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The Wright Stuff

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Construction Sections
Northampton-based Builders Make a Living on the Cutting Edge

Mark Ledwell, left, and Jonathan Wright

Mark Ledwell, left, and Jonathan Wright stand next to the remains of the entrance pillars to the former Northampton State Hospital, where the Village Hill mixed-use complex is taking shape.

It’s called the “home of the future” by its designer, Bruce Coldham of Coldham & Hartman Architests in Amherst, but it’s being lived in today.
This would be the 2,700-square-foot structure in Hadley that was honored by GreenBuilder magazine with one of its ‘Home of the Year’ awards in 2011, the only house in the Northeast to be so recognized. There are many numbers associated with this dwelling — and that prestigious award — but the most significant is 33, or minus 33, to be more precise.
That’s what the house earned for a Home Energy Rating, or HERS, which means that it produced 33% more energy than it consumed for the previous year, said Jonathan Wright, founder and president of Northampton-based Wright Builders, which constructed the home.
“Through an extremely well-designed plan, a very tight building envelope, and PV [photovoltaic] panels, we went way past zero,” said Wright, referring to the term ‘net zero’ — a benchmark used to describe structures that don’t consume more energy than they create — and putting heavy emphasis on the word ‘way.’
The GreenBuilder award judges were suitably impressed, noting that “this home’s building science is well ahead of the curve.”
That term is one increasingly used in association with projects undertaken by Wright, a nearly 40-year-old company that specializes in residential, commercial, and institutional building, and has a hard-earned reputation for being on the cutting edge of new building processes and techniques, especially with regard to energy consumption and conservation.
“Before these certifications were around, we just considered it smart building,” said Mark Ledwell, Wright’s long-time partner and the company’s co-principal, referring to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and other building benchmarks used today. “We’ve tried to keep abreast of the materials and new technologies and stay on the cutting edge; we want to make buildings that last.”
This philosophy has guided the company through every project in a broad portfolio that includes everything from a host of buildings at Smith College (one of the firm’s many clients in the education sector) to several components of the multi-faceted initiative taking shape on the grounds of the former Northampton State Hospital.
For this issue and its focus on construction, BusinessWest talked with Wright and Ledwell about the business they’ve built, the philosophies that shape it, and where they want to take in the future, which, in many respects, as mentioned earlier, is already here.

Framework for Success
Wright was a member of the first graduating class at Hampshire College in 1970. He liked to write and was contemplating careers involving that skill, but a number of summers spent doing carpentry work eventually took him down a much different path.
“It was supposed to be a pause on the way to some other career that never happened,” he told BusinessWest, “because this one [building] got really interesting really quickly.”
Indeed, soon after graduating from Hampshire with a liberal arts degree, he started Wright Builders and, soon thereafter, another, somewhat related venture called Wright Architectural Millwork, also in Northampton, which created custom wood interiors for offices and private residences.
While he operated them both successfully, Wright eventually realized that he needed to focus his time and energy on one or the other, and in 1994 he sold the millwork operation to employees Walt Price and Mike Buell and concentrated solely on Wright Builders.

The award-winning Cave family home in Hadley

The award-winning Cave family home in Hadley was designed by Coldham & Hartman Architects of Amherst and built by Wright Builders.

And he was joined in that venture a few years later by Ledwell, who had started his own company, Ledwell Woodworking and Building, in 1985, but 15 years later was ready for a change and a new challenge.
“I was getting a little tired of pushing my own rock up the hill,” said Ledwell, who was looking for high-quality product output in a larger establishment — and found that all that at Wright Builders.
The two have been partners since 2007, and they’ve established the company as an innovator, not only in building techniques, but in operating philosophy and policies for its 28 employees.
For example, Wright was one of the first builders to offer health insurance in 1976, and later added maternity leave for both men and women. Today, employees are allowed a week’s vacation in the summer, a rare perk in an industry that must make the most of this region’s comparatively short building season.
“Part of our job as leaders is to see not only where we’re going, but where we want the business to go and where the people who are crucial to our business are going with their careers,” said Wright.
But that term ‘innovator’ is most often used in reference to the company’s leading-edge work in building strategies and processes, especially with regard to the environment.
And this is hardly a recent phenomenon.

LEED by Design
When Wright started out in the ’70s, he was already working on passive solar homes, and was recognized by then Gov. Michael Dukakis in the area of energy efficiency and high-performance building. While the science and technology of the emerging green-building trend has been a consistent theme for the company, the world has in some ways caught up with Wright Builders, which is nonetheless commited to staying ahead.
“We’re really able to focus on building the best-performing and most environmentally friendly buildings that we possibly can,” said Wright, adding that this mentality crosses into all aspects of the company’s work, from residential to institutional.
Ledwell concurred.
“Water is the enemy in our business, and today our homes are tighter, healthier, and more comfortable, and use a lot less energy,” he said, “which is easier on our customers’ pocketbooks and good for the overall health of the environment.”
Referencing their broad portfolio, Wright and Ledwell said their projects fall into three main categories: personal, institutional, and what they call ‘performance.’
In the personal category, especially with Wright’s and Ledwell’s carpentry background, are projects that allow them to get involved with an individual’s or organization’s creative process.
Wright said that perhaps the most gratifying example of such work was a recent project for New York Times bestseller and Emmy Award-winning children’s-book author Mo Willem, who penned Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and the Knuffle Bunny books. He needed a complete renovation and a writing studio created in his roughly century-old Northampton home, and commissioned Wright to handle the work.
In the institutional realm, the company has carved out an effective niche, handling work for a number of area schools. Wright said the work is rewarding and uniquely challenging because the buildings stand for decades and often become symbols of the institutions in question.
“You’ve got to do a good job there because that building’s going to be in service for the next 30 or 40 years,” said Wright, noting that some on the campus of Smith College joke with Wright and Ledwell, calling the main gate of the college ‘Wright’s Corner,’ because three of the four corners are Wright Builders projects.
Meanwhile, the partners consider the performance category to be the most intriguing in many respects, because it’s based on the technology that is enabling them to build amazingly sustainable buildings.
The aforementioned home in Hadley falls into this group, said Wright, noting that GreenBuilder selected 10 outstanding projects displaying the best and most cutting-edge green residential building.
Wright and Ledwell point proudly to two other sustainable projects, one brand new, the soon-to-be-constructed net-zero Welcome Center at Hampshire College  — the school’s first new building in a decade — and the Village Hill project.
Wright and his wife, Meg Kelsey Wright, a professional musician, now call Village Hill home, making them one of many to be drawn to the attractive mix of townhouses and single-family homes that are a key component of the massive, mixed-use endeavor.
“It’s a source of satisfaction for Mark and I,” said Wright, noting that the company has worked with Kuhn Riddle Architects and Berkshire Design Group, both of Amherst; Goggins Real Estate; Florence Savings Bank; MassDevelopment; and the City of Northampton to bring the project to life. “To put together the financing, the vision, and work with the state agencies and bring together all the talent that is needed to pull it off is very rewarding.”

Finishing Touch
Wright, now in his early ’60s, understands that this is the age when many people in business start to think about slowing down.
But he’s having none of that.
“I’m not done,” he laughed, “because there’s just really interesting stuff to do now. It’s different than it was five years ago, and I just wake up every morning, and I can’t wait to work on it all.”
This is the way it’s been from the start for this company, which has always been on the cutting edge, and has no intention of being anywhere else.

Elizabeth Taras can be reached at [email protected]

Lessons Learned

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The new Longmeadow High School
Construction Sections
Schools Say Green Construction Benefits Students, Teachers

The new West Springfield High School

The new West Springfield High School is expected to be certified as a LEED Silver building when it’s completed.

‘Green’ is definitely the hot trend when it comes to school construction — and a new, comprehensive report suggests that the benefits are wide-ranging.

While businesses of all kinds are increasingly calling for more environmentally friendly, energy-efficient building designs — with many seeking certification from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a rigorous program of the U.S. Green Building Council — in many ways the education sector has been leading the way.

And, according to a report recently issued by McGraw-Hill Construction titled “New and Retrofit Green Schools: The Cost Benefits and Influence of a Green School on Its Occupants,” schools of all levels — elementary, middle, and high — as well as universities, report significant benefits from studying and working in green buildings — advantages that extend well beyond economics.

It’s an area ripe for study; McGraw-Hill characterizes the education-construction market to be at the “vanguard” of green building, estimating that 45% of total construction starts in the education sector in 2012 had green components — a sharp increase from 15%
in 2008. “And that estimate,” the authors note, “does not even include the full scope of work being done to green existing buildings through retrofits and green operations and maintenance.”

In Western Mass., the trend is pervasive. Many recent and ongoing high-school projects in the region — including new buildings for Easthampton High School, West Springfield High School, Longmeadow High School, and Minnechaug Regional High School, to name a few — feature significant green aspects, from photovoltaic energy production to extensive natural light to a building materials relatively free of toxins and respiratory irritants.

“What is driving this market?” the report asks. “Like
all other sectors, schools are driven by
the goal of saving money and energy. However, this sector is unique among all those studied by McGraw-Hill construction … because the impact of green buildings on the health and well-being of their students is as important as energy in encouraging new green investments. In fact, the level of green work is so high in this sector because many report seeing the financial, health and well-being, and productivity benefits that they seek.”

The new Longmeadow High School

The new Longmeadow High School offers copious amounts of natural light among its features.

Indeed, two-thirds of the surveyed schools report that they have an enhanced reputation and ability to attract students due to their green investments. Meanwhile, 91% of K-12 schools and 87% of higher-education institutions state that green buildings increase health and well-being, while 74% of K-12 schools and 63% of colleges and universities report improved student productivity.

Additionally, 70% of K-12 schools and 63% of universities report that student tests scores increased in the wake of green construction. Employees are happier, too, as 83% of K-12 schools and 85% of university leaders report increased faculty satisfaction as a result of teaching in a green building.

Whatever the metric, there appears to be growing evidence that green building design is more than a fad in the educational world, but a trend with real long-term benefits.

 

Cost and Effect

When deciding to go green at their facilities, many businesses look first at the cost, and that’s no different for municipalities or colleges looking to erect school buildings. And a 2006 study conducted by Capital E, a national clean-energy and green-building firm, argues strongly for the fiscal benefits of such construction.

Its cross-country review of 30 green schools demonstrates that green schools cost less than 2% more to build than conventional schools — or about $3 per square
foot — but provide financial benefits that are 20 times as large. In fact, the report argues, that extra $3 pays off in $71 worth of ancillary financial benefits, from energy and water savings to asthma and flu reduction, to decreased absenteeism and greater teacher retention.

“Greening school design,” notes Gregory Kats, managing principal of Capital E, “provides an extraordinarily cost-effective way to enhance student learning, reduce health and operational costs, and, ultimately, increase school quality and competitiveness.”

He concedes that his report — co-sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers, the American Institute of Architects, the American Lung Assoc., the Federation of American Scientists, and the U.S. Green Building Council — doesn’t quantify every possible benefit of green buildings, including reduced teacher sick days, reduced maintenance costs, reduced insured and uninsured risks, increased state competitiveness, and others.

The recent McGraw-Hill study isn’t all-encompassing, either, but it does delve deeply into the question of how significantly a school designed to reduce its environmental impact on the world
can affect the health and learning abilities of its students, in ways ranging from reducing respiratory illnesses
and absenteeism to improving test scores.

“Given the complexity of interactions between people and their environments, establishing cause-and-effect relationships between an attribute of a green school and its occupants has been a challenge,” the report notes. But it does detail several possible benefits of a greener environment, including:

• Indoor air. Plenty of research exists to demonstrate that the health of children and adults can be affected by indoor air quality, and that increased particulate matter, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), toxins, irritants, and allergens from mold can lead to respiratory illnesses and asthma.

On the other hand, good indoor air quality is typically marked by effective ventilation, filter efficiency, temperature and humidity control, and stricter operations, maintenance, and cleaning practices. For instance, in a 2002 study in Finland, researchers identified an average 15% reduction in the incidence of the common cold in schools that had no moisture or
mold problems. And according to researchers at Lawrence Berkely National Laboratories, when ventilation rates drop below minimum standards, student performance test results drop by 5% to 10%.

“Good ventilation is the most impactful way to protect lung health in a green school, but reducing and preventing the source of indoor air pollutants is another key area,” notes Janice Nolen, assistant vice president of National Policy and Advocacy for the American Lung Assoc., in the McGraw-Hill report.

“Indoor air pollution such as particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, and irritants can originate from various sources indoors, such as building equipment, furnishings, flooring, and cleaning equipment,” she continues. “For example, it is important not to use cleaning supplies within schools that are going to cause irritations and breathing problems such asthma or chronic lung diseases.”

• Lighting. As recently as the 1970s and even the 1980s, the report notes, conventional wisdom held that lack of daylight, while irksome to some students, had no discernible impact on test scores. But since then, studies have shown that daylight can affect student health and learning.

Indeed, 48% of K-12 survey respondents and 56% of university leaders said increased access to natural light and outside views from their classrooms increased student engagement. Among other studies, one conducted by the Heschong Mahone Group in 1999 showed that students in classrooms well-lit by natural sunlight had 7% to 26% higher test scores over the course
of a year, compared with students in windowless classrooms.

