needed to grow in size and systems and management.”

Today, Renaissance, based in Gill, boasts 27 employees and a broad range of work, from residential to commercial to historical preservation, up and down the Pioneer Valley, from Springfield to Brattleboro.

By the early ’90s, “we were doing almost entirely residential work,” Greenwald recalled. “And two events happened that sort of pushed us in different directions.”

The first was an opportunity to build a water-treatment plant in Greenfield for groundwater pollution remediation, which exposed Renaissance to a new line of work. Then, in the late ’90s, Greenwald had an opportunity to tackle the interior fit-out of a food-processing facility in Turners Falls. “Now we have multiple clients in the food industry,” he said.

wrestling arena at Northfield Mount Hermon School

This award-winning wrestling arena at Northfield Mount Hermon School was designed by Jones Whitsett Architects and built by Renaissance Builders.

The bulk of the firm’s work is negotiated, though it also bids on public jobs. Since it started growing in earnest, Renaissance has dramatically broadened its scope, from restaurants and commercial kitchens — its area projects have included complete renovations for Blue Heron and Goten in Sunderland, and Hope & Olive in Greenfield — to retail establishments and service industries, including a new Greenfield Savings Bank branch in Turners Falls, which was built with energy-saving goals in mind (more on that aspect of the business later).

One intriguing renovation project was Ode Boutique in Northampton. A suspended ceiling hid the original plaster medallions on the ceiling of the downtown location, and the retail space was split in half by a wall. A new steel beam allowed the dividing wall to be removed, and the entire interior and storefront were redone in a fresh, rustic style.

Meanwhile, a three-building renovation project along Bank Row in the center of Greenfield included a complete interior and partial exterior renovation of the Allen and Pond buildings, with ground-floor and exterior renovations to the Siano building. The roof was raised to create a full third floor in the Pond building, and the basement was excavated to create usable retail space in the Allen Block. The project also included significant energy upgrades and facade renovations to historic specifications.

“During the pandemic, a lot of people were sort of investing in their homes, and they had some expensive projects to do.”

On the education front, Renaissance has done multiple public-school projects, and is starting work on Athol High School this summer. “That work ebbs and flows,” Greenwald said. “It’s driven by the purse strings of local governments and the state.”

 

Comforts of Home

Most of the company’s work is located in the Valley, but Renaissance has taken projects as far south as East Hartford. The balance between residential and commercial work tends to shift with the economy, but most residential projects have been high-end renovation work.

“There’s not a whole lot of new housing because new housing is particularly expensive these days, especially in Massachusetts,” Greenwald said. “And during the pandemic, a lot of people were sort of investing in their homes, and they had some expensive projects to do.”

Kitchens and bathrooms have been the biggest request, he added. “We have two crews that have done nothing but kitchens and baths for two years — just one right after the other.”

Renaissance Builders

Renaissance Builders has long had a strong presence in residential work, including this home in Northampton.

While design styles have understandably changed over the decades, one striking change in recent years has been why people are renovating.

“Fifteen years ago, it was, ‘I’m in this house until I can afford to move to the next house — a bigger house or a better spot.’ I’m not sure what’s driving it, but now, they’re much more focused on making big improvements even beyond what the value of their house is,” he explained. “So, clearly, they want to live there. They want to be comfortable, and they realize that, by putting $150,000 into their home, they probably couldn’t turn around and sell it tomorrow for that. But they want what they want.”

One factor, of course, may be that buying a new home is historically expensive right now, due mainly to supply-and-demand issues in the Western Mass. market, as well as still-high costs of building materials. Renaissance has navigated the inflation issue in its own business along with all other area builders.

“Some basic materials have come back down — the cost of plywood is an example. And the cost of two-by-fours has returned to where it was,” Greenwald noted. “But what hasn’t come back down is, for example, the cost of a window. I can’t speak for what a manufacturer is going to do, but my guess is that manufacturers are now getting this price, so they see no reason to not keep charging it. It’s similar to what happened the first time fuel surcharges showed up on our deliveries. Well, fuel went back down, but the fuel surcharges never went away.”

Supply-chain issues continue to nag at the industry as well, he said. “It’s gotten better, but it hasn’t gone away. There are still issues every week with items not showing up, or items showing up damaged. The supply chain is still a big issue.”

That said, “we’re very busy,” Greenwald said, noting that Renaissance has a strong reputation with clients, especially when it comes to what he called “some unique problem-solving skills, which have earned us the loyalty of customers.”

For example, “we had a client that said, ‘we have this 11-foot-diameter, 40-foot-tall cylinder which we have to put inside our building. It’s in our parking lot. And you have to come up with a plan to cut a hole in the roof, and you can only have the roof open for 12 hours.’ So that was kind of a neat challenge.

“With those jobs, the clients aren’t too interested in the cost; they’re interested that you meet their 12-hour deadline,” he went on. “We have a reputation among a lot of these manufacturers, that we’re excellent at solving these problems.”

Renaissance has a reputation for historical-renovation work as well, including elements of that Bank Row project in Greenfield, which earned the owner, Icarus, Wheaten & Finch, statewide preservation awards, and other projects, like a window restoration of Forbes Library in Northampton.

Historic-preservation work is a clear area of opportunity, Greenwald said. “It’s one of those areas where there’s not a lot of competition. And on municipally funded jobs, a lot of times, you have to be DCAM-certified in historical renovation. There are very few contractors in this part of the state that have that designation; we’re one of them.”

 

Green Thoughts

Renaissance is also well-known for green building projects. Contractors have to be these days, of course, but Greenwald got involved in energy-efficient building in the late ’80s, when such work was far from the norm.

“Western Mass. Electric, which morphed into Eversource, had a program called Energy Crafted Homes back in the early ’90s, and we built the first model for it,” he said. “For those days, it was airtight and super-insulated. It was very progressive. So, in the ’90s, we started doing that.

“The whole industry has progressed, of course,” he went on. “Building science has grown exponentially in the last 30 years, and has really made some huge leaps forward. But that’s still important to us. Even the additions we do, there’s a component that falls into green building. It’s kind of expected, almost — I mean, the building code is demanding.”

Early on in the green movement, the industry recognized the value of insulation and air sealing, he explained. “Building science has discovered over the years that, if you control the amount of air that leaks into your house, not only can you improve the health and comfort of the occupants, but you can also reliably predict how much it’s going to cost to heat the house or cool the house and design accordingly. So that’s a big element.”

Building materials comprise another element. “And there’s a lot of discussion, with all sorts of points of view, about what constitutes green building. You will get lots of varying opinions, like, should you use foam for insulation because it’s made with petroleum products? But it has a long lifespan, and, from a insulation point of view, it’s doing its job, and may be the most effective of all the insulations available, versus using Rockwool or cellulose, which are both made with some form of recycled products.”

Whatever the specific debate, it’s clear that the bar is always rising on what constitutes quality green design.

“I built my house in 1995, and it was state-of-the-art in 1995,” Greenwald said. “It’s an antique by today’s building standards, but it’s still a very efficient house.”

At the end of the day, what he appreciates most about his job is the problem-solving aspect, and how gratifying it is when a client’s plan matches reality, whether it’s historical preservation or the cutting edge of green design — or both.

“I love being able to help people achieve their goals, and coming up with unique, out-of-the-box solutions to problems,” he said. “That’s what keeps me interested in this.”

Senate Legislation Authorizing Chapter 90 Funding Should Benefit Rural Towns

By Contributor
Construction

Claiming Mileage

 

On March 30, the Massachusetts State Senate passed a bill that includes $350 million in bond authorizations for transportation needs across the state, including $200 million for the state’s Chapter 90 program, which provides municipalities with a reliable funding source for transportation-related improvements, including road and bridge repairs.

“This legislation will maintain and improve our state’s infrastructure, ensure that residents have safe and reliable transportation options, and support sustainable, regionally equitable economic development in communities across the Commonwealth,” Senate President Karen Spilka said.

The legislation also authorizes $150 million in programs that will assist municipalities with various transportation-related projects. This includes $25 million each for the municipal small-bridge program, the Complete Streets program, a bus-transit infrastructure program, grants to increase access to mass transit and commuter rail stations, grants for municipalities and regional transit authorities to purchase electric vehicles and the infrastructure needed to support them, and new funding dedicated to additional transportation support based on road mileage, which is particularly helpful for rural communities.

