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Home & Garden Show Lets Contractors Put Their Best Foot Forward

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The leadership team at Ace Chimney Sweeps, Kelly Kapinos and her sons, from left, Kelly, Matty, and Joey.
Home Improvement Special Coverage

Getting Down to Business

The leadership team at Ace Chimney Sweeps, Kelly Kapinos and her sons, from left, Kelly, Matty, and Joey.

The leadership team at Ace Chimney Sweeps, Kelly Kapinos and her sons, from left, Kelly, Matty, and Joey.

 

Kelly Kapinos says it started with one of those cereal box records that were prevalent in the ’60s and ’70s.

Her husband, Jay, was looking at a trade magazine in a doctor’s office after an on-the-job injury, she explained, when he came across an item for chimney sweeping.

“It talked about how you could be your own boss, help people stay safe, meet a lot of people, and not have to work in a cubicle,” she recalled, adding that he sent away for the record, which started with “Chim Chim Cher-ee” from Mary Poppins.

“It talked about the advantages of being a chimney sweep, like being outside in the nice weather. It didn’t talk about how cold it gets, or how hot it can be on roofs, or how dangerous it can be,” Kapinos recalled with a laugh, adding that, after some deeper due diligence on this business, they bought in and hung out their shingle. Sort of.

They kept their full-time jobs and started cleaning chimneys on weekends before it became a full-time pursuit called Ace Chimney Sweeps. And 40 years later, Kelly and her three sons, Matt, Jamie, and Joe, are still at it (Jay went on to get his class A license and now moves heavy construction equipment), as one of the very few locally owned chimney sweep companies still doing business in the 413 and just beyond.

And this is one of the points they stress to visitors to their booth at the Original Western Mass Home & Garden Show, which will stage its 71st edition at the Big E on March 26-29.

The company has become a regular at the show over the past several years, said Kapinos, adding that it uses those four days to help fill an already-crammed schedule for the coming seasons, but also just to get the word out and build some brand recognition.

“For the first time in a long time, people want to sign up to get work scheduled. In past years, they’ve been so busy … they came to the show because they didn’t want to lose their spot and they wanted to keep their name out there, but they really weren’t trying to sell work. This year, there’s a different mindset.”

These are the main motivations for vendors at the show, many of which have been appearing for decades, said Andy Crane, president of the Home Builders & Remodelers Assoc. of Western Mass., which produces the show.

The showcase provides a great opportunity for businesses to do some brand building and, quite often, put some business on the books, said Crane, adding that, with the economy slowing in some respects, many vendors are more focused on looking for work than they have been in recent years, when they were booked solid heading into the show.

“A lot of businesses are really busy, but there are many businesses that would like to see more booked jobs to feel good,” he explained.

Meanwhile, for visitors, the show presents an opportunity to get a break from winter (especially this year), see what’s new, and perhaps find someone to handle the next project on their to-do list.

For BusinessWest, its annual show preview provides a chance to tell the stories behind some of the vendors — like Dimauro Carpet & Tile. The East Longmeadow-based company, now celebrating 30 years in business, will be making its first appearance at the show, and Jeff Beturne, project manager for the company, is expecting … well, he’s not really sure what to expect.

“I’m excited about what it might bring — we’re really not sure,” he said, adding that members of the company’s leadership team are putting together a game plan for the show, including deals to be offered to customers.

Overall, they will be looking to introduce themselves to the region and “get our personality out there,” he went on, adding that the company will stress its longevity and the fact that it is locally and family-owned.

Andy Crane

Andy Crane says the Home & Garden Show provides vendors with an opportunity to be visible — and also put some business on the books.

For Earthlight Technologies, an energy solutions company based in Ellington, Conn., and with offices locally in Northampton, the goals are similar, said Andrew Bessette, content manager.

“The trade show is a good way for us to get more visibility and get direct lines to our customers,” he noted, adding that, while the company gains several jobs directly from the show, it also builds name recognition and tries to separate itself from competition that is not as focused on quality and customer service (more on this later).

For this issue and its focus on home improvement, BusinessWest previews the Home & Garden Show and talks with several area businesses about why these four days at the Big E are time very well-spent.

 

Home Work

This is the slow season for chimney sweeps.

It starts in January and goes until about the end of winter, said Kapinos, adding that this general quiet allows the company to make the significant investment in time required of home show vendors.

“We start revving up for spring cleanings, and then we’re out straight again until next January,” she explained, adding that the show, while time-consuming, is a solid investment for Ace when it comes to getting its name out and making acquaintances.

“The show keeps us in front of people that have been coming to us for years,” she said. “They stop by the booth to say ‘hi’ and put my face with my voice on the phone, and also meet the guys because they’re at the show with me.”

This business of putting faces with voices and ‘meeting the guys’ might be the unofficial mission of the home show, said Crane, who said organizers are on track for another sellout when it comes to vendor space.

Crane noted that, in the wake of COVID, a time when people spent more time at home — and also when many had more disposable income — most contractors and home improvement companies had all the work they can handle. Some didn’t want to come to the home show and tell those visiting their booth that they couldn’t put them on the schedule for several months at least.

Most contractors are still busy, he said, but there is now more need to get in front of people and, hopefully, fill the calendar with work.

“For the first time in a long time, people want to sign up to get work scheduled,” he said. “In past years, they’ve been so busy … they came to the show because they didn’t want to lose their spot and they wanted to keep their name out there, but they really weren’t trying to sell work. This year, there’s a different mindset.”