• Thermal comfort. Recent research, McGraw-Hill notes, has begun questioning the prevailing thinking that keeping indoor temperature within a narrow band — typically the low to mid-70s — year-round is ideal. One recent study showed that student speed on a standardized test increased as a result of lowering the temperature from 77 to 68 degrees. Meanwhile, research conducted from the 1990s and onward suggest that teachers have a strong preference for personal control over temperature and see it as having an impact on student performance.

• Acoustics. Significant research has been undertaken to study how classroom design impacts the ability of students to hear, pay attention, and absorb information. Outdoor noise can be a negative factor as well; a recent study shows that students in a school under the regular flight path of an airport performed up to 20% lower on a reading test than children in a nearby school.

McGraw-Hill also cites research suggesting that a room’s acoustic and sound-insulation properties have a direct effect on speech intelligibility and, consequently, student learning. Of its survey respondents, 44% of K-12 schools and 51% of university leaders who included improved acoustics in their green projects reported better student attentiveness as a result.

 

Crunching the Numbers

According to the study, 74% of green K-12 schools are attempting to measure the impact of the building design on student health, but only 47% in higher education are doing the same. That might be because K-12 schools can more easily track metrics such as absenteeism, asthma complaints, and visits to the school nurse. Meanwhile, colleges and universities are more likely to glean data from student and staff surveys.

Of the K-12 respondents, 32% of schools said their green-building efforts have reduced absenteeism, while just 2% found an increase; 67% reported no change. However, of the participating schools that achieved the stricter LEED certification, 45% reported decreased absenteeism, and 44% of the buildings that received an Energy Star label reported the same.

The study noted that the connections between green building design and student health and performance are still being developed and aren’t nearly as clear as those that compare physical activity and health. “Studies show that 15% of school-age children are overweight, and this number is three times higher than it was in the late 1970s,” the report notes. “Unfortunately, there is insufficient data to attribute success to any particular solution that relates to school buildings.”

At the same time, McGraw-Hill notes that much more data is necessary to fill in the gaps and presumptions that have arisen around environmentally friendly construction. For example:

• More research is needed into the lack of adequate ventilation in America’s classrooms, even though the codes and practices of the HVAC industry have been around for a long time. More information is needed on how HVAC system designs and maintenance procedures impact air quality. Also, more research is necessary on how materials selection, such as those that include VOCs, affect student health and learning.

• There is a need for more performance-based design guidelines that can reliably produce excellent visual environments in terms of natural light. And, as an emerging technology now making its way into school buildings, light-emitting diodes, otherwise known as LED lights, warrant more intensive research.

• As new technology is developed and low-energy heating and cooling methods become prevalent in high-performance buildings, their potential impacts on student health and well-being need to be researched. At the same time, more information is needed concerning the ideal temperature in a classroom and what level of teacher control is warranted.

• Finally, more information is needed on the factors that go into the acoustic performance of a classroom, and how best to provide for the needs of hearing-impaired children in classrooms.

Still, the education world — and the architecture and construction industries — are taking notice. “Building healthy, high-performance school buildings is now far more fiscally prudent and lower-risk than building conventional, inefficient, and unhealthy school buildings,” Kats argues.

There are educational benefits as well, says Darryl Alexander, health and safety director of the American Federation of Teachers, in the McGraw-Hill report.

“We’ve heard from teachers that green schools have been useful as learning tools and allowed them to incorporate sustainability into the curriculum — teaching them, for example, how to measure and track energy use,” he notes. “Green roofs have allowed them to explain benefits such as reduced energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced stormwater runoff.”

But perhaps the most significant benefit is healthier — and more focused — children and young adults.

“Teachers, whether they know much about green schools or not, once they enter one of these buildings, they are excited because these schools are quite different from conventional school buildings,” Alexander says. “The natural lighting, the acoustics, the air quality and comfort really allow them to focus on their jobs more easily. It is amazing to watch.”

 

— Joseph Bednar

Bright Ideas

By
Patrick Quinlan
Construction Sections
SolaBlock Wants to Drive Solar Power Up a Wall

Patrick Quinlan

Patrick Quinlan shows off a SolaBlock prototype.

Solar energy. It’s not just for rooftops anymore.

At least, not if Patrick Quinlan has anything to say about it. A longtime player on the national stage in the renewable-energy arena, he’s now developing some bright ideas in Springfield, as a tenant in the small-business incubator at the Scibelli Enterprise Center (SEC).

His latest project, SolaBlock, is a simple-enough concept: photovoltaic (PV) cells are built into cinderblocks, which are then used to build vertical walls — or laid over existing walls — where they generate energy from the sun.

“We’re so excited about all the possibilities,” Quinlan said. “I walk through the city and look up and say, ‘oh my goodness, that could all be SolaBlock.’ Or I drive down the road and see all the highway walls and say, ‘that could be SolaBlock.’” And the potential is not limited to the U.S., he noted. “We’re thinking globally.”

This summer, thanks to a $40,000 state grant (more on that later), the technology — for which Quinlan holds four patents — will be put to the test on a small building at the Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) Technical Park, which also houses the Enterprise Center.

But he’s already thinking big. Among the capabilities of SolaBlock units, Quinlan says they are expected to:

• ‘Solarize’ residential or commercial building walls, retaining walls, garden walls, or any wall receiving sun for a good portion of the day, and also harvest renewable energy from highway sound walls, bridges, parking structures, railroad rights of way, property walls, or any other conventionally walled location.

Sound walls on highways, in fact, are a particularly intriguing option, because they’re not obstructed by trees in the summertime, yet aren’t totally covered by snow in the wintertime, noted Marla Michel, SEC director. “Trees get in the way of solar, but they’ve already been cleared on highways.”

• Provide critical solar power to unattended buildings, signs, or off-grid buildings that would otherwise be susceptible to vandalism or theft. “We wanted to make it so you couldn’t steal it, couldn’t break it, and it’ll be there for the life of the building,” Quinlan said.

• Provide secure power to critical buildings or shelters that may lose grid power or conventional PV in hurricane-force winds. Quinlan noted that SolaBlock can withstand winds of above 100 mph.

• Enable substantial solar electric generation for buildings sited in complex urban settings. “We’re really interested in the notion that you could have an off-grid, completely autonomous apartment in the middle of New York City, or out in the woods, freed of needing any electricity from the grid,” he said, noting that cities can lose power on a wide scale, as Manhattan did during Hurricane Sandy. “There are a lot of reasons why people want to be green and energy-secure, even in the city.”

• Provide autonomous, solar-powered electric-vehicle charging stations at remote locations.

But the benefits don’t stop with energy conservation and access; SolaBlock can be an effective educational tool as well. “This would be great for schools, because the solar could be at ground level, and kids could walk to it,” Quinlan said, adding that the connections could be viewed indoors throughout the year.

All told, Quinlan and his partners — Jason Laverty, William Stein, and Danielle Thorburn — have high hopes for SolaBlock. To date, those hopes have been founded on untested hypotheses … but that’s about to change.

 

Testing, Testing

Enter the Mass. Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and the Mass. Technology Transfer Center, which recently awarded a total of $200,000 to five Bay State entrepreneurs as part of the MassCEC Catalyst Program, which aims to fund the commercialization of new clean-energy technologies from startup companies or being spun out of established research institutions.

“The clean-energy innovations developed in Massachusetts are driving the clean-energy sector forward,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rick Sullivan, who chairs the MassCEC board of directors. “There are 5,000 clean-energy companies in Massachusetts, and these types of programs help support and grow this bustling industry.”

The $40,000 grants are intended to help early-stage researchers demonstrate the commercial viability of new clean-energy technology.

This will take place at Building 112 of the tech park, a small brick building used as a maintenance shed. The south and west walls, as well as the roof, will be covered with SolaBlock units, and meters will be installed to measure the energy production of the solar cells and compare the performance of the vertical and roof installations. An Internet connection will allow the public to read those meters and check the progress of the demo over the course of a full year. That project should go online by the fall.

“We’re grateful to the Clean Energy Center for having faith in us in Western Mass.,” Quinlan said, noting that the public often thinks of the Commonwealth’s clean-tech hub in terms of MIT and other Boston-area research institutions. “A $40,000 grant is a really big deal for us. And it’ll all be out there on the Internet for everyone to see.”

Quinlan said SolaBlock’s ‘concrete masonry units’ (CMUs) can be integrated into almost any existing wall specification, since the blocks retain their original insulation, compression, smoke, and fire-rating capabilities. And they’re economically attractive because the expensive metal frames used for both mounting traditional PV materials in a framed module and for mounting the modules to a building are eliminated. There is some additional cost of wiring from block to block, but at a fraction of the cost of the aluminum and steel needed for conventional construction.

He noted, however that the vertically placed blocks are expected to produce around two-thirds of the energy produced by a traditional, tilted PV array — hence the placement on both the walls and roof of the test building, to compare performance. However, he said, energy generation may be augmented by the placement of reflective materials (decorative white stone, for example) in front of the blocks.

Still, while vertical blocks may receive less sunlight than roof-mounted panels, SolaBlock walls can be installed over vast surface areas of a building that would not otherwise be providing electric power, therefore increasing the total energy production by the building — a key feature in achieving certification in the ever-popular Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program administered by the U.S. Green Building Council.

“The kits have to be high-automation,” Quinlan said, noting that one building fitted with SolaBlock cells might require thousands of blocks.

To that end, Quinlan outlined a business plan in which the company assembles the PV ‘kits’ and ships them to regional partners in the form of masonry-supply companies. SolaBlock has already reached out to Chicopee Mason Supplies in this region.

“They will be manufacturing the modified blocks we’ll be using under an agreement that gives them exclusive license in the region,” he explained. “We are developing a regional distribution partnership with them to distribute the finished material.”

That example will be repeated across the country. “We’ll build all the electronics in Western Mass.,” he continued, “then we’ll ship the electrical parts to our regional contract manufacturers to combine them and sell them regionally using the same model.”

That makes sense, Michel noted, because concrete blocks are typically sold only regionally due to their weight.

“It’s uneconomical to distribute them beyond about 200 miles,” Quinlan added. “More to the point, we discovered that most of the businesses that make concrete products are longtime family businesses in their regions, and we’d rather work with them than compete with them.”

That appeals to Quinlan on a personal level.

“I have an affinity for the trades,” he said, noting that his father was a plumber, and he put himself through college working with him. “SolaBlock is a way for people in the trades to work in the clean-tech arena. It’s not just for the elite. This is basically clean tech for regular people. You build it, it’s green, and it provides energy independence.”

 

The Next Phase

Quinlan, the former associate director of the UMass Wind Energy Center, has plenty of experience in the field of renewable-energy technology development. He worked as a science fellow in the U.S. Congress and as a technology fellow at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He’s also a former employee of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. “I’ve worked in energy since 1984, in both the technical and policy sides.”

For the current phase of his professional life, “instead of taking a job with someone else, I basically decided to start up new companies,” he said, adding that he wants to be a catalyst to grow the clean-tech industry in the region as a whole, and he sees the Enterprise Center as an ideal home for those efforts.

“I thought, I want to be part of that. I want Scibelli to be my home base for doing this,” he told BusinessWest, noting that, in addition to SolaBlock, he’s launched a second company, Black Island Wind Turbines.

Michel views the startup as an ideal tenant at the SEC. “The state is trying to grow this cluster both in Massachusetts and also regionally, throughout New England. The Enterprise Center has been active in supporting the regional growth of clean tech through support for companies like Pat’s.

“We’re a multi-use facility, but our vision of the tech park is really to have more support for clean tech. It’s a great place to do business,” she added. “And SolaBlock is innovating in an industry that’s hungry for innovation.”

Quinlan said the Enterprise Center has been critical to landing the kind of support — like the MassCEC grant — necessary to take the next step.

“I was drawn to this like a moth to a flame; this is the exact kind of environment I needed to have,” he told BusinessWest. “Without that, it would have been just us trying to do our best, competing with everyone else trying to get the attention of those who could help us. [Michel] has taken half the effort out of that.”

Down the road, if all goes as planned, he expects to begin looking for manufacturing space so SolaBlock can start building the kits. And Quinlan believes a huge market exists for the product — again returning to the appeal of vandal-resistant PV units in urban areas where the risk of theft has hindered consideration of conventional solar systems. Specifically, all electrical equipment of value is located behind the wall, making the systems unattractive for dismantling. Yet, individual concrete blocks can be repaired with a replacement kit.

“We can also use it for brick replacement — replacing bricks on walls,” he said. “It’s pretty weatherproof and vandal-proof. It’s not like regular solar panels where people are afraid to put them up on the chance they could be vandalized or stolen. We have utility customers who are very excited about this.”

So is Quinlan, who believes not just in his idea, but in this region.

“I’m a very strong supporter of Western Mass.,” he said. “I went to school here, and I want to live here. What I want to do is provide a means for myself and my colleagues in clean tech to have a really good quality of life and good occupations right here in the Valley — and that is very possible.”

 

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Searching for Clues

By
Jeff Cissell saw many scenes like this throughout New England
Construction Sections
Cissell Investigative Engineering Gets to the Bottom (and Top) of Things

Jeff Cissell saw many scenes like this throughout New England

Jeff Cissell saw many scenes like this throughout New England during the harsh January of 2011.