“Rural towns do not have large municipal budgets like some Commonwealth cities; yet, with much smaller municipal budgets, they have been expected to maintain many hundreds more miles of roads than their urban counterparts.”

“By dedicating a $25 million fund to rural communities for road and culvert work, the Senate has once again demonstrated a commitment to regional equity,” state Sen. Jo Comerford said. “Rural towns do not have large municipal budgets like some Commonwealth cities; yet, with much smaller municipal budgets, they have been expected to maintain many hundreds more miles of roads than their urban counterparts. They have culverts in need of repair and a significant number of gravel and dirt roads. This rural program recognizes and begins to address these pressing, inequitable realities for rural communities, and I’m deeply grateful.”

In arguing for the bill’s passing, Comerford made a passionate appeal for relief for communities in her district, which includes parts of Hampshire, Franklin, and Worcester counties.

“I know Boston didn’t have a lot of snow this winter. That was not the case in my district. Just over two weeks ago, a number of towns in my district received over 24 inches of snow, some getting as much as 38 inches just in one storm,” she said. “The Hatfield DPW director wrote that, ‘due to the late storms, we have a lot of roads that have fallen apart and a lot of tree damage. With the costs of asphalt rising and the Chapter 90 funding staying the same, we will never catch up.’ The Greenfield DPW director told us, ‘due to many freezes and thaw cycles, our roads have shown accelerated deterioration, and our pavement-management program is really in shambles.’

She said the base amount being provided to communities has been static for many years, while costs are constantly rising. “Weather events are getting more extreme, putting more stress on roads and bridges and cleanup, and rural municipalities have many dirt and gravel roads, making up more than 30% of a municipality’s road network, in some instances, in my district. And this, of course, is exacerbated by climate change, the erosion and the disrepair of these roads.”

She noted that the existing Chapter 90 formula used to distribute funds — established more than 50 years ago — takes into account road mileage, but also population and employment. “But this doesn’t work for the places that don’t have the people, but do have the miles and miles of roads. Adjusting the base Chapter 90 formula to put more emphasis on road mileage is something that I respectfully urge us to consider.”

State Sen. Paul Mark, who represents all of Berkshire County among some communities in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties, agreed that the mileage-based calculation will greatly benefit smaller towns.

“In a district of 57 cities and towns, 54 of which have populations of fewer than 10,000 people, and in some cases communities as small as 120 residents, we live first-hand every day how difficult it can be to undertake road repairs, invest in new equipment, or have our voice heard in Boston,” he said.

Legislators outside Western Mass. also praised the bill’s passage.

“Our transportation system is the backbone of our Commonwealth, connecting us to our jobs, families, and communities,” said state Sen. Brendan Crighton, chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation. “This investment is not just an investment in infrastructure, but an investment in the future of our Commonwealth, enabling our cities and towns to make the necessary improvements to promote efficient and safe travel for all.”

State Sen. Edward Kennedy, chair of the Senate Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures, and State Assets, added that “I’m pleased to see this crucial investment in the Commonwealth’s roads and bridges move toward fruition. The cities and towns of Massachusetts depend on this necessary funding to maintain their transportation infrastructure.”

A different version of the bill having previously been passed in the House of Representatives, the two chambers will now reconcile differences before sending the bill to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk.

Landscapers Look Ahead to Opportunities but Also Some Challenges

By Contributor
Sean Corrigan
Construction Special Coverage

Yard Markers

By Mark Morris

Sean Corrigan

Sean Corrigan says landscapers have to deal with the challenge of longer lead times for delivery of many supplies.

Mark Lacombe likes good head start.

And like others in the landscaping industry, he’s grateful for one of the mildest winters in many years — from one perspective, at least.

“A mild winter helps us because there’s no frost in the ground, which allows us to start working on sites now rather than waiting for the frost to thaw and the mud season that would typically follow the thaw,” said Lacombe, general manager of Commercial Grounds Maintenance for Mountain View Landscapes in Chicopee.

However, the downside of a mild winter affects snowplowing, the other business many landscapers run in winter months. Lacombe said a normal winter allows the company to start the year off with revenue, even though he can’t count on it every year.

“During a normal winter, we’ll do about a million dollars in snow removal,” he said. “This winter was only about 65% to 70% of our normal business. That’s where a mild winter really hurts.”

Still, area landscapers say they are staying busy as spring takes hold in New England, and 2023 holds promise as well as some continuing challenges.

Brian Campedelli, owner of Pioneer Landscapes in Easthampton, said his crews are already busy finishing several jobs that carried over from last year due to the unprecedented growth his company experienced in 2022. This year is off to a strong start, too.

“During a normal winter, we’ll do about a million dollars in snow removal. This winter was only about 65% to 70% of our normal business. That’s where a mild winter really hurts.”

“We had a good turnout at the home show,” Campedelli said of last month’s annual event put on by the Home Builders & Remodelers Assoc. of Western Mass. “Many people we spoke with are interested in new projects.”

Greg Omasta also begins the year with several carryover projects. The owner of Omasta Landscaping in Hadley believes he will have a busy year, but he’s also concerned that increases in basic necessities like food and fuel may cause some homeowners to delay their yard improvements.

“We’re still getting calls every day, so I guess I’m optimistic and pessimistic all at the same time,” Omasta said.

Greg Omasta (right, with son Chris Omasta)

Greg Omasta (right, with son Chris Omasta) says inflation in basic necessities may cause some families to delay yard improvements this year.

At the height of the pandemic, the residential side of landscaping exploded as homeowners who would have normally scheduled out-of-town vacations had to stay put. Many decided to convert their yards to outdoor entertainment areas. From elaborate projects like swimming pools and outdoor kitchens to simple landscape upgrades and firepits, every contractor had more business than they could handle.

However, while COVID-19 boosted the staycation phenomenon, it also created unusually high demand for all the products used in hardscaping and landscaping at a time when supply chains around the world faced sporadic delays due to the pandemic.

Landscapers now report that many of the supply-chain issues have subsided, but there are still delays for some products, and everything costs more.

“As we order for this season, plant prices are up, and the freight charges to ship them to us are really high,” Lacombe said, noting that this is a particular challenge when bidding for commercial landscaping projects that won’t start for 12 to 18 months. “We have to estimate the costs for a job that will happen a year from now, while our material prices are only guaranteed for 30 days.”

“Since COVID, municipalities are paying more attention to outdoor spaces and upgrading them, particularly with more climbing structures.”

Omasta pointed to one pleasant surprise, as grass-seed prices have seen a slight decrease. “Also, fertilizer prices have stabilized. I don’t expect them to come down, but at least they are more stable than they’ve been.”

 

Places to Play

Public parks and playgrounds are an area of commercial business both Omasta and Mountain View have seen as growth opportunities.

Sean Corrigan, vice president of Landscape Construction for Mountain View, said his company has a full schedule of reconstruction work on parks, playgrounds, and athletic fields, with most of the work happening in Connecticut and the Boston area.

“Since COVID, municipalities are paying more attention to outdoor spaces and upgrading them, particularly with more climbing structures,” he said. “They are interesting structures, and many have unique designs. The kids love them.”

Playground equipment and drainage piping are among the products that still have long lead times for delivery, Corrigan noted. “It’s getting better, but we still have to factor in extra time for these items.”

Finding enough workers is another challenge that still exists, but the situation has started to improve. Campedelli said this year has been easier to hire laborers as better-quality applicants are looking for work.

“Some of the more specialized jobs, like hardscape installers, are still hard to fill,” he said. “We recently hired a new general manager and a new office manager, who are both fantastic.”

Dave Graziano

Dave Graziano says the industry is being challenged to cultivate the next generation of workers.

While Omasta hires extra workers for spring and fall cleanups, he depends on a core group of employees who have worked with the company for years. “We provide them with benefits, holiday and vacation pay, as well as other perks to keep them with us.”

Lacombe said more people are looking for work this year than in the past, but finding workers with experience remains difficult.

“We’re hiring on attitude more than anything else,” he said. “I can teach someone what they need to know, but they need to be willing to come to work every day and put in the effort.”