When homeowners call Jeff Cissell about a damaged roof or a crack that suddenly appeared in a wall, they have a tendency to think the worst.

That’s why he considers peace of mind one of the many services his company, Cissell Investigative Engineering, provides.

“I feel like we’re actually helping people in that way,” he said. “People don’t know why something is happening, and they get scared. Sometimes all we’re doing is giving them peace of mind. They see a crack and think the structure is ready to fall down. But 99% of the time, it’s a common thing, and we can make a simple suggestion to keep it from happening again. Most times, they’re just happy to know they don’t have to move out.”

Cissell’s job is essentially to uncover why an adverse event — from a torn-up roof to a workplace accident — took place, and the extent of the property damage. He works for a variety of clients, but mostly insurance companies — specifically, claims adjusters trying to assess liability after a storm, fire, or other incident causes damage to a property.

He said 2011 — which began with a harsh, icy January that took its toll on roofs, but also included the June 1 tornadoes, a microburst and a tropical storm later in the summer, and the freak snowstorm just before Halloween that took down countless trees — was an exceptionally busy year, but every season provides plenty of opportunities.

“A lot of damage, a lot of structural issues arose out of those events,” he said. “Usually what happens is, claims adjusters will call us to take a look at a problem when they have questions about whether a policy would cover it.

“We don’t interpret the policy,” he emphasized, “but we interpret why the damage occurred. We go in there and objectively look at what the problem is and come up with a conclusion about what caused it, and the insurance company uses that information to decide whether it’s covered and what the extent of that coverage should be. We also provide some qualified ideas about how to make the repairs.”

For example, he said, “a lot of times, we’re asked to come take a look after a hailstorm comes through. Hail generates different-sized pellets, with different wind velocities and different wind directions. We’ve been successful in ascertaining when hail has damaged a roof and when it hasn’t. We’ve developed some fairly sophisticated ways to ascertain that.”

It’s an important task, and not just for insurance purposes, but sometimes to save homeowners money out of pocket. Cissell noted that many out-of-state roofing contractors moved into Massachusetts after the ice and snow of January 2011 and stuck around after the tornado, and they typically want to push customers for major repairs.

“People want an objective opinion. When they ask a roofer what the problem is, they’ll say they need a new roof. The same goes for a window salesman; they’ll say you need a new window. We don’t sell anything; we just tell you why something happened. I’ve personally been involved in dozens of cases where we come in after someone told a homeowner they needed a new roof, and we find something that can be fixed quickly.”

For this issue’s focus on construction services, Cissell spoke recently with BusinessWest about how his Connecticut-based company, which works at sites across Southern New England and beyond, is bringing clients a welcome dose of clarity when it’s needed most.

 

When Disaster Strikes

The 2011 tornado rattled plenty of Western Mass. home and business owners — not just those with obvious, catastrophic loss, but those whose properties might have been buffeted by wind and debris to a lesser — and difficult-to-determine — extent.

“When the tornado went through, a lot of people were scared; it’s one thing to lose a few shingles, but another to sustain roof damage to the structure itself,” Cissell said. “If a structure has been compromised, there are clues for us to find. We’ve done about 5,000 of these, so we know where to look.”

Roofs, in fact, comprise a good portion of Cissell’s investigative business, and on this front he’s seen it all, from a shopping-center roof that collapsed weeks after the building was vacated to flat-roofed schools that couldn’t handle ice and snow buildup — some of which had inherent structural defects to begin with.

Property managers reach out to Cissell as well, when they’re unsure about the extent of storm damage or don’t understand where a water leak is coming from. “A large complex in New York called us when people were getting mold on their walls and they couldn’t understand why,” he said. “We can determine where the potential water sources are.”

Cissell is also called upon in legal proceedings in cases like slip-and-fall injuries, to determine whether a property or business owner should be liable for damages. “Are there code-related conditions? We determine who’s responsible for the accident — did someone just lose their balance and fall, or did something contribute to that?

“Sometimes we’re working for the defense, and sometimes we’re working for the plaintiff,” he added. “It doesn’t matter who is buttering our bread. But we don’t take sides; we apply scientific methods to come up with an answer. For example, we have a machine that tests the friction of surfaces. And we can stand up in court and take a lot of the subjectivity out of insurance liability.”

He said building a reputation for objectivity is critical to the success of his business, and clients appreciate that quality — even when his findings don’t match up with their hopes. “I tell them, ‘I’ll tell you what you need to know, not necessarily what you want to hear, and let the chips fall where they may.’”

He recalled a case where a worker was installing trim on a building and fell over a handrail. But the investigation concluded that he had failed to secure himself according to normal worksite protocol. “That’s why he fell. He was suing the property owner, but he was, in fact, violating all kinds of OSHA rules. He should have known better.”

Whether it’s a home or business owner faced with such an incident, he added, “most people don’t know why something happens and what they are obligated to do. But we look at these things objectively.”

By ‘we,’ Cissell is also referring to a team of independent professionals who work as subcontractors for his investigative business. Paul Huijing, a Wilbraham-based general contractor, is one of them.

“I’ve done mostly roofs lately — looking at storm damage, hail damage, and whether it’s significant or not,” Huijing said. “I’ve also looked at structural issues with severe winters, where we’ve had the weight of ice and snow cause cracks and structural problems.”

Some of these are minor and easily fixed, he explained, but homeowners usually can’t determine this on their own. He echoed Cissell’s contention that a roofer or other contractor isn’t always the best source of information because they’re trying to sell additional products and services.

“I was on a roof the other day; there were some cracks in the roofing,” he recalled. “A roofer had gone up there and told the homeowner they had some wind damage; I went there and looked at it, and they had some cracks in the roofing material, but it wasn’t the result of wind damage, just the expansion and contraction of the shingles themselves.”

 

Career Change

Cissell, who studied engineering in college and earned his master’s in environmental engineering, has worked in a variety of settings over the years, specializing in power and petrochemical plants, wastewater-treatment facilities, and construction, along with a stop in Clinton, Conn. as the town engineer. In 1991, he hung out his own shingle, doing mainly design work for various clients.

But when an attorney for an architect asked him to look at a slip-and-fall claim, his career path began to change. “I was looking for another revenue stream and include more of my talents. So I started doing more and more of this, and by 2003, I was doing very little site-design work; that just kind of faded away. By 2005, my work was almost exclusivfely forensics-related.”

Cissell Investigative Engineering performs work throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, as well as Western New York — essentially anywhere within a two-hour drive.

“There aren’t a lot of people doing this, in part because it’s so multidisciplinary; not everyone has the tools to do it,” he said. “The guys who work best for me get their hands dirty and aren’t afraid of climbing a ladder. They think of the big picture and don’t focus on just one possibility; they bring all the tools to the table.”

Even though he might show up at a house as a representative of an insurance company, Huijing said his role as an investigator provides an opportunity for education as well.

“I usually end up meeting the homeowner there, so I can at least educate them about what’s going on,” he told BusinessWest. “So I feel that adds value; what I find may or may not be covered, but hopefully they learn more about their house and other peripheral issues — what does the chimney look like? Do they have enough ventilation? If I’m in an attic, I might talk about how they need more insulation, and how they can get that through the MassSave program at reduced cost. I try to bring my broad experience to the homeowner in addition to the specific thing I’m looking at.”

But the education aspect is often a two-way street, Huijing noted.

“It’s an interesting sideline for me because my main business is building and remodeling, and it’s useful and instructive to see these problems,” he said. “You are only the sum of your mistakes or what you’ve learned from other people’s mistakes, so it’s a good way for me to gain even more experience on items I might not normally see.”

As for Cissell, he loves the variety of the work, with a roster of jobs that constantly changes. “This just conglomerates all the experiences I’ve had in my career,” he said. “Plus, it’s fairly quick; I get an assignment, and we usually have things figured out in a day or two.”

Which is a relief for property owners clamoring for answers — and a little peace of mind.

 

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Law

By
Construction Sections
When to Classify People as Independent Contractors

Employers beware. Hiring people as ‘independent contractors’ may provide a competitive advantage that seems tempting. However, the risks of misclassifying employees as independent contractors may far outweigh the benefits.

By classifying a worker as an independent contractor rather than an employee, a business may reap certain advantages. For example, the business may not be held vicariously liable to third parties in court for the negligent acts of an independent contractor as it would for an employee. The business may also avoid paying payroll tax, including the Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) and Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), and also avoid payments toward state unemployment and workers’ compensation insurance. The business may also save substantial costs by not having to enroll the individual in any employee-benefit plans.

Unfortunately, the use of independent contractors carries with it the inherent risk that the federal or state government will determine that a business should have treated a particular person, or class of persons, as employees for tax, wage-hour, unemployment, workers’ compensation, or employee-benefit-plan purposes. To avoid running afoul of state and federal law regarding misclassification of workers, businesses need to examine their independent-contractor relationships, understand the risks, and consider taking appropriate steps to reclassify or restructure their relationships with these individuals.

In determining whether an individual is an employee or an independent contractor, the most important factor is the employer’s right to direction and control over the individual. The more direction and control that the employer has, the more likely it is that the individual will be deemed to be an employee. Some of the factors to consider are whether the employer sets hours, provides an office and equipment, and gives instructions on how to perform tasks as opposed to the individual making his or her own schedule, being self-directed, and furnishing his or her own equipment and supplies. This is the test that has traditionally been applied by the IRS to determine whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor for federal employment-tax purposes.

Many states, including Massachusetts, apply different tests for determining a worker’s status. The Massachusetts Independent Contractor Law (MICL) is among the strictest in the country and creates a presumption that an individual performing any service is an employee. To overcome this presumption, the party receiving services must establish that:

• The worker is free from its control and direction in performing this service, both under a contract and in fact;

• The service provided by the worker is outside the employer’s usual course of business; and

• The worker is customarily engaged in an independent trade, occupation, profession, or business of the same type.

The first part of the test looks at the degree of control and direction retained by the employer over the services performed by the individual. It is the employer’s burden to demonstrate that the services at issue are performed free from its direction or control and carried out with minimal instruction. An independent contractor completes the job using his or her own approach with little direction and dictates the hours that he or she will work on the job.

The second part of the test requires that the service the individual performs be “outside the usual course of business of the employer.” This requirement impacts any business that hires independent contractors to supplement its regular workforce. In 2003, for example, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts found that a newspaper had misclassified its newspaper carriers as independent contractors when the carriers were performing the usual course of business of the newspaper.

The third part of the test requires that the individual be customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession, or a business of the same nature as that involved in the service performed. In other words, is the worker wearing the hat of an employee of the employing company, or is he or she wearing the hat of his or her own independent enterprise? This requirement may be difficult to satisfy if the independent contractor works only for one company.

The MICL is enforced by the Fair Labor Division of the Office of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth. The Attorney General’s 2008 advisory concerning the MICL states that an employer’s failure to withhold taxes, contribute to unemployment compensation, or provide workers’ compensation for an individual is not considered when analyzing whether an employee has been misclassified. Nor is the existence of an independent-contractor agreement (although, according to the attorney general, the MICL requires that all independent-contractor relationships be reflected in written agreements or job descriptions). In other words, just because an employer believes that a worker should be an independent contractor and treats that worker as such does not make it so in the eyes of the law.

The attorney general can issue civil citations and institute criminal prosecutions against businesses and individuals for both intentional and unintentional violations of the MICL. More significantly, private citizens may file civil actions in court for themselves and others similarly situated, claiming that they have been misclassified as independent contractors but are, in fact, employees entitled to all the rights and protections under the Massachusetts Wage Act. The Wage Act is a particularly potent weapon since it imposes personal liability on officers and managers of companies who violate its provisions, including the MICL. In addition, the 2008 amendments to the Wage Act require a court to award treble (three times) damages plus attorney’s fees and costs to an employee who prevails on his or her claim.

Misclassifying employees as independent contractors may also subject a business to:

• Income-tax liability for monies that should have been withheld from the ‘wages’ of the ‘employees’;

• Employer FICA and FUTA contributions;

• Potential overtime pay and other wage claim liability;

• State unemployment-insurance payments;

• Workers’ compensation insurance premiums and potential liability for workplace injuries; and

• Other civil and criminal liability. Additionally, workers may be entitled to coverage and benefits under existing employee benefit plans.

There are several approaches a business can take to address these risks. It might:

• Evaluate relationships with independent contractors to determine whether the classification is proper under the MICL three-part test;

• Review all written independent-contractor agreements and modify them where appropriate;

• Ensure that all independent-contractor relationships are reflected in written agreements or job descriptions correctly describing the relationship and the party’s respective obligations;

• Begin treating misclassified independent contractors as employees; and

• Maintain independent-contractor relationships but take steps to limit potential exposure (for example, ensure that no independent contractor works more than 40 hours per week so that the business does not face potential overtime liability).

 

Keith A. Minoff is a Springfield-based attorney specializing in employment law and business litigation; (413) 301-0866.

Cool Running

By
The Springfield Data Center, currently under construction on the former Technical High School site.
Construction Sections
High Performance Computing Center Touts Energy, Security Innovations

The MGHPCC, which will open along the canals in Holyoke this fall.

The MGHPCC, which will open along the canals in Holyoke this fall.

For John Goodhue’s father, it took a tour through the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center to understand exactly what goes into housing — and protecting — computers.
“When my dad toured the center,” said Goodhue, the center’s executive director, “he came out the other end and said, ‘I finally get it! It’s not about computers; it’s about bringing electricity in and creating a lot of heat and then removing that heat from the building.’”
Bingo.
Of course, that has been just one of the challenges — albeit a critical one — of preparing the MGHPCC to open in Holyoke later this year. The $95 million facility is a joint venture between UMass, MIT, Harvard University, Boston University, and Northeastern University, as well as technology giants EMC Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc., to create a high-tech research center.
To create that all-important cooling effect, the facility will use a continuous water loop in and out of the building. A chilling system will cool the water, which will then be pumped into air-conditioning units placed beside the computers; the heat generated by the equipment will then be exhausted outside, and the process begins again. Constantly.
“The cooling took an enormous amount of effort,” Goodhue said, explaining that the two major techniques used for the process involve air and water, respectively. After six weeks debating which technique to use, architects and builders decided on the chilled-water option. “And we’re bringing it quite close to the computers; for every two racks full of computers, right next to them is a little air-conditioning rack. It takes water into it and cools the air around the computers, and takes the water out.
“Water is actually much better at carrying heat and absorbing heat than air is,” he continued. “A very small volume of water, relatively speaking, can carry the same heat as a much larger volume of air, and it’s one of things that allows us to run the center more efficiently. The cooling system really allowed us to cool these computers that are very, very hot. Some machines pack a considerable amount of electronics into a very small space, and we have to be extra vigilant about cooling — and water is better at doing that.”
But that raises challenges regarding energy efficiency — another goal of the computing center’s leaders. Meanwhile, designers were also faced with protecting sensitive equipment and data from more than heat, so decisions about building security were high on the priority list as well.
For this issue, BusinessWest delves into some of these questions, and how the MGHPCC is proving to be an innovative facility long before going online this fall.

Green for a Reason
From the start, the Holyoke center was designed to be energy-efficient, Goodhue told BusinessWest. “One of the things that drew us to Holyoke is that the power came principally from renewable energy. Holyoke Gas & Electric generates 70% of its power from renewable sources — primarily the dam, but it also has the largest solar array in the state, and also has ideas about adding other resources to their portfolio.”
Holyoke’s dam on the Connecticut River generates hydroelectricity that is then sold to industrial users for about 8 cents per kilowatt hour, compared to a state average of more than 12 cents, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
That’s good, because data centers tend to suck up a lot of energy — partly because they never shut down, partly because of the power the equipment uses. “There has been a trend in recent years toward operating computers and servers at higher and higher temperatures,” Goodhue noted.
In fact, according to a 2011 Stanford University report, data centers account for about 2% of the nation’s energy consumption, and many use electricity generated by coal-fired power plants, not exactly a clean energy source. Because of its power supply and design, the MGHPCC is expected to use at least 25% less energy than the typical data center.
Goodhue said the computing center has applied to be a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) project, aiming for Gold status — the second-highest accreditation — from the national recognition program run by the U.S. Green Building Council.
“Again, that’s by paying attention to hundreds of details, from how we manage stormwater to the white reflecting roof; from what landscaping materials we use to the chemical basis for our paints,” he explained, noting that the paint must not contain what are known as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs; when breathed in, these are not acutely toxic, but can cause long-term health effects.
“There are dozens of small things that, taken individually, add up to a very different way of designing and building this center, so that it has a much lower environmental impact,” Goodhue continued. “The good part about it is, people have thought very carefully about the environmental impact, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel — just follow the best practices you know, none of which are crazy or over the top. They just make good design sense.”

The Springfield Data Center, currently under construction on the former Technical High School site.

The Springfield Data Center, currently under construction on the former Technical High School site.

Some of the same focus on energy efficiency is evident at the Springfield Data Center (SDC), set to open in 2013 on the site of the former Technical High School. The facility will be one of the state’s two primary data centers, backing up and supporting the Massachusetts Information Technology Center in Chelsea.
New York-based Skanska USA, the contractor for the SDC, has also incorporated a number of energy-efficient elements in aiming for Silver certification under LEED. “This is one of the most energy-efficient buildings of its type in the United States right now,” said Steve Eustis, senior vice president and project executive for Skanska.
The design includes selecting materials that are energy- and water-efficient and incorporates ‘daylight harvesting,’ which uses sensors in the lighting system to shut off the lights when there is sufficient daylight; 90% of the occupants will have daylight views. The roof will be also be a reflective white, and HVAC systems were designed with energy conservation in mind. In fact, the air-conditioning system that cools the computers will capture the waste heat and reuse it.

Securing the Data
Of course, protecting computers from heat damage while keeping energy costs low is only one balancing act a data center must perform. Another is keeping data private while not hindering the ability of the facility’s users to conduct and share their research.
“Security is of critical importance. If you’re doing medically oriented research, for instance, you might have sensitive patient data in the center, and it’s very important to protect that,” Goodhue said. “At the same time, this is a research center, and it’s very important to give people as much flexibility as possible to share data.
“So we have these two conflicting constraints, and we handle that in two ways,” he continued. “One has to do with the physical infrastructure. There are maps that label every room as a security zone, with relatively small lists of people who are allowed to go into each room in the building, and that drives our keycard-access system. Your ID will let you inside doors and won’t let in others.
“So, if you’re an electrician servicing the transformer,” he went on, “you probably don’t need to go into the computer room, so that person’s card will let him into the transformer room and maybe one or two other adjacent rooms. Similarly, if you’re operating a computer in the computer room, you probably have no business hanging around the transformers.”
The other element is how networking is handled, Goodhue continued.
“Every institution that uses the facility — Harvard, MIT, UMass, and so forth — already has well-developed methods of protecting data when it flows across their networks,” he said. “So, imagine that, on the floor, there’s one network that we’ve arranged so it’s an extension of the MIT campus network, and one we’ve arranged as an extension of the Harvard campus network, and so on. Each exists here in parallel universes; they don’t see each other, but are kept separate. If you’re at MIT, you can think of the building as just another building on campus, but farther away, and BU folks can see it the same way.
“That gets you the protection,” he noted. “So how do you get flexibility?”
For that, the center uses what Goodhue called a “meet-me switch,” which allows two or more users from different networks to exchange data. “Again, it’s the balance between access and flexibility and making sure the data is protected and controlled.”
In addition, each rack of computers has its own set of keys, so only authorized people can access each one. “This isn’t like the movies where you see these places with barbed wire and armed guards and so forth,” he said. “We are a high-tech facility, and we’re very careful about protecting it, but we’ll put on a slightly friendlier face than what you see in the movies.”

Little Things
Goodhue said the MGHPCC will open on time and under budget, but that’s far from the only positive aspect of it.
“People often ask me, ‘what’s one unique thing about the data center that makes it the best in some way?’” he told BusinessWest. “But there’s not just one thing. It’s lots of attention paid to literally hundreds of details that gets you there.”
And that’s when the real excitement — the research itself — begins.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Reaching New Heights

By
John Murphy Jr., with account administrator Bonnie Moynihan
Construction Sections
Eastern General Contractors Raises the Bar for Community Involvement

John Murphy Jr., with account administrator Bonnie Moynihan

John Murphy Jr., with account administrator Bonnie Moynihan, who has been with the firm for 24 years.

When John Murphy Jr. was young, he wanted to become a musician or pilot. And although the founder, president. and CEO of Eastern General Contractors Inc. in Springfield did not end up pursuing either of those careers, he has spent the past 40 years orchestrating complex construction projects that often involve dizzying heights.
“We do anything that’s vertical,” Murphy said as he talked about jobs his full-service construction company has completed, such as building air-traffic control towers in Worcester, Cape Cod, New Haven, Conn., and Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, as well as many high-rise buildings. EGC just finished replacing the siding on six hangars at Westover, which are so high that he had to bring in a crane from Missouri to reach 150 feet into the air to handle the work.
The majority of EGC’s projects are public-sector in nature, with many undertaken for the federal government, and Murphy’s employees work throughout New England. But the company is grounded in Springfield, and both he and his staff spend many weekends engaged in volunteer work that ranges from building handicap ramps and installing elevators in local churches to a complete renovation of the Dunbar Community Center in Springfield and maintaining the cottages and buildings at Camp Atwater, a summer camp for boys and girls in North Brookfield, which they’ve done for 20 years.
In fact, Murphy believes successful businesses have a responsibility to give back to their communities. “The late economist Mark Friedman once said, ‘there is one and only one social responsibility of business, and that is to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase profit,’” he told BusinessWest. “But we subscribe to a different value system. Although we certainly set the highest bar in corporate ethics, it reaches far beyond dollars and cents. Our company is not just a money-making machine or a balance sheet; it is a human enterprise run by caring people who understand the impact of the work we do in our immediate community.”
Murphy likes to fly under the radar, but has received so many accolades and plaques commemorating the volunteer work his company does that they line the walls of his office as well as the rest of the building.
Mayor Dominic Sarno gave him a key to the city in recognition of his work, and he has been feted in Boston as well as Washington, D.C. for those volunteer efforts. But he doesn’t like fanfare, and the interview he agreed to do with BusinessWest was the first since he established his company.
Still, he takes pride in the fact that EGC provides jobs for local people and serves as a flagship for community involvement. “We will continue to find innovative ways to forge ahead in that direction,” he said, recounting local projects as well as a scholarship association he started with a friend that awarded $500,000 to deserving high-school seniors in his hometown of Ridgeland, S.C. “There is so much that is needed, so we do what we can.”

History of Success
Murphy said he was introduced to both construction and social responsibility during his youth.
“My father was a handyman, and we built things together; I thought it was interesting,” he said, adding that his parents spent their weekends doing volunteer work and always took him along “to help someone.”
Before starting his own business, he spent 10 years working in production control at Hamilton Standard in Windsor Locks, Conn., which made aircraft parts. He said the responsibility he had there played a role in his later success in the construction business.
“There were 1,200 parts in a jet-fuel control, and I had to do all of the coordination required to build them,” he said. “When I began building homes, it seemed simple, as there were only about 30 components to keep track of.”
Murphy opened a construction firm he called Eastern Home Builders and Developers, and began building single-family homes while he was still employed at Hamilton Standard. The business took off quickly, and Murphy left Hamilton Standard when it became too overwhelming to work two full-time jobs.
During the ’80s, his company built a number of single-family homes in Springfield under the federal Housing and Urban Development Section 235 program, which allowed qualified families to purchase them with a $200 down payment.
As word of the quality work he did began to spread, Murphy received repeated recognitions, which included being named Contractor of the Year in 1987 and 1988 by the Small Business Administration.
When the government discontinued the HUD program, he switched his focus to historic preservation and high-rise projects, and changed his business moniker to Eastern General Contracting Inc.
The most challenging job the company has undertaken was a recent $6.5 million renovation of the four-story Whaling Museum in New Bedford. “Everything inside had to come out. It was challenging because the museum is on a corner and we couldn’t touch the exterior,” Murphy explained.
The company removed the roof, then began disassembling the building piece by piece, floor by floor, until they reached the basement. However, everything had to be labeled and saved so it could be put back inside when the renovation work was complete.
“There were planks used in the original construction that had been shaved with an axe that we had to take out in one piece,” Murphy said. “We had someone stationed inside the building with a radio who had to communicate to the crane operator outside because the person operating it couldn’t see what needed to be done inside. It was very challenging.”
Another difficult project involved installing five elevators in a 28-story library at UMass Amherst. “When we got to the 28th floor, we had to use a helicopter to put the equipment inside. The wind was blowing, and the opening was only four feet wide, so we had to make sure everything was dropped in exactly right,” Murphy said, explaining that renovation is challenging to begin with “because when you open up a wall, you don’t know what is behind it.”
The company recently finished a renovation of the historic Fanueil Hall in Boston. “We removed the moldings, the ceiling tiles, the window sashes … and everything had to go back in the way it came out,” said Murphy. “It was extremely challenging, but I like to see the finished product and be able to say, “I did that.”

High Stakes
Murphy said he likes to continually raise the bar for himself and his employees.
“Turning a vision into a multi-million-dollar reality is a lofty goal that many people aspire to, but precious few achieve,” he said. “I began by setting a goal, and once I reached it, I continued to set another, then another. You have to look at where you came from and where you are, at as well as the obstacles you have to jump across to move forward. I always say, ‘I am pleased, but not satisfied, because I think we could do more.’”
So they do whatever is needed and take pride in their accomplishments. “I tell my employees repeatedly that we have to be three times better to be considered half as good, and as long as we have that philosophy, we will be successful,” Murphy said. “People hire us because we save them time, worry, and money.”
The majority of his employees have been with him for at least two decades and share his philosophy of giving back to the community. “They often ask me what we’re doing on the weekend,” he said.
Their 20-year history of volunteerism at Camp Atwater began after it closed. “It was in great need of repairs and someone asked me if I could help,” Murphy said. Over the years, he built a laundry there and renovated a kitchen and recreation hall. In addition, “I took my crew there, and we built five cabins, supplying the labor and materials.
“I really believe in giving back,” he continued, adding that, at one point, his staff built a cottage at the camp from the ground up, finishing it in one day. “People were running all over, but we got it done,” he said. “When we do a project, we try to accelerate everything and do whatever it takes to make the customer happy.”
EGC still maintains a cottage at the camp which is used as a recreational building for staff members. The camp named it ‘the Murphy’ after him, but, again, it was not an honor he wanted.
Still, the donations, labor, and materials ECG has provided for nonprofits is remarkable, and requests for help continue to pour in. So, in recent years, Murphy has had to pick and choose carefully how to spend his resources.