Dave Graziano, project manager in the Landscape division of Graziano Gardens in East Longmeadow, sees a larger industry problem finding the next generation of landscape workers who want to put in the effort to be successful.

“Anything you can do outside to enhance the entertaining possibilities in your yard is generally what remains popular with people.”

“It’s not for everyone, but it can be rewarding work,” he said. “You see the fruits of your labor from the design of a project through completion, and you make the customer happy. It’s very satisfying.”

Graziano proudly noted that he and his brothers, Mark and Chris, work closely with all their customers. “One of the reasons people call us is because they know they will get a Graziano, and our customers like that.”

Along with landscaping services, Graziano Gardens also runs a retail location, he added. “In addition to people who hire us for landscaping projects, our clients are also do-it-yourselfers who are looking for good ideas and advice.”

As the world continues to move past COVID and more people leave home for vacation, landscapers say there are still plenty of homeowners who want to improve their yards.

“It seems that people are traveling by car more than plane, yet they are still spending money on their yards,” Omasta said.

“It’s not for everyone, but it can be rewarding work. You see the fruits of your labor from the design of a project through completion, and you make the customer happy. It’s very satisfying.”

Campedelli added that he’s hearing from plenty of homeowners who still want stone patios, new lawns, firepits, and other projects. “Anything you can do outside to enhance the entertaining possibilities in your yard is generally what remains popular with people.”

 

Long-term Value

In addition to the entertainment factor, Omasta noted one compelling reason to invest in a landscape project is the value it can add to a home when it goes up for sale.

According to Better Home and Gardens, attractive landscape projects can add 5% to 12% to a home’s resale value, while a professional hardscape project can add 15% to 20% to the resale value.

For many consumers, thoughts about landscape improvements don’t occur until the weather reaches 70 degrees and stays there. Campedelli’s advice for homeowners planning large backyard projects? Book soon if you want to get your job done this year.

“For special projects, we are scheduled into June and maybe a little later,” he said. “We can bring on new yard-maintenance clients without waiting, but big projects are booking further out.”

While traveling for vacations is on the rise, many people are still staying close to home and investing in their backyards. During the winter months, Campedelli attended seminars from hardscape block manufacturers who said they are in full production this year with lots of new product selections.

“They said the availability is much better this year, and we’ll have no problem getting what we need,” he said. “I hope they are right.”

In Its Fifth Decade, OMG Inc. Keeps Growing and Innovating

By
From left, Web Shaffer, Hubert McGovern, and Dewey Kolvek on one of the plant floors at OMG Inc.
Construction

View from the Top

From left, Web Shaffer, Hubert McGovern, and Dewey Kolvek on one of the plant floors at OMG Inc.

From left, Web Shaffer, Hubert McGovern, and Dewey Kolvek on one of the plant floors at OMG Inc.

The past three years — spanning the pandemic and all the ways it has impacted industry, from supply chains to workforce challenges — have been rough on businesses of all kinds.

But for OMG Inc., it’s been a different story.

“I want to say three-quarters of the business is re-roofing,” said Web Shaffer, senior vice president and general manager of the firm, which encompasses two main divisions: OMG Roofing Products and FastenMaster. “So, while it’s not entirely recession-proof, when your roof goes, you can patch it for a little while, but you can only do that for so long.”

OMG President Hubert McGovern agreed. “You either get a bucket, or you get a new roof.”

And the bucket isn’t the ideal choice for a large company — think of an Tesla factory, a Target store, or an Amazon warehouse — with plenty to protect under that roof.

Meanwhile, 2020 found people stuck at home, not going on vacation, and, in many cases, investing in their homes, said Dewey Kolvek, OMG’s senior vice president of operations. “During the pandemic, it was crazy, with everybody battening down the hatches. A lot of people were at home, looking around, and saying, ‘you know, maybe we should remodel our bathroom. Maybe we should remodel the kitchen. Oh, let’s put a deck out in the back.’”

OMG Roofing Products, which manufactures and supplies roofing fasteners, adhesives, and rooftop drains, pipe supports, and solar mounts, as well as proprietary installation technology for the flat-roofing market; and FastenMaster, which develops fastening and adhesive products used by remodelers, deck builders, residential framers, home builders, and floor installers, both benefited from this environment.

“We’re not making basic drywall screws or something like that. If we have a new product, it’s got to have a feature, a benefit, a patented intellectual property, and something the customer wants.”

And during a time of global supply-chain issues in 2021 and 2022, “we grew out of control, and we couldn’t keep up,” McGovern said. “These last two years have been record years for the company because of the demand. It’s finally starting to settle, but we’ve been under the gun to produce as much as possible, as fast as possible, for probably two and a half years.”

Kolvek recalls it all vividly. “For a period there, we were on 24/7 for two months, just to try to put a dent in it. It was brutal.”

OMG is no stranger to growth spurts. After launching in 1981 as Olympic Fasteners, by 1987 it was manufacturing 100 million fasteners a year. In 1993, the company became Olympic Manufacturing Group — hence the OMG acronym — and in 1997, it was acquired by Handy & Harman, which was later taken over by a public company called Steel Partners. Throughout its history, OMG has grown about 10% a year, on average, through organic growth, constant product development, and a series of acquisitions.

Today, OMG boasts more than 650 employees — about 450 of them at its Agawam campus, which spans 480,000 square feet over a half-dozen buildings — and records about $400 million in annual sales. Its three other plants are located in Addison, Ill., Charlotte, N.C., and Rockford, Minn., in addition to field salespeople located across the U.S. and overseas. The company estimates that around 65% of all commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings in the U.S. that have been built or reroofed within the past 25 years have one or more of its products on their roof.

“The good news about roofing is, people need roofs,” McGovern said. “So if you have a decent building, you’re not willing to let it just deteriorate; you’re going to get a new roof if you need it. Or you’re going to have a lot of buckets and be running around like a chicken with your head cut off every time it rains.”

 

Hot Stuff

During BusinessWest’s recent visit to OMG’s factory in Agawam, Shaffer pointed out a Chinese advertisement for RhinoBond, the first non-penetrating, induction-based roof-attachment method in North America, which OMG introduced in 1999.

“RhinoBond is a global leader in induction heat welding, and a leading-edge technology in the commercial roofing industry,” he noted. “So we make stuff in Western Mass. and export it to places like China, which is pretty cool. It usually goes the other way.”

McGovern said OMG has a family of about 20 patents on its induction roofing technology, which uses heat to meld the roofing membrane to a fastener plate without having to puncture the membrane with a screw. “It’s a different way of doing roofing — and we lead the market with that.”

On an aerial photo of the Agawam campus, he pointed out a building dedicated to research and development that houses about 30 employees, mainly engineers, who work on developing new products. Over the years, the company’s developments have included TrapEase, the first composite deck screw that does not mushroom; OlyBond Insulation Adhesive, a two-part, low-rise polyurethane foam; OlyBond500 canisters, a new method of applying adhesive, and many more.

OMG’s patented heat-induction system

This flat roof will use OMG’s patented heat-induction system, which requires no screws to pierce the membrane.

“A lot of the growth has come from looking at our customers and saying, ‘what else can we sell these guys that will help them build a better roof?’” Kolvek said. “And that’s where you see our drains come in, or the solar mounts and other things. Those accessories have helped grow the business, as well as new technologies that cannibalize some of our original product line or allow a more premium solution to builders.”

Shaffer agreed. “We’re really getting out there to the customer and saying, ‘how can we help you? What are your challenges you’re facing?’ And maybe we can bring a solution to the table.”

FastenMaster in particular has been introducing new products at a brisk pace, as evidenced by an innovation award it received from Home Depot in November, for its Cortex Hidden Fastening System, which is used to build a deck with fully hidden hardware and fasteners. That kind of continuous development is possible only by staying atop and even spearheading industry trends, McGovern said.

“Some of the technology is changing, but we’ve changed some of the technology with our products,” he noted. “And we’re not making basic drywall screws or something like that. If we have a new product, it’s got to have a feature, a benefit, a patented intellectual property, and something the customer wants.”

“We’re in Western Mass., and we’re all vying for the same pool of workers. So what makes you different than someone else you’re competing against for that same labor?”

Clearly, customers do want them — not only domestically, but in a place like China that’s known much more for its imports to the U.S. than its exports from stateside manufacturers. “You don’t see that a lot in any industry — maybe in some more high-tech ones,” Kolvek said. “But in the construction industry, there’s a lot more imported product. So we have to be different — and better. That’s the bottom line.”

And when OMG develops a successful product, similar products will follow, as with the OlyBond canisters. “We introduced that technology to roofing and, it took off — tens of millions of dollars of sales in a very short period of time,” McGovern said. “Now everybody has a canister technology.”

OMG’s Cortex Hidden Fastening System

Last year, Home Depot gave one of its three innovation awards to OMG’s Cortex Hidden Fastening System.

“In business, that’s what happens,” Shaffer added. “If you’re successful like Tesla, well, somebody else is going to come out with electric cars. They’re not going to let you just do that forever. So you’ve got to move on and innovate again, which is what that whole R&D building is all about.”

And being first to market is important when operating on a global scale, McGovern said. “Then it’s everyone else playing catch-up.”

A key element in OMG’s success has been its embrace of lean manufacturing concepts, Kolvek explained.

“We have a pretty robust continuous-improvement program where we want all employees to be engaged with that thought: what is a better way? How do I improve efficiencies? Can I work safer? Can I work faster? You know, really just instilling people to understand the principles of driving the waste out of everything that we do. There’s always an alternative, and we have to pursue that to stay competitive and stay out in front.”

Shaffer agreed. “How do we compete globally from Western Massachusetts, which is not an industrial region? It’s the innovation plus lean operations keeping costs down and improving that value proposition to the end user. Managing costs and innovating — that’s how we succeed here in Western Mass.”

Focus on People

McGovern said the importance of employees is also reflected in initiatives ranging from tuition reimbursement and financial-wellness programs to company picnics, subsidized healthy meals, and physical-wellness programs such as yoga, massage therapy, and a gym and fitness trainer on site.

“These are all things that enhance people’s lives, that aren’t necessarily attached to the working piece of the company. But if people feel better about themselves, if they’re financially well, if they’re physically well, then we know they’re going to be a better employee. We win, and they win.”

Such efforts are even more important at a time when businesses of all sizes struggle to recruit and retain talented workers.

“It’s a huge issue. That’s why we spend a lot of time and money on it,” McGovern said. “We want the best employees, and we want them to stay. And it’s not an easy market.”

The goal has been to create an employee-centric culture, Kolvek added, and the proof of that model’s success is OMG’s continued growth.

“Management will walk the floor every day, in different areas of the company, just to find the pulse: ‘what are your challenges? What can I help you solve? Do you need anything from me?’ Maybe we’ve got to make an investment somewhere, and who better to highlight that than the person who’s dealing with that challenge day in and day out?

In addition, “you have to differentiate yourself from your competition,” Kolvek said. “We’re in Western Mass., and we’re all vying for the same pool of workers. So what makes you different than someone else you’re competing against for that same labor? If you have employee programs where people see value and benefit, they’re going to be more inclined to come here, stay here, and make a career here.”

City Enterprise and Its Ambitious Owner Create a Blueprint for Expansion

By
Wonderlyn Murphy
Construction Cover Story

Building Momentum

 

Wonderlyn Murphy

Wonderlyn Murphy

 

 

Wonderlyn Murphy has some ambitious plans for City Enterprise, the construction company she started nearly two decades ago.

She wants to take it to $150 million in annual revenue — roughly six times the current level. She wants to expand geographically and open new locations, perhaps one in Florida and another in Maine or New Hampshire. She wants to build a new headquarters facility in this region because the company has clearly outgrown its current home on Berkshire Avenue in Springfield. She wants to add more staff, and she wants to broaden the portfolio with larger projects, likely through partnerships with larger construction firms.

Yes, there is a lot on her ‘want’ list. But she believes it’s all realistic, and, more importantly, she has a blueprint for getting there.

“We’re in a transition period now where I’m growing the company,” she said. “And I have some very aggressive goals for the next five years. I want to be a $150 million company, and we get there by scaling, we get there by duplication, we get there through collaboration and partnerships, we get there by building the employees based on our core values, get there through outside-the-box thinking and vision, more than just focusing on getting the next job.”

Getting where she wants to go will certainly be a challenge, but Murphy has already clearly shown that she has the ability to set goals and then reach them through hard work, determination, and overcoming obstacles in her path.

“We’re in a transition period now where I’m growing the company. And I have some very aggressive goals for the next five years. We get there through collaboration and partnerships, we get there by building the employees based on our core values, get there through outside-the-box thinking and vision, more than just focusing on getting the next job.”

Indeed, she has taken City Enterprise from a small, one-person venture that started with Murphy designing, building, and flipping homes to a multi-dimensional company with 14 employees that has secured work with clients ranging from UMass Amherst to the U.S. Park Service; from the General Services Administration to the U.S. Coast Guard.

She’s done all this by making connections, forging relationships, and, yes, taking full advantage of City Enterprise’s status as a woman- and minority-owned business.

Such status has certainly opened some doors, but Murphy has had the entrepreneurial drive, and that determination, to march through those doors and, as noted, put down some ambitious plans for what comes next.

Today, Murphy told BusinessWest, thanks to some new staff additions, and especially the addition of Vice President of Operations Charles Young, she is able to spend more time on the business, rather than in it.

And with that fundamental change, she believes she is putting the pieces in place for a story of change, growth, and taking her company to places that she probably couldn’t have imagined 20 years ago.

But then again, she probably could.

 

Building a Foundation

As noted earlier, City Enterprise has been a work in progress, or a dream in progress, for Murphy for nearly two decades now, or not long after she graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston with a degree in architectural design technology.

At first, it was a part-time pursuit, something she did after working the overnight shift (midnight to 8 a.m.) as a correctional officer with the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office at the Western Massachusetts Correctional Alcohol Center on Howard Street, since torn down to make way for MGM Springfield. That work was a learning experience on many levels, she said, and one that has helped in her current roles as employer and entrepreneur.

“It was a very interesting experience, to say the least,” she told BusinessWest. “I got to know the population and came to understand what it really meant to be a corrections officer; there’s much more to it than slamming cell doors, even though there were no cell doors there. The population came from varied backgrounds, and to navigate all of that took a certain amount of finesse.”

Abatement work at the former Court Square Hotel

Abatement work at the former Court Square Hotel in downtown Springfield is one of many municipal projects awarded to City Enterprise.

While working in corrections on Howard Street, she designed, built, and sold a few houses, including her first such endeavor, a home on Eastland Street, just a stone’s throw from City Enterprise’s current home on Berkshire Avenue. Later, she designed and built a two-home development on Parkerview Street in Springfield and handled a few renovations and additions as well.

It was difficult to manage both sides of her work life, but she managed.

“I would get out of work at 8, and I would go straight to my job sites and my projects, because I was the only one doing it at the time,” she recalled. “So I had to line up my subcontractors; I had to be on site and make sure everyone was there. I had to schedule everything … and time is always of the essence in real estate, because you want to hit the market at the right time.”

This was the start of City Enterprise, she said, adding that, as she continued to operate her venture out of her basement and create the first of what would be several business plans for its future, Murphy applied for status under what is known as 8A under the Small Business Administration, a program created to help firms owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.

Applying for such status is a difficult and lengthy proposition, she said, adding that it eventually took her three years to gain that designation. At first, she was turned down, in large part, she believes, because she was still working in corrections at the time and thus — to those reviewing her application, at least — she was not fully committed to her business venture.

After waiting a year — and after leaving the Sheriff’s Department in 2012 and making City Enterprise a full-time pursuit — she applied again, and this time was granted 8A status. And during that year, she was making connections and building relationships with agencies ranging from the General Services Administration to the Army Corps of Engineers to the U.S. Navy.

“I was letting these people know that I was coming — I was developing relationships even before I was admitted into the program,” she said. “Because I knew the 8A was more government-contract-driven, I sought out those agencies.

“I was confident because I made the necessary sacrifices to make that happen,” she said. “I knew there were things I had to do to get past that first rejection, and I did them. I took full advantage of that year.”

The 8A designation certainly opened some doors, as noted earlier, especially at government-owned and operated facilities, such as Westover Air Reserve Base, where she earned first commercial contract — renovation work in the bowling alley on the base.