Bottom Line
EGC’s portfolio is substantial, but Murray said his employees are his most valuable asset. He has 31 full-time staff members and about 50 field employees.
“We are a family, and I appreciate the support I get from them as well as their honesty, loyalty, and integrity,” he said. “For many years, we have produced quality products in a timely and cost-effective manner, while providing jobs for members of our community and contributing to funds that keep our local, city, state, and federal governments up and running.
“We will continue to find innovative ways to forge ahead in the direction of larger building contracts and enhancing the community services we provide for free,” Murphy went on. “But our proudest goal will continue to be the success of our families and the success of the families around us.”

Something Old, Something New

By
The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge.
Construction Sections
Improvements at Red Lion Inn Respect the Past

The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge.

The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge.

When the Red Lion Inn undertook a major renovation of its south wing a few years ago, it knew it was digging into the past. Exactly how far past, no one could say.
The wing is between 111 and 115 years old, but it’s hard to pinpoint the precise age, said James Hunt, buildings and grounds manager, explaining that it doesn’t show up on the inn’s 1897 maps — drawn shortly after its reconstruction following a devastating fire in 1896 — but the section does appear on 1901 maps.
“Strangely enough,” he said, “after this project was completed, we found the original set of blueprints. We had those reproduced, matted, and framed,” and they’re hanging in the first-floor hallway of the renovated section today.
These days, Red Lion owner Nancy Fitzpatrick might find some wall space to mark another milestone, as the inn was recently honored with the 2012 Paul E. Tsongas Award, the highest award given by Preservation Massachusetts, a statewide, nonprofit advocacy organization that promotes the preservation of historic buildings as a positive force for economic development and community character.
“We did 28 guest rooms in the south wing,” Hunt told BusinessWest. “The project was a full remodel, and that involved structural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, the fire-alarm system, the sprinkler system, and all the finishes that go along with that. That was the basic scope of the job. We brought everything up to code in that section.”
The way they did so — enhancing guest comfort and increasing energy efficiency while maintaining the historic character of the rooms — is what drew the attention of Preservation Massachusetts.
“From my perspective,” Hunt said, “what’s neat about the whole project was that it took the latest and greatest of modern technology and installed it in this historic environment.”

Quiet, Please

Innkeeper Michelle Kotek stands in one of the remodeled rooms.

Innkeeper Michelle Kotek stands in one of the remodeled rooms.

The key, Innkeeper Michele Kopek said, is to integrate the upgrades so seamlessly that guests have a better experience without any loss of the Red Lion’s historic character. “People look around and say, ‘oh, what did you change?’” she noted. “But much of it is behind the walls.”
Or on the walls themselves. “Contractors, by nature, when they do a demolition, like to tear out everything,” Hunt said. “One challenge we faced was to save as much of the original horsehair plaster as we could. The fact is, it probably would have been a lot more affordable for us to peel it all off and start over, but we were able to put patches in where it needed them.”
Similarly, workers kept the door hardware — ornate bronze hinges and knobs well-worth saving, Hunt said — and stripped off literally dozens of coats of paint to bring out the look of the original doors. And 17 of the rooms saw their fireplaces — which were, in some cases, buried behind walls — upgraded with new gas inserts. “They were woodburning fireplaces,” Kotek said, “but we didn’t use them for fear of fire.”
Other upgrades speak directly to guest comfort, such as an upgrade of the old air conditioners, replaced now by modern temperature-control units.
Hunt explained that the project really began with frequent complaints about traffic noise coming from outside, as the hotel sits at the intersection of routes 7 and 102 in downtown Stockbridge. Meanwhile, “it was very difficult to control the climate in the rooms, and it was kind of a double-edged thing — guests would come in, and the room would be overheated, so they’d open the window to cool the room down, and then deal with the truck noise.”
Now, thanks to the upgraded heating and cooling units — not to mention the eight inches of insulation inside the walls and between the rooms — guests in each room can much more easily control the climate while minimizing noise with the new insulated glass in the windows.
Speaking of the windows, Hunt said he was surprised when architects recommended keeping the triple-track aluminum storm windows instead of replacing all the windows completely.
“So we removed every window sash and marked and catalogued every single sash and where it was located. We sent the windows out and had them stripped and then milled out to accept insulated glass. Then we put insulated glass in the sash that had been there for 100 years, in that exact position.”
Kotek said that, between the attention to guest comfort and a restoration of original elements, “we kind of kept some of the old with the new.”

Quality of Life
The Tsongas Award from Preservation Massachusetts comes on the 10th anniversary of the Massachusetts Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit (MHRTC) program. Even though the Fitzgerald family was given the award in 1999 for its dedication to preservation projects in Stockbridge, today, the honor — awarded to 32 developments in 2012 — recognizes projects that have successfully used the MHRTC to revitalize communities, spur investment, create jobs, or enhance quality of life in the Commonwealth.
“The Red Lion Inn is one of the most well-known historic inns in all of Massachusetts, if not the entire country,” said Jim Igoe, president of Preservation Massachusetts. “Its continual presence and popularity as a Stockbridge destination shows how historic preservation benefits our communities, both large and small.”
Hunt said he’s amazed at how quickly the project was completed — less than five months from moving furniture out to checking visitors in. “At one time, I counted 80 tradesmen on the job,” he added, noting that the contractor, David J. Tierney Jr. Inc. of Pittsfield, deserves credit for moving the project along successfully at that pace.
Hunt said most of the preservation aspects of the renovation were decisions made internally, and not by any outside body overseeing historic sites. “Most of the elements were things we wanted to keep, and a lot of them, the architects wanted to keep,” he noted, referring to Einhorn Yaffee Prescott of Albany, N.Y., an architecture firm that specializes in this kind of property. “They are passionate about historic preservation, and it shows.”
That appealed to the inn’s leadership, said General Manager Bruce Finn. “Preservation is a critical factor in the core values of our business.”
Kotek said the Red Lion, at least since being rebuilt following the 1896 fire, has upgraded rooms at various times, but never on the scale of the current project.
Still, the work is far from done. Hunt said the facility has a master plan in place to conduct similar large-scale renovations in three more phases. The first of those has been drawn up, but all renovations have been on hold due to the economy. However, the Red Lion will soon open 17 rooms in a new guest house, one of several the inn has converted from neighboring buildings it purchased over the years.
He added that further renovations, when they take place, will reap economic benefits over time in added energy effiency.
“It’s great to have the historic-preservation part of it coupled with the energy part of it,” he said. “We’ve reduced energy consumption in the south wing by 27%, both electric and gas. The numbers are there; they don’t lie. That’s what’s neat, to see that kind of improvement in this historic environment.”
And those benefits don’t at all change what guests have always loved about the Red Lion Inn and its quirky appeal, Kotek said.
“We like to keep our leaks and our slanted floors and the doors that don’t close all the way. That’s part of the charm. We wanted to keep that historic aspect and yet enjoy these modern changes.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at  [email protected]

State of Flux

By
Dave Fontaine
Construction Sections
Public-sector Construction Shows Signs of Life

Northern Construction Service was busy repairing roads following Hurricane Irene, including these in Florida, Mass.

Northern Construction Service was busy repairing roads following Hurricane Irene, including these in Florida, Mass.

When Hurricane Irene washed out miles of the Mohawk Trail last August, plenty of Franklin and Berkshire County residents were suddenly forced to find alternate routes to work and other destinations — often at great inconvenience.
“We’re not really a rapid-transit society, although we like to believe we are. We’re not Europe, even though some people want to make us Europe,” said John Rahkonen, president of Northern Construction Service in Palmer. “How would you run a train to some of the hilltowns? No matter what you do, you still need cars, and roads.”
Crews from Northern have spent plenty of days on Route 2 since that storm — which wreaked even more havoc just to the north in Vermont — fixing roadways that, in some cases, were completely wiped out by the hurricane.
For contractors that specialize in such projects, events like Irene mean steady work, in the same way tree-service outfits haven’t slowed down a bit since the freak October snowstorm felled limbs and branches across Western Mass. And when public roads are damaged, it creates a need that can’t be set aside, no matter what the economy is like.
Construction companies that focus on the private sector — where projects can more easily be put off or cancelled for financial reasons — have had a rough few years, but state and municipal jobs have continued to flow steadily (if not spectacularly) for firms heavily invested in the public sector. And it’s not just roads and bridges; the region has seen a building boom for new high school construction and renovations that shows no signs of slowing down.
Dave Fontaine

Dave Fontaine says public-school construction has been a healthy niche in the region for the past quarter-century.

“We’ve had a pretty good share of opportunities over the past 20, 25 years in the public-school market. We built a lot of schools locally,” said David Fontaine, president of Fontaine Brothers in Springfield.
He cited Chicopee Comprehensive High School as one of the firm’s bigger recent projects, but Fontaine has several other schools under construction across the state, including three in the Pioneer Valley, each at a different stage of completion. The new Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham will open this fall, followed by the new Easthampton High School next spring. The firm also recently broke ground on a new West Springfield High School, which will open in 2014.
“They’re all unique,” Fontaine said. “The one coming out of the ground now in West Springfield is a large school with a big footprint and a large, complicated earthwork job. That was the big challenge there, coming out of the ground. And then there’s the length, because you’re tying up a lot of capital, for most of three years. You’re building a new building for two years, then you’re there for the third year tearing down the existing building and reconfiguring the whole area.”
Clearly, this is a vibrant scene — other high schools currently being constructed or rebuilt include Longmeadow High School and the new Putnam Vocational Technical High School — at least in part spurred by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which, since 2004, has helped communities pay for school construction through a 1-percent sales tax.
“Since they started sending a penny of the state sales tax, we’ve fared pretty well,” Fontaine said. “The Building Authority hasn’t forgotten Western Mass.” The Bay State also benefited from the 2009 federal stimulus, which channeled $7.9 billion into the Commonwealth for construction projects.
Still, these success stories have not spread to all areas of construction, and contractors are finding that, in projects not involving a steady stream of state funds or, in the case of storm-damaged roads, immediate need, the public arena isn’t much more promising than the still-stagnant private sector.

Slim Pickings
Indeed, while state-funded projects have been available in varying degrees, infrastructure projects on the municipal level have been frustratingly slim, according to Matias Goncalves, president of Caracas Construction Corp. in Ludlow.
“It’s very competitive out there,” said Goncalves, whose firm focuses on public-sector projects such as roads, curbs, sidewalks, and underground utilities. “It’s tough right now.”
The entire industry was pounded throughout the Great Recession, and Goncalves said his niche has not rebounded due to tightened purse strings in city and town budgets.
“It’s the same as before; they don’t have as much tax revenue coming in, and as a result, they can’t do the capital-improvement projects they’ve been hoping to get done,” he told BusinessWest. “The same way people complain about school budgets, nobody wants to do any road work.”
And when jobs do come online, Goncalves said, contractors are faced with the same competitive situation across the board — namely, far more companies getting into the bid action than in decades past, and coming from farther away than before.
“We bid a job a couple of months ago with about 20 bidders; we finished in the middle of the pack,” he said. “It’s doubtful you’ll find a project without at least six to 10 bidders, easily.”
Projects involving state roads, on the other hand, have benefited from roughly $1 billion in bond issues per year recently. “That has not changed over the past two years,” Rahkonen said.
“We’re primarily doing a lot of bridge work in three states — Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts — and we’re probably sitting on quite a bit of work,” he said, adding that the firm employs between 120 and 200 people, depending on the current workload.
Recent or pending work at Northern includes the Davitt Bridge in Chicopee, an $8 million job replacing most of a bridge on Route 2 in Gill, and a $6 million job repairing hurricane damage in Shelburne Falls. “There was no road in places. It varied from place to place, a lot of washouts; we had to do a lot of that repair on the Mohawk Trail.”
The situation on Route 2 was especially critical, he added, considering it’s one of only three thoroughfares running east to west across the state, the Pike and Route 20 being the others.

Cost and Effect
Still, Rahkonen said, these aren’t exactly heady days, even for firms who focus on state work. The fierce competition for bids that Goncalves cited has made it very difficult for firms to make profits, while costs continue to mount.
Take a bulldozer, Rahkonen said. Estimating conservatively, that piece of equipment might log 2,000 hours annually; after five years and 10,000 hours, it’s time to replace it. Pickup trucks — Northern maintains between 20 and 30 — only last so long, too, and need to be replaced at a cost of close to $40,000 per vehicle.
But recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made budgeting even more difficult by requiring that all building equipment using diesel fuel (Northern has about 100 such machines) be fitted with a device to lower emissions to what are known as ‘Tier 4’ standards. At a cost of about $3,000 per conversion, the math isn’t hard to figure out. “That’s an additional cost that no one is putting into jobs, but we’re forced to do it.”
At a time of such tight profit margins, Rahkonen noted, any sort of additional cost is a burden, and it’s harder for contractors to grow their business. “They don’t expand, because they’ve got to make ends meet. Companies want to reinvest and hire more people, but if they’re getting clobbered, they can’t do it.”
Intense competition across all sectors of construction has brought players from Greater Boston and even neighboring states into Western Mass., but Fontaine has responded by doing the same; in addition to its local projects, the company is building schools in Norfolk and East Bridgewater.
“We’ve been more competitive recently; our forte has been larger projects, which don’t seem to draw the 10 to 15 bidders most projects do. I also think we’re pretty good at these big schools,” Fontaine said, adding that the company has the size and resources to absorb the day-to-day costs associated with a $5 to $10 million project over multiple years.
“Fortunately, we have the financial capacity to be carrying an awful lot of money over an awful lot of time,” he told BusinessWest. “I will say that, in the public-school marketplace, cities and towns do pay their bills every four to six weeks on average, so that’s pretty good, all things considered.”