Wonderlyn Murphy, seen here with recently hired Vice President of Operations Charles Young

Wonderlyn Murphy, seen here with recently hired Vice President of Operations Charles Young, is setting some ambitious goals for City Enterprise.

This was another important learning experience, she said, adding that she initially hired the wrong type of flooring company to work on the bowling lanes, but later secured the right subcontractor, a company in Ohio, and finished the project in good order.

“It was a very difficult entry into the commercial space, but we got through it, and it was a great learning experience,” she said, adding that the company would go on to secure projects with a number of government entities in the ensuing years.

 

Drafting a Plan

That list includes the city of Springfield, which hired the firm to handle the abatement of the historic former Court Square Hotel, which is being converted into market-rate apartments; the National Park Service, which hired City Enterprise to undertake restoration of the porch of the commanding officer’s quarters at the Springfield Armory; UMass Amherst, which has contracted with the company on a number of projects, from renovations of the Rand Theater to envelope repairs at several of the dorms; UMass Medical School, which hired the company to do skylight replacement; the U.S. Coast Guard, which used the company for repairs and renovations to its small-arms range; and countless others.

Current projects include installation of a new marquee sign at the MassMutual Center, work at the Beals Library in Winchendon, and construction of a new amphitheater, also in Winchendon. The company has also submitted a proposal for the Old State House in Boston, what would be its most significant project to date, and is awaiting word on that bid application.

The growing list of clients, the wide range of work undertaken for them, and the growing staff at the company, now numbering 14, including an estimating staff, project managers, an accounting department, and that aforementioned vice president of Operations, shows how far this company has come since Murphy started building houses.

More intriguing, though, is where she wants to take it moving forward.

Indeed, as she mentioned at the top, City Enterprise is in a transition stage in its development, and the broad plan is to essentially scale the operation — in many different ways.

One of them is geographic reach. She said she would like to have a location in South Florida, and perhaps another in northern New England to better serve potential clients in that market. She is also looking at growing through acquisition as well.

“Time is always of the essence in real estate, because you want to hit the market at the right time.”

Meanwhile, as noted earlier, she is settling into … not a new role, necessarily, but a different set of responsibilities as the company makes this transition. Indeed, instead of handling many of the day-to-day matters, which will now be handled by Young, she will be even more focused on the proverbial big picture and goal setting.

“I’m not as involved with the day-to-day as I was a year ago because I have brought on a vice president of Operations,” she said. “But I am very involved with executing my vision and getting my team aligned with the vision, and getting the right people to go with me to that number I just mentioned — $150 million — which is probably the most important part.”

the porch at the commanding officer’s quarters at the Springfield Armory.

City Enterprise has tackled a number of assignments involving government agencies, including work to restore the porch at the commanding officer’s quarters at the Springfield Armory.

Elaborating, the company’s broad portfolio of projects — meaning the depth and diversity of the client base and the wide variety of work — is indicative of “where we’re going and who we are,” Murphy said, adding that the focus moving forward is simply on controlled growth and doing what’s necessary to meet those lofty goals.

A new headquarters building is a key part of that equation, she said, adding that she has plans on paper for a new building and a site in mind. Further diversification of the portfolio of clients is another key goal, she said, adding that the company is working to add more colleges and universities, government agencies, municipalities, and healthcare facilities, among others, to that already significant list.

Continued relationship building and potential collaborations with larger construction companies on larger projects is another part of that equation, she said, adding that the company’s status as a woman-owned and minority-owned company could be a huge asset in such collaborative efforts.

 

Bottom Line

Such conversations are ongoing, Murphy said, adding that, as she moves away from the day-to-day of running City Enterprise and more into the broad task of marketing the company and being its “face,” her job description falls into the category of making and building connections.

“It’s a very ambitious place I’m going to,” she said in conclusion, adding that she is putting the pieces in place for something special. The foundation has been built, and she is now ready to build upon it — and in dramatic fashion. u

 

George O’Brien can be reached at
[email protected]

Construction Industry Navigates One Challenge After Another

By
supply challenges would help builders and buyers move forward on projects with confidence
Construction

Waiting for a Correction

supply challenges would help builders and buyers move forward on projects with confidence

Dave Fontaine Jr. says a ‘correction’ on cost and supply challenges would help builders and buyers move forward on projects with confidence.
Photo by Joe Santa Maria, Kill the Ball Media

Dave Fontaine Jr. hears talk of a recession that could affect the construction industry, but he prefers to use a different word: correction. After a couple years of soaring costs, he feels one is necessary, and coming.

“I think in the last two years, costs have risen over 20% each year. When you go back over the last 30 years, the average increase per year is 2% to 4%,” said Fontaine, CEO of Fontaine Brothers Inc. in Springfield. “It’s been very difficult for projects to absorb, and for clients to absorb. We’ve seen several projects — some we’ve been involved in, some we’ve watched from the outside — that have either stalled or been canceled because of cost challenges.

“We’re hopefully undergoing a correction. And I like to use that word, the idea being that we need to get back to a correct place. Sometimes [rising costs] are a necessary evil: things get overheated; COVID brought challenges with supply chains, labor, and transport that affected materials and pricing. But I think, frankly, construction costs are in need of a correction. When that happens organically, when we’re able to broaden the supply chain again, get things flowing … we’ll get back to a place where people know what the cost is to build, and move forward with confidence.”

That said, Fontaine noted, “it’s been a really good year; we’ve been busy across all the geographies we serve and all the different sectors as well.”

Bill Laplante, president of Laplante Construction Inc. in East Longmeadow, which specializes in home building and remodeling, had an equally strong report.

“The demand carried over from 2021; demand for remodeling was really high, and a lot of that was just people being home during the pandemic. They were able to work from home and wanted to make a nice office or put a bedroom suite in.”

“We had a fantastic 2022. It was probably one of our best years in the last 20 years,” he said, noting that some of that success was driven by expansion onto Cape Cod, but some was based on demand that carried over from 2021. “Some of it was pandemic-related, but we actually have a really strong outlook for 2023 with the jobs we have in the pipeline.”

He agreed, though, that supply and cost challenges have been discouraging.

“Some materials, things like plastic pipe and conduit, have increased five times the cost. It’s not as simple as a 8% or 9% increase here and there; for some materials, it’s completely off the charts. It makes it difficult to sign a contract and build a house, when you’re not going to be purchasing those materials for four months, not knowing where things are truly going to land. Obviously, once costs go up, you try to plan for the next house.

“The supply-chain issues have been brutal over the last couple years,” he went on. “It seems like it’s something different every week. You can’t get the plastic for the buckets for drywall cement. Then the next week, you can’t get runners for cabinet drawers. The next week, you can’t get a hinge. That’s been very, very difficult. Plus, a lot more planning goes into it, with the increased lead times for windows, doors, and appliances. We need to get selections a lot sooner than we would from our customers so we can get orders placed. With high-end appliances, we’re out 10 to 12 months.”

Fontaine echoed those sentiments. “Lead times are still challenging. There are some items getting better, which is good, and most items are not getting worse, which is also good. But we’re still seeing a lot of difficulty with items like electronic components, chips, boards, stuff like that. That’s affecting things like rooftop units, electrical equipment, and generators.

demand has been up for new homes

Bill Laplante says demand has been up for new homes and remodels alike, despite rising interest rates.

“For us, it’s not anything that’s stopped our projects from opening on time,” he added, “just something we’ve had to pay much more attention to, and we’ve become more creative with how we procure things and meet our schedules.”

 

Ups and Downs

Despite reports that some area contractors had a strong 2022, rising interest rates are expected to impact construction nationally in 2022. The 2023 Dodge Construction Outlook predicts U.S. construction starts will drop by 3% next year.

Meanwhile, the Architecture Billings Index, a forward-looking indicator for construction activity, dropped significantly in October after 20 months of positive growth. And the Associated Builders and Contractors backlog indicator, which tracks work construction firms have booked but haven’t yet begun, fell below its pre-pandemic reading from February 2020, largely due to a decline in the commercial and institutional category.

“The construction sector has already started to feel the impact of rising interest rates,” said Richard Branch, chief economist at Dodge. “The Federal Reserve’s ongoing battle with inflation has raised concerns that a recession is imminent in the new year. Regardless of the label, the economy is slated to significantly slow, unemployment will edge higher, and for parts of the construction sector, it will feel like a recession.”

Some sectors are expected to perform well, he added, including data-center construction, manufacturing starts — especially chip-fabrication plants and electric-vehicle battery plants — and publicly funded infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, the office, warehouse, hotel, and retail sectors are expected to lag. Branch also expects single-family starts to drop about 5% next year.

“There’s got to be more emphasis put on job training and vocational schools. The opportunities out there for tradespeople, and what a skilled tradesperson can make, are incredible.”

Laplante said remodeling, additions, renovations, and home improvements comprise 30% to 40% of his firm’s work, and the pandemic played a role there.

“Again, the demand carried over from 2021; demand for remodeling was really high, and a lot of that was just people being home during the pandemic. They were able to work from home and wanted to make a nice office or put a bedroom suite in. We saw that pretty much across the board. People weren’t traveling overseas; they were putting in poolhouses and sunrooms and outdoor kitchens, things like that.”

While he expects interest rates to slow activity in the home-building and remodeling industry, Laplante said the large size of some of his projects, which can take from six months to a year, tends to dampen any slowdown.

“Smaller remodelers are probably seeing more of an effect with interest rates slowing things down quicker than we will see it,” he said. “And then, of course, we’re working with a lot of customers who aren’t interest-rate-sensitive.”

He added that subcontractors may see a slowdown before builders because they don’t deal with the same project duration.

The Cape Cod expansion is a strategic move partly based on the fact that Laplante was already building there, and it’s also a fairly high-end market, where, as he noted, clients are more willing to weather higher interest rates. “So part of that was a hedge against the economy; you don’t see the deep swings in demand you would see in the Western Mass. market.”

the facade of the former Court Square Hotel

A worker from Fontaine Brothers works on the facade of the former Court Square Hotel.
Photo by Joe Santa Maria, Kill the Ball Media

Fontaine said his company, while also expanding its reach geographically, is taking on more housing work now that it’s starting to become a priority again. “We did a lot of it for a long time, and we’re seeing a lot more public housing, affordable housing, make its way back through the funding pipeline.”

His most notable current project in that realm is the ongoing transformation, with Winn Development, of the Court Square Hotel in Springfield into 71 units of market-rate housing, accompanied by retail on the ground floor.

Fontaine’s longtime presence in the education sector is also strong right now, with projects including the new DeBerry-Swan Elementary School in Springfield, an elementary school in Tyngsborough, a middle school in Walpole, a project at UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, and the $240 million Doherty Memorial High School, the largest project in the city of Worcester’s history.

 

Help Wanted

After inflation and supply woes, the third challenge construction companies are dealing with remains a workforce crunch, which has affected many other sectors of the economy as well.

“The number of people going into the trades is way, way down,” Laplante said. “There’s got to be more emphasis put on job training and vocational schools. The opportunities out there for tradespeople, and what a skilled tradesperson can make, are incredible.”

To that end, he works directly with area vocational schools to cultivate talent, and often schools that aren’t vocational, per se, but have vocational programs. For example, an intern from Longmeadow High School will come on board soon, and Laplante hired another intern from that school last year.

“Through COVID, we’ve had people who have been borderline on retirement, and COVID pushed them to retire,” Fontaine said of one of the stress points in the construction workforce. “But we honestly haven’t had as significant labor challenges as some of our peers.”

That’s partly due to working with some of the large local unions, which can supply a more reliable workforce, he said. “But we’ve also put a lot of focus the last few years into workforce development, even before COVID. We actively go into the community and work with workforce programs, with community organizations, to bring people into the workforce.”

Those efforts are crucial, he added. “When I look at the next 20 to 30 years, that’s one of the biggest challenges, to be able to recruit people into the trades.”

Fontaine added that his company has been able to integrate a lot of technology into projects over the last few years, which has helped overcome challenges related to cost, lead times, and workforce. “We’re using technology to track lead times and inform other projects, so we avoid those ‘gotcha’ moments, and we’re using technology to coordinate mechanical systems and prefabricate them off-site, which helps with some of that labor and lead-time burden.”

In short, he said, “we’re trying to modernize an industry that’s by nature not modern, to the best extent possible. That’s been a big theme for us the last couple years.”

That said, the main theme across the industry in 2023 could be the impact of those rising interest rates finally coming to roost.

“Our planning process is so long, and the jobs we’re getting ready to start now are jobs that were planned four months ago, and when the financing is finally put together, we’re ready to get shovels in the ground. That’s a house that people ultimately will be moving into in the fall,” Laplante explained. “So, because of that, we see a little more of a lag in the drop in demand based on the interest rates, but it certainly is coming.”

Still, Dodge’s Branch believes any downturn in the construction industry will not be as dire as the Great Recession, which settled over the U.S. almost 15 years ago.

“The funds provided to the construction industry through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act will counter the downturn, allowing the construction industry to tread water,” he said. “During the Great Recession, there was no place to find solace in construction activity — 2023 will be quite different.”

 

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Bryan Hughes Builds on Experience as President of Western Builders

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Bryan Hughes
Construction Special Coverage

Managing Change

As Bryan Hughes listed off some recent projects at Western Builders, where he took the reins as president on Oct. 3, he mentioned the new Girls Inc. of the Valley headquarters on Hampden Street in Holyoke.

“I’m excited to see that project, how they’re doing in that building,” he said, “because I have some memories there.”

He certainly does, as the property was previously the headquarters of the O’Connell Companies, of which Western is one of five divisions. The main construction division, Daniel O’Connell’s Sons (DOC), is where Hughes cut his teeth in the industry and then built his experience and skillset for nine years.

While at DOC, Hughes filled numerous roles over the years, most notably as a project manager on several college and university campuses, overseeing projects that ranged between $30 million to $80 million in overall construction cost, including Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum and the UConn Athletic Village.

“We had a lot of diverse projects, and I was able to learn a lot just being in the field,” he told BusinessWest.

Construction management wasn’t his first career path, however. “I’m math- and science-based for the most part; that’s how my mind works,” he said of his enrollment at Lehigh University to study engineering.

East Gables in Amherst

East Gables in Amherst is a passive-house project, a voluntary standard for energy efficiency.

“I landed on civil engineering because I was interested in the building side of things and heavy, highway-type construction. But when I graduated, I realized I have people skills as well that would go underutilized if I stayed in the engineering field. So construction management was a perfect fit in terms of combining the technical and personal aspects of the the construction field. And I really fell in love with it when I started with DOC.”

During his time at O’Connell, Hughes attended a hybrid program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute to earn his MBA. “That further honed my interest in the business side of things and ultimately got me interested and inspired to lead a company.”

When the opportunity came up to lead the 26-employee team at Western Builders, both Hughes and O’Connell leadership felt it was a good fit. “What led me to Western was my experience, just having a passion for construction and getting into the details of a project, both techically and in terms of relationships with clients and the community.”

“Part of what we provide as a service is to understand the issues with the supply chain and try to react to them as best we can, or at least propose solutions to owners to work around those challenges.”

James Sullivan, president of the O’Connell Companies, agreed. “We are very fortunate to have someone of Mr. Hughes’ caliber and experience, and I am very confident that Bryan will successfully lead Western and will do so with a clear understanding of our culture and reputation,” he said at the time of the hiring.

“He has exceptional operational and communication skills and is client- and employee-focused with deep leadership capabilities, proven to me in his nine-year tenure in another subsidiary company, Daniel O’Connell’s Sons,” Sullivan added. “With this renewed leadership, I am confident our best years lie ahead of us, and that Western will continue to be the builder of choice in the communities we serve.”

 

Learning by Doing

Hughes’s final job for DOC was managing a project in Rhode Island with the Narragansett Bay Commission, which followed a design-build project-delivery method.

“We were in control of the design process for two new buildings — the administration and maintenance buildings,” he explained. “I think design-build is a method that could be more ubiquitous in the future, combining our talents as construction managers to include the design team in that process.”

While his role will certainly change as the president of Western, his experience as a project manager on multiple large projects helped him hone his organizational and leadership skills.