Lean and Green
The keys to juggling so many big projects at once are many, Fontaine said, including the task managing subcontractors at such a volatile economic time.
“The last five to 10 years have been difficult with so many subcontractors going out of business, and you’re always nervous that a lot of bad subcontractors will turn a project bad, so we’re always very particular about who we subcontract certain things to,” he explained.
Then there’s the new emphasis on ‘green’ building, which has become especially important to municipalities putting up public structures like schools — a specialty that not only requires evolving skills, but reams more paperwork and frustration. Still, Fontaine said, he understands the momentum of the trend, particularly when it comes to energy-efficiency improvements that carry a long-term “bang for the buck.”
Other trends in public projects come and go.
“There’s a lot of library funding out there; we’re doing the Holyoke Library renovations, and some others have been funded,” Fontaine said. “But we’re not seeing anything in public-sector housing improvements.”
On the other hand, he said, there has been a rash of fire stations constructed over the last couple of years, and UMass Amherst continues to engage in numerous renovation projects.
Still, “about 70% public-sector activity is done by out-of-town firms,” he said. “But we’ve been fortunate. We’re not afraid to take our game on the road, either.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Set in Stone

By
Capell says that, in many ways, the construction industry is more complex than it used to be, from added paperwork and compliance to safety measures and
Construction Sections
Chabot & Burnett Builds on Its Legacy in Masonry Construction

Capell says that, in many ways, the construction industry is more complex than it used to be, from added paperwork and compliance to safety measures and

Kristin Capell says that, in many ways, the construction industry is more complex than it used to be, from added paperwork and compliance to safety measures and LEED certification.

Current president Kristin Capell remembered the first days of her tenure at the company her father and his business partner built, Chabot & Burnett Construction.
“When I got started 16 years ago, my father threw me into it and taught me everything,” she told BusinessWest. “I’d sit in a back room and learn how to estimate masonry. And dad had a grand plan. He and Dan knew when they wanted to retire, because they worked so hard their entire lives.”
Joe Chabot, her father, and Dan Burnett had started the company that bears their name in 1971, when both men were still in their teen years.
“They just did everything together from the start,” said Kristin. “They raced motorcycles, motocross, rode planes, but they were also workaholics, working 12-hour days.”
In an industry dominated by male ownership, Capell said that it is a mark of pride to be at the helm of a construction firm these days, especially one that has erected scores of brick and stone buildings, with project costs totaling in the tens of millions of dollars. But she is quick to point out that, while she is the president, two other partners have joined her in both ownership and leadership, and continue to help lay the foundation for of the area’s premier masonry-construction firms. Jim Carrier, current vice president, and Dan Burnett Jr. are both given equal credit for a business that enters its fifth decade with a rock-solid future before it.
While the economy has hit this niche of the construction sector as hard as every other trade, there have been strong signs of life for this style of structure that is built to last. The brick and stone edifices on college campuses have been a lifeline for this firm, Capell said. “For me in my career, higher education has been about 90% of our projects.”
During that time, the collective wisdom of the men who started the firm helped give Capell and her co-owners a good template for riding out the recession. While this sluggish economy dovetailed with the final days of Chabot and Burnett’s final years of succession, the pair offered advice as solid as a brick wall.
“But in comparison to other recessions, to them, this one was really ugly,” Capell noted. “It was unfortunate that it happened right at the year of their retirement. That big celebration of 40 years just wasn’t as celebratory as we might like.”
She and her partners took over the firm fully in April 2011, and with that lull just behind her, she said 2012 has a good book of work ahead, and that’s generating optimism.
When asked what her predecessors, enjoying their retirement in Florida for the winter, think about this year with $13 million of work on the books, she simply said, “they haven’t once even thought about coming back up to help out. If they were even slightly concerned at all, they would never have left.”

From the Ground Up
Capell said that masonry, and entrepreneurial spirit, were always in her father’s blood.
“My grandfather was a mason tender, and thus my father knew the trade from him,” she explained.
Chabot and Burnett were friends from high school, where they both attended Springfield Tech. Both men had taken jobs with construction firms as teens, and quickly proved themselves to be able masons.
“But they wanted to do it for themselves,” Capell said. “They knew each others’ skills, and they started originally by building chimneys to raise capital and to eventually support their payroll.”
When asked how two 19-year-olds could successfully build themselves a masonry-construction operation, Capell said solid word-of-mouth referrals built the business and enabled it to enjoy steady growth.
“All of the smaller general contractors in this area, Berneche, Fontaine …  they just got to know the two from working with them, and took a risk and hired them — and then realized how good they were,” she continued. After one initial job which the two leveraged into a bank loan to create the company, the rest is history.
“There are probably five or six buildings in just about every town around here that we’ve built — from public schools to banks, tons of work at Smith College and Mount Holyoke College. We built most of the dorms at Western New England University.”
Amherst College is the site of many Chabot & Burnett projects, both administrative and residential, including a dormitory built entirely of granite. “For a while right before the recession, in 2006, 2007, it was a building boom. At the college, we just hopped from one building to the next,” she explained.
UMass Amherst has been a source of significant work for the company as well. Over the past decade, Chabot & Burnett has built the North Apartments, a five-story, four-building student residential complex; the Studio Art building designed by Graham Gund; and the first Integrated Science Building.
Looking back — and ahead — Capell acknowledged that the industry has changed from those early days.
“All the paperwork and all the compliance, safety, LEED … this is a totally different landscape from when Chabot and Burnett were building,” she explained. “They could just go out and build a good building.”

Ton of Bricks
Her father and his partner had put into effect a 10-year succession plan for Capell, Carrier, and Burnett Jr. to eventually take over the firm. During that time, the pair were actively involved in all facets of the company — toward the end, during the recession, even helping out with no compensation.
“They went out into the field again, too,” she said. “Here they were, at the age of 65, coming back into the office at the end of the day all scratched up. Anything they could do to help.”
During their own time, the two had seen their own share of economic expansions and deep recessions. And to Capell and her partners, they offered their own strategic advice.
“‘Put your head down,’ they would say,” she remembered. “‘Trim as much as you can while still keeping the business competitively strong.’ And I did. I got rid of cleaning people, kept a small workforce going.
“Also, I bid everything,” she continued. “I was bidding $500 projects. We did some of the tornado work, just to make sure there was a revenue stream continuing. I went after everything. We did go out of our traditional geographic range, taking a $4 million job in Worcester. Big jobs like that were few and far between. We looked at it, I knew where we had to be with numbers, and I knew I had to take something like that on. Maybe we didn’t make as much money as we historically had, back in the good days. But that’s what the recession did to everyone.”
Overall, Capell said, thanks to the lessons and inspiration provided by her father and Burnett, the company has done more than survive the recession. Indeed, it is on fairly solid footing, and with a number of jobs in progress and in the pipeline.
The new Easthampton High School, a LEED-certified structure, is on the books, and UMass Amherst continues to be a solid client; the firm is building the second of the new science buildings, along with the new UMass Honors College dormitories. Much like the expedited timeline of the North Apartments, built in an-unheard of nine months, this one has a ribbon-cutting date of Dec. 1. “And we haven’t started it yet,” she said with a smile.

Sunshine State
Down in Florida, lifelong friends Chabot and Burnett are now part of the company’s proud history, Capell said, and she’s pleased to report that this first full year of their retirement has been blissfully uneventful for them, from a business perspective.
“Since we took over, they have left us alone,” she said — perhaps the best compliment from the founders of a company who were wholly engaged in the business since they were young men.
“If I ever have a question, of course they will be happy to help,” she continued. Otherwise, “they don’t worry too much about what we’re doing here. They have confidence in us. But this will always their baby, and it was emotional for them in their final year to let go.
“They both live near each other down there,” she added. “They play golf and see each other almost every day. They’re still the best of friends.”
For the new leadership team, Capell and her partners take pride in carrying on the legacy created by the two men.
“I am very proud of the reputation we have,” she said. “When we’re hired on a job, they’re happy to have us. That’s right across the board from the architects to construction managers to the other trades. We offer a professional business, getting things done fast.
“My father and Danny’s reputations preceded them, and that is carried over to us now,” she added. “A company knows that, when they hire us, there’s a history of honesty, of standing behind everything we do, and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

Shot in the Arm

By
BaystateDPart
Construction Sections
Baystate Project Lifted a Troubled Construction Sector

BaystateDPartLate in 2008, just as the economy began to slide into the Great Recession, officials at Baystate Health were having second thoughts about moving forward with their planned $250 million Hospital of the Future expansion. They eventually decided to press on, much to the relief of hundreds of workers in the construction trades — most of them local — who found the project a lifeline at a time when opportunities were scarce.

When the economy fell off a cliff late in 2008, the construction industry was already suffering — and the region’s largest health system had a big decision to make.
The issue before Baystate Health was whether to move forward with a $250 million expansion and renovation project dubbed the Hospital of the Future. Project executive Stanley Hunter said there was real anxiety about breaking ground when the economy was on such shaky ground.

Stephen Hunter

Stephen Hunter says more than two-thirds of construction jobs on the Hospital of the Future went to people who live in Springfield or the surrounding region.

“We were at the point in 2008 when we were set to start construction, and that was the time — in September and October — when the economy took a real dive, and we really thought it through, as a campus, whether we should continue the project or not,” Hunter told BusinessWest.
“We went back to reassess the finances and the long-term medical impact, and through the course of a four-month evaluation, in early 2009, we decided to stay with the project,” he went on. “We held off on going to financing and making a final decision until the board decided to move forward with it, but that was a big decision, and it has really proven to be a huge benefit for the community that we went forward.”
The first beneficiaries — long before patients will reap the benefits of a new, state-of-the-art Heart and Vascular Center and, later this year, a new Emergency Department — were the builders and tradesmen — and women — who have reaped the benefits of steady work for almost three years, at a time when their industry really needed the jobs.
“As the project came along, a lot of the construction industry — union and non-union — was at an all-time high in unemployment,” said Fiore Grassetti, business agent and industry analyst with the Ironworkers Local Union No. 7. “This came at the perfect time for the building trades.”
That’s clear from a look at the numbers.
“Obviously, the crews there were different at various times, but we consistently had 250 to 300 construction workers on the site for more than two years,” Hunter said. “That’s a huge amount of jobs, and what we’ve been able to do is focus on using as much of the local workforce as possible.”

Hire Ground
That was certainly important for Grassetti.
“We wanted to protect our labor agreement with the hospital and guarantee that local workers were put on this project, as well as responsible contractors, meaning companies with health insurance and pension plans, and who actually train with apprenticeship programs,” he said. “The hospital really went out of its way to make sure the reps were contacted and local workers got the jobs.”
To break it down, Hunter tracked four categories of workers who labored on the project: those based in Springfield, those from outside the city but within the Pioneer Valley region, females, and minorities. Two-thirds of all workers over the course of the project to date have hailed from the city or surrounding region — “well beyond the expectations we had at the beginning of the project,” he said — while women and minorities comprised 15% of the workforce.
“That was something we were very pleased with, seeing those jobs stay local,” Hunter added. “We worked with local trade organizations to set that as a priority at the very outset of the project. And they were responsive to that; they wanted to help us, to really emphasize that as an important part of this project.”
Baystate also tracked the businesses it hired to work on the Hospital of the Future, and 40% of them are headquartered locally, while 55% of employers fall into one of the four aforementioned categories (Springfield-based, regional, female, minority).
“It’s been interesting; some guys — and women — worked on the job the whole three and a half years, like the company that did the site work and landscaping, Northeast Contractors out of Ludlow,” Hunter said. “They were here in the beginning, doing excavation, and are still here now doing landscaping.”
Meanwhile, Adams and Ruxton of West Springfield was brought on for casework, millwork, and general carpentry for the project. “They’re a small company that we’ve used before this project on smaller jobs, and when this larger job came up, they were able to help out with part of it.”
Baystate also hired Harry Grodsky & Co. for HVAC work. “Grodsky did mechanical systems and plumbing systems; they’re a pretty common name here, a Springfield company,” Hunter said. “They’ve been a great partner on this job, but also on many jobs.”
The new building is 640,000 square feet in size, which Baystate is fitting out in phases. Just under half the building will house the Heart and Vascular Program, which comprises an ICU floor for the most serious patients, two regular inpatient floors, space for outpatient procedures, and a spacious operating suite with cutting-edge technology and large monitors looming above the surgical tables.
Later this year, Baystate will unveil a much larger, state-of-the-art Emergency Department in the new building, replacing a current ER that was designed to handle much less traffic than it does. Other floors have been left unfinished as shell space so that the hospital can meet future needs that may not be apparent right now — hence, the Hospital of the Future moniker.