Western’s 26 Spring development

Western’s 26 Spring development is among the projects in Amherst aimed at mitigating the town’s housing shortage.

“As a PM, it’s a lot of correspondence with the design team, building a relationship with the owner so there’s a trust factor there, and just bringing the team together — working with the superintendent to nail down a schedule and keeping subcontractors accountable.

“Inevitably in the construction industry, things come up, so PMs manage the change-order process as well and how to solve problems on behalf of the owner, and come up with solutions to those problems,” he added. “We provide the service for the owner so they feel a comfort level going into a project and through that project — we’re kind of looking out for their best interest.”

Hughes takes over at a company that has built a strong reputation in recent years in commercial housing projects, including two in downtown Amherst in partnership with Archipelago Investments that are attempting to fill a critical shortage of housing in town — an issue many municipalities are facing.

“There’s a lot in the pipeline in the housing sector,” he added. “That’s one thing people come to us with — people trust us based on past performance in the housing market, or the commercial-housing space,” he said. “We’re working with some developers now on some other potential properties, all in Western Mass. or Connecticut.”

While Western boasts a wheelhouse of sorts in housing, “we have the capability and the capacity to broaden those horizons and take on more challenging projects because of the experience level of our people,” he added, noting, as examples, a current project to build a PeoplesBank branch in South Windsor, Conn., and the firm’s work a few years ago to renovate the Basketball Hall of Fame and update the weatherproofing of its signature sphere, panel by panel.

“Developers and owners come to Western and ask us to help them with their projects because we have close-knit roots in the area,” Hughes went on. “And what I’ve really learned to love about Western is the sense of feeling comfortable and at home and part of the community. That makes Western more attractive to a lot of developers who are coming from New York City or Boston or all over the country to develop Western Mass. And I think we’re ready to take on the challenges of guiding those folks through that journey to develop the area.”

“If we have a plan to grow as a company and take on some of these challenging projects, we’re going to need more people to do that, especially as some of our highly talented, very experienced people start to retire. In terms of age demographics, there are more people going out than people coming in. So that’s a tide that’s working against us too.”

An increasing number of such projects involve passive housing, which is a voluntary standard for energy-efficiency in a building, he added. “We see that as a space that’s going to continue to grow. So, when I mention developing Western Mass., there’s a smart and climate-conscious way of doing that.”

 

Supply and Demand

While Hughes sees opportunities to grow the business at Western, he’s also dealing with the same inflation and supply-chain issues plaguing all other companies in this sector.

“The supply chain has been a challenge for us and for a lot of our competitors for sure,” he told BusinessWest. “Part of what we provide as a service is to understand the issues with the supply chain and try to react to them as best we can, or at least propose solutions to owners to work around those challenges. It’s nobody’s fault … it’s just another thing that has come up in the industry, like everything Western has dealt with for the past 45 years or so — just another bump in the road. It too shall pass.”

The hope is that price pressures will ease sooner than later, of course. “I think there will be some level of plateau, especially with interest rates going up, and hopefully the broader industry can find that balance of prices that are acceptable for everyone so that owners and developers still want to do business, still want to proceed with their projects. And I think we’re on that path for sure.”

As he looks to future growth, Hughes faces another national headwind — the challenge of hiring and retaining a workforce in a tight market for employers.

“Just like every other company around, we can always use more good people; it’s hard to find help,” he said. “If we have a plan to grow as a company and take on some of these challenging projects, we’re going to need more people to do that, especially as some of our highly talented, very experienced people start to retire. In terms of age demographics, there are more people going out than people coming in. So that’s a tide that’s working against us too.”

But he’s hopeful about the younger generation, noting that he attended an awards gala at Springfield Technical Community College earlier this month, and “we heard some stories about the students there and their willingness and excitement to get out into the industry. I think there are a lot of good opportunities for young people — at STCC, Bay Path, Westfield State, Putnam, even up at UMass there’s a building and construction technology program. That’s a lot of young people I hope are willing and excited to stick around Western Mass.”

Originally from Rhode Island, Hughes chose this region as well, as did his fiancee, an Ohio native whom he met playing dodgeball in Northampton seven years ago; they’ll marry in April.

“When I started working with DOC, I was able to find a home in Western Mass.,” he said. “I really enjoy this area of the country and hope to stay here for many years to come.”

He remembers first settling down here and those early days at O’Connell, when he was one of those young people excited to get started in construction.

“I really considered the older, more experienced people role models for me, listening to their stories. Coming up through the ranks as a laborer doing physical manual labor and working up to being a superintendent, those types of stories really inspired me; I knew I could learn a lot from those people. So while a lot of our more experienced people are on the way out the door, the more people we can bring in to learn from them before they’re gone, the better-positioned Western will be for the future.”

 

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

U.S. Construction Industry Lags Due to Global Labor Shortage

By
Construction

Survey Says

Construction’s skilled-labor shortage is a well-known and serious concern for the U.S. construction sector, but the extent of the problem shows issues that need to be resolved right away if the country is to satisfy rising construction demand.

Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and Autodesk conducted a workforce survey, and the results show that 93% of construction companies report having positions available they are trying to fill, and 91% of those firms are having trouble trying to fill at least some of those positions, especially among the craft workforce that accomplishes the majority of on-site construction activities.

According to Ken Simonson, chief economist at AGC, the most common rationale for problems filling positions, mentioned by 77% of employers, is that available individuals lack the skills required to work in construction or cannot take a drug test.

According to the national employment figures, the construction sector’s unemployment rate as of July was actually slightly lower than that of other sectors, he added. That’s remarkable in a sector where workers aren’t always kept on the payroll once a project is completed. With a 3.5% rate, virtually no one with prior construction expertise is actively seeking employment in the industry.

However, a panel of construction professionals in a webinar hosted by AGC said the industry needs to attack the issue from every perspective, which includes education and training, public relations, and things as simple as employers improving wages, perks, and labor standards. The survey results highlight the need for public officials to invest in new workforce-development programs focused on the construction industry.

According to Simonson, federal, state, and local officials must invest in the kinds of professional and technical education programs that will introduce more current and future employees to the myriad job possibilities that exist in construction. Additionally, these programs offer the kind of fundamental capabilities employers are looking for.

On a completely separate note, Simonson proposed that, in order to help cover demand gaps, federal officials could also take action to permit more workers to legally enter the nation. Later in the online conversation, the panelists discussed how to spread the word about the advantages of a career in construction to other undiscovered labor pools, including those in the retail and hospitality industries.

The panelists also talked about considering those who have served time in prison as job seekers because many of them are trying to better their lives but haven’t had much luck finding work.

Regardless of potential remedies, the existing shortages will undoubtedly hinder the completion of projects.

Construction enterprises of all shapes, sizes, and labor arrangements are suffering from a serious scarcity of laborers, according to Simonson. These labour shortages are making it harder for businesses to deal with supply-chain risks that are driving up building material costs and causing uncertainty in delivery times and product availability.

Indeed, 82% of businesses claim that projects they are working on have been delayed due to supply-chain issues, and six in ten state that projects have been delayed due to manpower shortages. The federal government’s new infrastructure spending and more recent expenditures on semiconductor manufacturers and energy-infrastructure projects won’t deliver as much as promised if there aren’t enough people to keep up with demand, Simonson cautioned.

The findings indicate that all kinds of businesses are facing the same difficulties. Contractors working on building projects, highway and transportation initiatives, federal and heavy work, or utility infrastructure reported results that have been remarkably similar, whether they used only union craft labor or open-shop employers, contractors with annual revenues of $50 million or less, or those with more than $500 million.

Construction is becoming more expensive as a result of labor shortages and supply-chain issues. In the past year, 86% of businesses increased the basic pay rates for their employees, while 70% passed on higher material costs to project owners.

Some project owners have canceled or delayed projects due to cost and supply-chain issues; according to 58% of respondents, owners have done so due to rising costs, while one-third of enterprises say projects have been affected by extended or unknown completion deadlines.

Many construction companies claim to be taking action to address the labor shortage. Along with the fact that most companies have increased pay rates, 45% of them are now offering incentives and bonuses, and 24% of them have also upgraded their benefit packages.