Kid Stuff
Hunter said many workers take pride in helping to build a facility they might have visited in the past, or might need in the future.
“This is the hospital they’d go to if there was an issue with their health or their family’s health,” he said. “To have worked here for that amount of time, they’re very proud of that.”
For many of the ironworkers, the project got personal when they started working under the watchful eye of patients and staff at Baystate’s Children’s Hospital. The kids would watch the workers, who in turn started communicating with hospital staff.
“The steward was talking to the nurse and heard a Wii game got broken or stolen from the hospital, so the guys took up a collection to replace the game,” Grassetti said. “it just snowballed from there.”
Indeed, not only did the workers supply a new Wii, but they added a new Xbox for older pediatric patients, several other donations of presents, and about $1,000 from their pockets to purchase whatever else the kids might want. Later, workers discovered that the chidren’s play area was outdated, “so we hit other contractors up, other unions, and some side organizations I worked with, and we collected about $10,000 to help fix up the children’s room.”
“From there,” Grassetti added, “it snowballed even more.”
He was referring to the beams.
Those started with a sign, one of many the children had set to making for the ironworkers. It read, “hello down there from the kids up here.”
The kids started using the signs to introduce themselves, and the workers started spray-painting their patients’ names on the steel beams they sent up into the grid — similar to the well-documented beam-painting effort at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute during one of its expansions several years ago.
“Every day, we’d get a couple new names and put them on the beams, and fly the beams up,” he recalled. “It was all about putting smiles on kids’ faces. Something as simple as a name on a beam could do that.”
The effort even extended to the topping-off ceremony, which incorporated a white beam decorated with the kids’ painted handprints, as well as a pillowcase fashioned into an American flag, teddy bears, and other items.
“It was pretty exciting to be part of that project, to work with the nurses and see the smiles on the kids’ faces,” Grassetti said. “We don’t get a lot of those opportunities, to give back to the community quite like that.”
Hunter appreciates those gestures. “They made some major donations to the Children’s Hospital and made several collections for gifts around Christmas. It was a really positive experience.”
Still, it all comes back to having the opportunity to work at a time when so many in the construction industry are still struggling.
“We had high unemployment in our industry, across the building trades,” Grassetti said, “and this put a lot of our members back to work, in many cases just as their unemployment benefits were running out. Baystate really did the right thing by working with us and with all the building trades and giving us the opportunity to work with them. We formed a good relationship.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Building on a Legacy

By
Eric Forish says he has always taken a slow and steady approach to growth.
Construction Sections
Forish Construction Marks Another Milestone in Its Long History

Eric Forish says he has always taken a slow and steady approach to growth.

Eric Forish says he has always taken a slow and steady approach to growth.

Eric Forish is a man of contrasts.
On the one hand, the man at play is a passionate and dedicated seeker of extreme winter sports. His adventures on ski slopes that few will ever traverse would give just about anyone a head of gray hair.
But the man at the helm of Forish Construction, the second-generation owner and current president, considers himself a conservative businessperson. “I always have been,” he told BusinessWest recently, “and I’ve always taken the attitude of slow and steady growth. That’s how we’ve been able to maintain ourselves over the last few years, which we have done despite the economy. We reinvest in our company — whether that’s tools or employees and staff. We continue in a controlled-growth mode.”
That approach to his family’s business is clearly a good blueprint for success in an industry that has taken some hard hits in not only this recession, but every other in its seven decades of operation. Since Forish Construction celebrated its last milestone, 60 years in business, the company’s founder (Forish’s father) passed away.
“That’s been the biggest change,” he said. “Dad’s no longer here. He was the one who created and developed this company, and of course there’s a void with his absence.” After the succession of operations to his son, Leonard Forish still came to work every day, and his legacy of how the business developed is one that the new generation credits for its success.
“Dad was always someone who embraced new technologies,” Forish explained. “But he did it with machinery and tools for doing certain operations. We always had the newest equipment to be able to increase productivity, to have the ability to do a better job, to be one step ahead of the next guy.
“And we’ve pretty much continued that tradition,” he continued. “When dad was here, he saw that, and I know he enjoyed that I was doing the same as he, in a different way — in my own field of interest.”
To that end, he said that, in construction, it is a mandate to stay current with not only the newest technology, but also training, education, regulations, licensures — all the products of an industry that is constantly changing.
“Staying current, no matter what your profession, is essential,” he said, “or else you really are moving backward.”
But as the company’s 65th year in business came to a close, and Forish looked ahead to his next milestone, it’s clear the business his dad built is headed onward and upward. “I know for a fact we’ll be here in another five years,” he joked. “So I guess the next milestone is 75 years.”

Industrial Revolution
Sitting in front of a wall of framed photographs showing the structures his firm has built over the last half-century, Forish said that a big difference in the scope of its work has come from the changing nature of the area’s business sector.
“We were living in a region of different industry,” he said. “There were still paper mills up and down the Connecticut River Valley. My dad focused on maintaining and working on all those paper mills and factories.
“We are still fortunate, though,” he was quick to add. “Our region has high-tech tooling, medical-related manufacturing, and many other types of industries that still prosper. And we still participate in activities at those sites and businesses. However, we have also focused and increased our volume of building construction over the years. Years ago, where we might have been more involved in a maintenance style of construction, now we have increased our volume of building-related activities.”

Framing goes up for the new Curry Honda in Chicopee.

Framing goes up for the new Curry Honda in Chicopee.

As an adjunct to building services, Forish has also added design services. “By self-performing the design aspect, we are able to keep a tight control on the final product and the ultimate cost. Design/build services often save time as well as money for the end user.”
Over the past decade, Forish has made a foray into publicly funded works, also. It is this facet of the construction industry that he said has not only helped his own firm, but, in many ways throughout this downturn, helped to keep his industry alive.
That changing face of the construction industry was a common refrain in his conversation with BusinessWest. And with so many years of growth and development, Forish said that his business has had a chance to perfect what it takes to not only get the job done right, but to get that job in the first place.
“Clearly in the private sector, the volume decreased,” he said. “Therefore, whatever activity is out there is highly sought. We’ve been successful because of the team we assembled over the years.
“As much as we’re diversified in our activities,” he continued, “my personnel is also diversified. Some are very well-versed in public sector, others in private, but overall, it’s a very strong team. That’s what is necessary in any business through difficult times. You need a strong staff to complement your organization.”
That team is vital to Forish’s own perspective on the concept of legacy. “I don’t have someone within my immediate family ready to follow me,” he said. “So what I’ve been doing is surrounding myself with good people, finding that team that can carry us forward.”

Solid Build
Forish cited another legacy that gives him a great deal of pride — the finished projects that dot the region.
“I’m proud to drive through areas and see buildings that my father completed, and then projects that we did after. Everyone in the organization feels a similar pride in our finished products. When they pass a facility that they worked on, they proudly tell their families, and their families proudly tell their friends. We all work together to create something that will last a very long time, and take great pride in doing so.”
He listed the names of several clients that have been repeat customers — Dirats Laboratories, Governor’s America Corp., as well as numerous auto dealers, public and private colleges, banks, municipal offices, and many others. Most recently, Forish completed the Steve Lewis Subaru expansion on Route 9 in Hadley, and is currently undertaking the full rebuilding of Curry Honda in Chicopee into that brand’s Generation 3 image program.
Like many other current owners of a family business, Forish said he knew early on that one day he would enter the profession of his father. The earliest address for Forish Construction was the homestead, he said, and his Tonka trucks were overshadowed by their real-life counterparts across the yard.
“I’ve always enjoyed being around construction projects and construction equipment,” he said. “It was just always part of my life. I became a civil engineer in order to gain the skills and knowledge to actually be able to go to the next level within the industry — to be the conductor of the orchestra, putting these projects together.”
He chuckled when he told the story of a recent late evening, when he stopped off at the School Street Bistro in Westfield for dinner before heading home. As he sat alone, “in walks John Reed, 95 years old, the owner of Mestek,” he said. “There’s a man who built himself a legacy.
“John told me again the story of how my grandfather worked for him, my father worked for him, and so did I,” he continued. “Not only has he used Forish Construction services for 65 years, but those of my grandfather, who was a stonemason before that.”
Forish clearly swells with pride in retelling and remembering the buildings that were built by his forebears. He calls it “an emotional connection” to the work and the region.
“Whether it’s the legacy of the family company,” he said, “or those who have worked with us, who helped us create these structures that go on for many years, I’m proud of what we do. Everyone here is proud of what we do.
“I’m thankful that we’ve had such good customers, good employees, and good opportunities,” he continued. “I’m thankful for everything that we’ve been blessed with in the past 65 years. Now let’s sit here and talk again in 10 years.”

Set in Stone

By
James Simoncini
Construction Sections
Raymond James Restoration Has This Art Down to a Science

James Simoncini

James Simoncini says his company specializes in matching original work with such quality that observers wouldn’t know a restoration project was undertaken.

A century ago, craftspeople spent endless hours doing intricate work on the exterior of buildings that is seldom replicated today.
So, when an old structure such as a museum, library, or brick apartment complex needs restoration, many people believe it will be impossible to reconstruct portions of the original façade or match it exactly without spending a lot of money, especially since colors of brick and mortar change and fade over time.
But Raymond James Restoration Inc. of Worcester and Springfield has been debunking that notion for 15 years. “Restoration work is an art, and a lot of projects can be expensive. But restoration is all we do and because of our background, experience and knowledge, our repairs match so well no one ever knows they were done,” said Raymond James Simoncini, who founded the business. He added that although perfect matches take extra time, the company’s well-honed methods allow them to complete projects at reasonable prices.
Details are important to Simoncini, and like the craftsmen of yesterday, he has dedicated his career to restoring buildings to their former grandeur so people can continue to enjoy their original beauty for generations to come.
“I want things to look right. I love old buildings and their history,” he said. “Appearance is very important to me and it doesn’t take that much more time to do something correctly, which is one of the secrets to my success.”
Simoncini grew up in the construction business and sharpened his skills under the tutelage of a dedicated mason who had taught the craft at a vocational high school and loved restoration work. Since that time, he has gone from working for others, to operating a one-man operation, to managing a business which employs eight people with services that range from masonry restoration of building facades, to historic revitalizations, to the many aspects of masonry repair, masonry cleaning and protection services, and maintenance consultation services. His roster of services also encompasses concrete precast repair and replacement and waterproofing coating and painting.
The majority of the work is done in the commercial arena. Currently, the company is engaged in the first phase of a project on one of the buildings that make up Stockbridge Court in Springfield.
“It’s made of concrete, and some of the material was falling off,” Simonici explained, adding that water had seeped in behind the façade. The job involves treating the steel frame, which has rusted, and re-coating the entire structure with waterproof paint.
However, many of his projects are far more challenging and range from sites in Worcester and the Boston area to UMass Amherst. And since some sites are large and the work must be done in stages to accommodate budgets, Simonici also does consultation work and develops plans that prioritize the importance of repairs that need to be done.
“They can range from safety issues to cosmetics,” he explained. “So, I fine tune the jobs so people know where to spend their money.”

Concrete Examples
Simoncini’s introduction to the construction business came at a young age when he began working for his father. He studied business in college, and although he continued working for his dad, he began taking on jobs of his own. In time, he was hired by a masonry-restoration company whose work included many high-end projects in Boston, on Newbury Street, Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue.
While employed there, he was mentored by Michael McCarthy, a mason and teacher who cared deeply about restoration work. “He taught me how to match bricks and mortar, which has allowed me to separate myself from my competitors,” Simoncini said. “He sculpted me into restoration.”
During that time, Simoncini gained two clients who had so much for him to do, the time he spent on their projects soon equaled the 40 hours he was putting in at with his employer.
When the firm’s business began to slow, Simoncini did some work for other companies, as he had joined the local mason’s union. But at age 24, he made the decision to go into business himself, and quickly became extremely busy due to word-of-mouth referrals, which to this day is how he gets most of his work.
“I can find any brick and make it look old, and can match any mortar in a wall,” he said, adding that his company has doubled the amount of work it has done each year for the past three years.
Simoncini has never shied away from a challenge, and has faced many during his career. A good example is the historic Edgell Memorial Library in Framingham, which was built in 1872 to commemorate the service of Civil War soldiers.
The slate roof was being replaced, and that meant the library’s two stone chimneys needed to come down and put back up exactly the way they had been built.
“Every stone had to come off and be labeled; we took photos and made a diagram, but putting something like that back together is not foolproof,” Simoncini explained. “The biggest challenge was that the mortar joints had to be exactly the same size as they had been and had to line up perfectly.”
The crews were able to accomplish the painstaking job to Simoncini’s standards, which he said are often higher than those expressed by the clients who hire him.
And that’s one of the reasons why there are many similarly challenging assignments in the company’s portfolio. Another example is the work undertaken at the   Worcester Historical Museum.
Crews from Raymond James tore down its chimney, and, while rebuilding it,  discovered that 100 of its 300 bricks were not salvageable. Rather than putting all of the new bricks in one section, they carefully mixed them into the design so they were not visible.
Simoncini said it would have been easier to put them all at the top or bottom of the chimney, but his focus has always been on restoration that is not visible.
It was also difficult to match the 50-year-old mortar, but the ability to do such detailed work is what sets him apart, he said, adding, “I am very, very particular in everything I do.”
Another assignment that came complete with a number of challenges was the courtyard of the Rhode Island Federal Courthouse, where some of the pillars needed brick-replacement work. Simoncini explained that water had gotten between the bricks and the steel supporting rods and had pushed the bricks out. In order to get an exact match for 300 bricks, he purchased 1,600 so he could carefully pick and choose among them. “When you order bricks, they come in cubes of 500, and the shades are different colors,” he explained.
But he wasn’t content until he had found a perfect match. “I believe that the work I do is a direct reflection of me, and I won’t use something that isn’t right,” Simoncini said.
“Some people have been told that a certain color brick doesn’t exist anymore,” he told BusinessWest. “But it’s not true. In 15 years, we have never run into a brick we couldn’t find.”
He added that he does a good deal of work for property managers. “They are always trying to save dollars, but they want things to look right, and the reason I have been successful is because that is exactly what I do.”
His company also did brick-replacement, repointing, and sealant work on the Student Union at UMass Amherst. “The sealant was challenging because we were removing mortar in between the capstones and replacing it with the sealant and it had to match the original mortar that we removed. But the project engineer for UMass told us it was the best caulking job he had seen during his career,” Simoncini recalled with pride.