Technology is a key factor in how well businesses are able to deal with difficulties like labor shortages. In fact, 87% of businesses agree that, in order to enable new technologies to succeed, staff must be proficient in digital technology. Even if few candidates have the necessary construction abilities, at least half of the responding businesses claim that the individuals they are employing have the necessary technology skills.

While the majority of construction companies are now having trouble filling vacant positions with qualified candidates, Allison Scott, director of Customer Experience and Industry Advocacy at Autodesk, noted that, as more workers retire, the labor crisis will only worsen. What’s promising is that construction companies understand this and are proactively training young people for careers in the industry.

She added that the industry is committed to taking action to build the next generation of the workforce, as seen by the increased efforts in career development and training programs, as well as an emphasis on digital skills.

The AGC is urging officials at the federal, state, and local levels to support career and technical education initiatives that will introduce more current and future workers to the diverse career options in the construction industry. In order to help bridge demand gaps until the domestic channel for training personnel is established, the group is also pleading with federal officials to permit additional workers to legally enter the country.

There is a lot of work for the business to undertake, but there aren’t enough workers or resources to finish the projects, according to Simonson. The construction industry will be able to rebuild America’s infrastructure, modernize its manufacturing sector, and contribute to the delivery of a more dependable and cleaner energy grid by addressing labor shortages and supply-chain issues. u

 

This article first appeared in World Construction Today.

The Berkshire School Uses $30 Million Bond for Additions, Upgrades

By
Construction

Center of Activity

MassDevelopment recently issued a $30 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of the Berkshire School, an independent, coeducational, college-preparatory boarding and day school in Sheffield for grades 9 through 12 and post-graduates.

The school will use bond proceeds to build a 17,000-square-foot addition to the existing 31,000-square-foot student center; replace the building’s roof, windows, and mechanical, electrical, and fire-protection systems; and fund furniture, fixtures, and equipment for the building. When complete, the student center will house a kitchen, dining commons, music center, gathering space, snack bar, club space, Student Life offices, post office, bookstore, radio station, and more.

Construction is expected to begin in the late spring of 2023 and be completed in the fall of 2024. TD Bank purchased the bond, which will also fund construction of new faculty housing.

“The Commonwealth is fortunate to have many independent preparatory schools in our education ecosystem that provide quality academic experiences for students and open the door to successful career paths in our communities,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy, who serves as chair of MassDevelopment’s board of directors. “MassDevelopment’s financing solutions gives these schools the chance to make cost-effective upgrades to their facilities.”

MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera noted that “a key component to a well-balanced academic and social experience is providing students with a place to join together outside of the classroom. We’re pleased to be a part of the Berkshire School’s investment in student life and faculty housing that will improve the foundation of its campus and community.”

Andrew Webster, TD Bank’s vice president and senior relationship manager, added that “we are thrilled to work with MassDevelopment and be a part of the expansion and improvements being made to the Berkshire School campus. The local community is an integral part of what we do at TD, and we are honored to be able to support quality education for the students and faculty who live within it.”

Established in 1907, the Berkshire School is located on a 400-acre campus and serves approximately 400 students from 30 states and 31 countries. It offers signature programs in advanced math and science research and advanced humanities research with a range of artistic and athletic offerings, along with national recognition for its efforts in sustainability. In addition, students have their choice of more than 50 extracurricular clubs, interest groups, affinity spaces, and activities to foster individual talents, promote self-esteem, and encourage leadership.

MassDevelopment has previously supported Berkshire School with tax-exempt financing. In 2018, the  agency issued a $3 million tax-exempt bond to help the school build, furnish, and equip an approximately 2,280-square-foot addition to its Spurr dormitory, demolish and reconstruct portions of the building, and replace about 185,000 square feet of existing athletic turf fields.

“Once again, MassDevelopment has stepped up to support Berkshire School in a truly impactful way,” Berkshire School Chief Financial Officer Robert Boyd said. “This financing will help us to build and create an open and multi-functional space where everyone is welcomed and has a place to come together as a community.”

 

Tighe & Bond Earns 2 Awards for Coonamessett River Restoration Project

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Construction Daily News Environment and Engineering Landscape Design Meetings & Conventions News Tourism & Hospitality

WESTFIELD — Tighe & Bond, Inter-Fluve, the Town of Falmouth (MA), and project partners have been recognized with two awards for the Coonamessett River Restoration and John Parker Road Bridge project.

The project team received the Bronze Engineering Excellence Award from The American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts (ACEC/MA) and the Nicholas Humber Outstanding Collaboration Award from the Environmental Business Council of New England (EBC).

The awards recognize the successful transformation of 56 acres of abandoned cranberry bogs, which established a thriving, self-sustaining ecosystem supporting wildlife, increasing coastal resiliency, and providing educational opportunities. Numerous barriers to fish passage were removed including a dam, water control structures, a series of undersized culverts that were replaced with the new John Parker Road Bridge, and 5,560 feet of the river were reestablished to closely match the historic natural flow of the river. A river overlook is a gateway to miles of trail with interpretive signs about the natural history placed along the river that is protected by town and land trust conservation lands.

“The Coonamessett River restoration achieved its goals to be a nature-based solution to increase resiliency to climate change and community resiliency,” said Elizabeth Gladfelter, Falmouth Conservation Commission Member. “This project has increased awareness and stewardship of natural resources in Falmouth and both formal and informal educational programs.”

Project partners spanning local, state, and federal organizations collaborated with the technical engineering and construction teams to successfully complete this project. The restoration is serving as an example for other Cape Cod communities transforming former cranberry bogs across the region into thriving wildlife habitats and educational and recreational opportunities for all.

$475 Million Courthouse Plan Proposed

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Architecture Construction Daily News Real Estate

SPRINGFIELD — Developer Peter A Picknelly, along with Springfield city officials, on Thursday unveiled a proposal to build a new Hampden County courthouse on a 14.5-acre site along the Connecticut River north of the Memorial Bridge. The proposal, which also includes housing and a marina, comes with a pricetag of $475 million.

The plans, unveiled at a press conference, call for a four-story, 210,000-260,000-square-foot courthouse; an 11-story residential apartment building with 120-180 units; and a 50-slip marina on the waterfront and a space for an outdoor restaurant.

The proposal hinges on whether the state decides to replace the troubled Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse on State Street. The state is exploring potential new sites and the cost of building a new courthouse; the existing facility has been plagued by health concerns.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said that if the state decides to build a new courthouse, the proposed riverfront site would be the ideal location.

Sarno, Picknelly, and Tim Sheehan, Springfield’s chief development officer, all said that a development of this size and with its various components could be a catalyst for growth along the river and in the North End of the city, similar to what the Basketball Hall of Fame has done for the area south of the Memorial Bridge.

Dodge Momentum Index Up in May

By
Construction

Increase Pushes Level of Planning Above Most Recent Cyclical High

A measure of nonresidential building projects, the Dodge Momentum Index provides an analysis of the construction industry. Analysists delivered some bright news recently with the announcement that the Dodge Momentum Index increased 7% in May.

The index measures data about nonresidential building projects planned, to track spending in the sector. For May, the institutional component of the Momentum Index rose 9%, and the commercial component increased 6%.

May’s reading came in at 176.2, up from April’s 165.2.

According to Dodge Data & Analytics, May’s increase in the Dodge Momentum Index pushed the level of planning above the most recent cyclical high in November 2021.

During the month of May, commercial planning was led higher by an increase in office and hotel projects. Institutional planning saw a boost in education and healthcare projects entering planning. On a year-over-year basis, the Momentum Index was 17% higher than in May 2021. The commercial component was 24% higher, and the institutional component was 8% higher than one year ago.

A total of 19 projects with a value of $100 million or more entered planning in May.

The leading commercial projects were:

• $333 million Bitcoin Mining Facility (a large computing building) in Corsicana, Texas

• $300 million Gun Lake Hotel and Resort in Wayland, Mich.

The leading institutional projects were:

• $250 million Drexel University life sciences building in Philadelphia

• $160 million Colorado Research Exchange life sciences campus in Broomfield, Colo.

Despite higher interest rates and fear of recession, nonresidential building projects continue to steadily enter the planning cycle, according to Dodge. While higher prices and labor shortages may result in projects reaching groundbreaking later in 2022 or early 2023, they provide hope that the construction sector will be able to withstand a potential economic slowdown fed by higher interest rates.