A Full Slate
By utilizing its own team members, Raymond James Restoration is able to control quality as well as project timelines and budgets, since it doesn’t have to wait for subcontractors, which means there no scheduling delays.
And although Simoncini said he could choose to take on more-costly projects in large cities such as Boston, his goal has always been to use his expertise to restore old buildings at rates that people could afford — providing a perfect match even when others have said it cannot be done.
And that has helped him cement a reputation that is, well, rock solid.

Green Building Considerations

By
Construction Sections
There Are a Number of Financial Pros and Cons

Dennis G. Egan

Dennis G. Egan

Going green is all the rage lately. Political correctness almost dictates that waste be minimized and consideration be given to energy alternatives in most situations.
So, under what circumstances might “green” not be an attractive option for a business owner? When might going green have you seeing red?

Budget Considerations
While green buildings can result in significant energy efficiency and corresponding cost savings down the road, the upfront cost of green building materials can be significant. While cost is commonly greater in a green building project than the same costs associated with a traditional building project, the average increase is often less than traditionally believed.
For example, one recent study by the U.S. Green Building Council puts the average green building cost premium at slightly less than 2%, or $3 to $5 per square foot. Those on a tight budget might not be able to afford this increase, however, despite the prospect of lower energy costs in the future.
Additionally, it has been found that, with an increase in the number of green building projects, there is a corresponding reduction in the green-building cost premium. Obviously, the green-building cost premium can be, and often is, offset by the increased energy efficiency of green buildings and resulting reduction in energy costs. So you’ll have to pay more upfront to see the payoff later on.

Tax Credits and Financial Incentives
Recently, several tax credits, deductions, and other financial incentives have become available. For example, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 created the Commercial Building Tax Deduction, which provides an accelerated tax deduction aimed at reducing the initial cost of investing in energy-efficient building components. Under this program, owners of commercial buildings (or their tenants, if applicable) can deduct all or a portion of the cost of installing lighting, HVAC and hot-water components, windows, and building shell components in the year in which the new components are placed in service, up to a maximum of $1.80 per square foot.
Alternatively, partial deductions are available (up to a maximum of $0.60 per square foot) for improvements in any one of the energy-efficient components listed above. The deduction can be claimed for all qualifying projects as long as they are completed prior to January 1, 2014.
Additionally, the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 expanded the business energy investment tax credit, which provides credits equal to 30% (with no maximum credit) of the cost of solar, fuel-cell, and small wind-turbine power systems, and 10% of the cost (with no maximum credit) for micro-turbines, geothermal power, and combined heat and power (CHP) systems. Minimum- and maximum-capacity requirements apply in some cases, so those wanting to take advantage of this credit should consult a professional to determine the project’s eligibility.
Alternatively, eligible taxpayers may receive a grant from the U.S. Treasury Department in lieu of taking a tax credit. Generally, to be eligible for the credit, the original use of the equipment must be made by the taxpayer, or the equipment must be constructed by the taxpayer. In addition, the tax credit is available only if the energy property is operational in the year in which the credit is taken.
For all of the above programs and incentives, you’ll have to shell out the money upfront, but if you can afford to do so, you may receive credits for the work and also enjoy reduced energy costs down the road.

Certification
One of the most recognized certifications that can be attained by builders, developers, building owners, and landlords is Leadership in Environment and Energy Design (LEED) standards set forth by the U.S. Green Building Council, which awards points based on building specifications. LEED certification can be achieved in a number of different areas, including but not limited to existing buildings (operations and maintenance), commercial interiors (leases/tenant improvements), core and shell (design for new core and shell construction), schools (construction of K-12 schools), retail (retail design and construction), and health care (planning, design, and construction for health care facilities).
LEED certifications are being recognized and adopted as the green benchmark in ever-increasing numbers by federal, state, and local governments. As such, many government entities are requiring that government buildings, both new and existing, as well as owned and leased, comply with LEED standards.
LEED-certification programs are pricey, though. A recent check online resulted in several different programs ranging from $595 to $2,500 for specific certifications. In addition, there are registration fees and credential-maintenance programs that can add up significantly. But as LEED certification becomes more mainstream and expected, contractors may find themselves obligated to make the investment to fulfill credentialing requirements.
Another available certification is Energy Star for commercial buildings, which is a government program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. This certification differs from LEED certification in that Energy Star’s certification is relative to a building, rather than a person. The goal is to reduce the use of energy through energy efficient practices and products, and Energy Star uses a points-based system that awards points on a scale of 1 to 100.
Buildings must be verified by a professional engineer or registered architect, and associated costs must be paid, then buildings receiving a score of 75 or more receive the Energy Star designation. While there is no direct financial benefit from Energy Star certification, there is an implied status enhancement, and research shows that people generally prefer to do business with companies that are committed to doing their part to help the environment.

Dennis G. Egan Jr. is an associate with Bacon Wilson, P.C., concentrating in special education, business, and corporate law; (413) 781-0560; [email protected]

Extreme Challenge

By
Nick Riley, president of N. Riley Construction
Construction Sections
Nick Riley Builds His First House — in One Week

Nick Riley, president of N. Riley Construction

Nick Riley, president of N. Riley Construction, during the build week at Sirdeaner Walker’s home.

Nick Riley launched his construction company about five years ago, focusing on residential remodels but eager to move into total home builds. He’s not likely to forget the first house he finished from the ground up, because he — and a large crew of volunteer builders and tradespeople — managed to complete it in one week. Riley said the opportunity to tear down and rebuild a house for ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is one he’s glad he didn’t pass up — not only for the experience, but for the chance to impact the lives of a very deserving family.

Kate Riley said her husband had a few goals when he planned his career — “to have his own business, to have his name get big, and to build houses. This is his first house.”
She — along with several other Riley family members and dozens of area builders and tradespeople, all volunteering their time — stood on Springfield’s Northampton Avenue, absorbing what had happened in the first few days since Ty Pennington and his team of designers from ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition knocked on the door of Sirdeaner Walker and informed her she would have a new house by the following week.
“The Extreme Makeover producer contacted me about four weeks before we started the project,” said Riley, president of N. Riley Construction in Chicopee, noting that he was recommended by the Home Builders Assoc. of Western Mass. and other contractors. “I ended up meeting with them the day after. I sat down and spoke with them, and they told me the story of this family.
“That’s when I made my decision,” he continued. “Being able to do this for this family … you never get a chance like this, to be able to do a project like this. It’s not too often that you can say you were able to gather an entire community to help one family.”
Walker is no stranger to the spotlight, but it’s a light she never would have asked for, obviously. Her 11-year-old son, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, took his own life in 2009 after being incessantly bullied by peers at the New Leadership Charter School in Springfield.
In the months following the tragedy, Walker became a strong advocate against school bullying, successfully pushing for anti-bullying legislation in Massachusetts, meeting with federal lawmakers and President Obama, and establishing a foundation in her son’s name that raises awareness of the bullying issue and scholarships for area students.

Nick Riley’s wife, Kate, and mother, Lisa

Nick Riley’s wife, Kate, and mother, Lisa, were among many family members pitching in with Extreme Makeover.

Her house, in the Upper Hill neighborhood close to Springfield College, was run-down and riddled with plumbing and electrical issues, according to ABC producers. She lives there with two daughters, a sister, her mother, and her grandmother.
“We started planning about four weeks before the build week,” Riley said. “I approached a couple of good friends of mine in the trades to help me. I also started planning right away as far as gathering materials, manpower, and tradespeople. The Extreme team sent in a couple of project managers to help us do that, but it was ultimately my responsibility to provide the help.
“I had, at the beginning, some very good responses. I had a lot of people who wanted to participate, but didn’t think they could at the time because of how everything has been” with the economy, he told BusinessWest. “So it was a little bit of both: I had people who were very positive about it, saying, ‘yes, we’ll do it,’ and on the other hand some who wanted to do it but couldn’t afford to at the time, or were just too busy.”
Riley’s glad he wasn’t too busy, though, calling the experience one of the most rewarding of his life.

From the Ground Up
Riley corrected his wife’s first-house assertion to a point, noting that he’s currently building a house in Chicopee, and his company, which he launched about five years ago, has done some major home renovations that were very close to whole-home jobs. But this month’s makeover was, indeed, the first house he has completed from the ground up.
The build week itself was every bit as long and intense as viewers of the show might imagine. “On Sunday, we knocked on the door and surprised the family, and on Monday we ripped the house down. On Tuesday we started the foundation,” Riley said.
By midweek, a newly framed house had gone up in its place, followed by repaving of the driveway, complete landscaping of the yard, and of course, all those personal touches the designers are known for. “On Sunday, they brought the furniture in and surprised the family with their new home.”
The days, not surprisingly, were long. “We had 12-hour shifts set up, but the nighttime shifts started to roll into the daytime shifts,” said Riley. “The demolition of the house went really well, and when we dug out the foundation, that went really well,” he recalled. “Framing went pretty well, too. We had framers there for 40 hours, then we started losing them, and it was a challenge to get people back there.”
Inclement weather, always a concern on these one-week builds, wasn’t a factor; temperatures were mild all week, with a little rain passing through on Wednesday, but nothing to slow down the progress, as the house was weathertight by that point. But the occasional unexpected challenge emerged during construction.
For example, “when we started to set the concrete walls, we noticed that we hit a little bit of water. That caused a bit of a problem; we had to set up a pump and pump out the water while we were setting these concrete walls.”
But any problems encountered during the build paled in comparison to the joy the Walker family felt at receiving so much community support. In addition to the army of volunteers and dozens of companies — in the construction trades, home supplies, marketing, and other fields — who lent their time and resources, Walker had more surprises coming at the reveal. Notably, UMass presented her with four-year scholarships — tuition, room, board, and fees at any of the four campuses — for each of her youngest children, now age 7 and 8.
Details about the home’s interior will have to wait until the show airs, at the request of ABC. But Riley said the designers came up with some special touches to match the work he and his crew did on the house itself.
“Seeing people come together to help other people in such a big way, giving up their days and money to help people they don’t even know, it was an amazing experience,” he told BusinessWest. “It just shows how good people are. And just seeing the faces of the family when they moved that bus — it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
He said he was also fortunate to meet many people from different businesses he might not otherwise have met, and the participation of his own family members was another personal highlight.
“I asked a couple people in my family to help me out with the planning process, and before I knew it, the whole family was helping out in some way,” particularly helping at the various support tents set up around the neighborhood. “That was rewarding.”
His wife agreed. “This is unbelievable,” Kate said that afternoon midway through the project. “It’s amazing to be able to help a family like this.”

Making a Name
If Riley’s goal was to make a name for his business, he’s well on his way. He started out in the construction business working for his uncle, Andrew Crane, president of A. Crane Construction in Chicopee.
“I ended up leaving because I wanted to start my own company, and things have been great the whole time,” Riley said. “I haven’t had one minute of downtime — it’s been amazing.”
That’s a striking account of success in what has been a decidedly downbeat atmosphere for builders, many of whom have struggled to keep employees busy during the past few years of recession and sluggish recovery. But Riley, most of whose work is residential, has focused largely on home remodels and renovation work, one of the few sectors of construction that has consistently shown some life.
“Right now, because of the recent disasters, we’ve done a lot of insurance repairs, from the ice damage from the winter to work from the tornadoes and the microburst.”
And he’s looking forward to plenty more work as the economy improves — with the experience of that one-week build under his toolbelt.
Still, “we don’t want to grow too big,” he said. “We want to stay a smaller company and keep it personal, make sure we continue to provide a quality product.
“I like the hands-on work of going into someone’s home and putting a smile on the face of the owners,” Riley continued. “There aren’t a lot of other jobs where you can do that, where you can go in make an impact by changing their homes.”
Or, in extreme cases, their lives.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

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