Like many home improvement companies, Dimauro received a significant boost from COVID, said Beturne, noting that the company’s portfolio leans heavily (about 80%) toward commercial and municipal work, and there was a lot to be found in 2020 and 2021.

“Municipalities had an influx of money, and it was just sitting there,” he explained, adding that the company gained a significant amount of work taking out carpeting and putting in hard surfaces.

“This past year was the first quiet year after all of that,” he went on, adding that there was less work to be had on the municipal side and more competition for what did emerge, and it was also slower on the residential side amid inflation, tariffs, and general uncertainty. The company is looking at home show participation as one strategy for putting more work on the books for 2026 and beyond.

“We want to be aggressive; we want to put our best foot forward in terms of getting people to knock out the room they’ve been holding out on,” he explained. “If they’re renovating a room, a home office, bedroom, you name it, then we want to be able to provide products at excellent prices.

“It’s about making sales, but it’s also about getting our name out there,” Beturne added. “It will be good to remind people that we’re here and that we’re willing to travel to handle a project.”

For Earthlight Technologies, there are several motivating factors when it comes to trade show participation, and the company takes part in several, Bessette noted.

It does so to educate the public on its many products and services, he said, listing EV charging stations, energy efficiency, and other energy solutions. But it’s best known for commercial and residential solar, which remains a popular option, despite the end of the 30% federal solar tax credit on Dec. 31 with the signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“The value proposition doesn’t really go away because there’s no tax credit,” he explained. “The sky is not falling; solar is still going to be a very viable option for a long-term return on investment.”

There is a good amount of work on the books for 2026, he noted, adding that the show will hopefully generate more, while also helping the company tell its story and differentiate itself from what is still a crowded field of competitors.

“The trade show is a really good way for us to stand out, specifically when customers can talk to our sales reps,” Bessette said. “Unfortunately, our industry doesn’t have the best reputation. In any industry, there are bad actors or people that might promise more than they can actually deliver. You have that in any industry, but it’s fairly prominent in the solar industry. When you talk to our sales reps and the people at our company, that’s a differentiating factor — we take really good care of our customers.”

 

Bottom Line

Each company has its own message to get across, said Crane, adding that the Home & Garden Show has been connecting contractors with the public — and existing and potential customers — for seven decades now.

This tradition will continue later this month, with a four-day show at which vendors and visitors can get down to business, in every sense of that phrase.

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

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

Building Momentum

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

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Going Up

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Firm Foundation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Even as Federal Incentives Dry Up, Contractors Tout Value of Solar Energy

By
PV Squared workers install solar panels on a house.
Green Business Special Coverage

Power Play

PV Squared workers install solar panels on a house.

PV Squared workers install solar panels on a house.

 

 

“I’m frustrated — and, frankly, I’m disgusted.”

Those words open a blog post written recently by Greg Garrison, president of Northeast Solar, about the One Big Beautiful Bill — specifically the provision that ends, on Dec. 31, federal tax incentives for people who have solar energy installed in their homes.

The rest of that post is more measured, and even optimistic when it comes to the future of solar energy, but Garrison’s dismay is real.

“I had written some posts previous to that where I said, ‘you know, this could happen,’” he told BusinessWest during a recent visit to the company’s Hatfield headquarters. “When it actually came about, I was disappointed because that’s real money that the federal government is putting in the hands of local homeowners here, and it stays here.”

But only for a few more months. The only solar tax credits extended by President Trump’s bill are for third-party solar installers, and that goes to a corporate entity, not the homeowner, Garrison noted. “So this one core thing they could have done to make the middle class and American households a little bit stronger in this economy, they took away.”

Indeed, Northeast sells its equipment outright to the customer; some other companies operate under a third-party ownership agreement where the business owns the array and sells the power back to the homeowner; these companies will continue to benefit from federal tax incentives through 2027.

“This one core thing they could have done to make the middle class and American households a little bit stronger in this economy, they took away.”

For homeowners now calling Northeast to take advantage of solar installation before the end of 2025, well, they’re out of luck, as the company is fully booked through the end of the year. But that bad luck extends only to the federal tax incentive; Garrison’s mission now, as it has been all along, is to show people that solar energy carries long-term savings no matter what tax breaks they’re getting.

“The way this legislation cuts the production tax credits instead of incentivizing domestic manufacturing is not great policy, so the One Big Beautiful Bill will make it harder for a domestic renewable energy supply chain to be successful,” said Alex Peterkin, president of PV Squared, a Greenfield-based, worker-owned cooperative solar installation company.

Still, he told BusinessWest, the elimination of the federal solar incentives for customers is a bigger concern nationally than it is in New England, where the cost of electricity is relatively high, particularly in communities that don’t have municipal utilities. In Western Mass., he added, solar power still makes sense, and the long-term savings should still be attractive.

“When you remove the investment tax credit that homeowners were able to access, it doesn’t significantly change the long-term energy saving that they would have access to by installing solar in their homes,” Peterkin said. “It’s still an excellent choice for homeowners and businesses to get solar energy in their homes and in their businesses.”

Greg Garrison says the loss of federal solar incentives, while disheartening, shouldn’t deter homeowners from considering other ways solar energy saves them money in the long term.

Greg Garrison says the loss of federal solar incentives, while disheartening, shouldn’t deter homeowners from considering other ways solar energy saves them money in the long term.

While timetables vary for full payback of the initial investment, homeowners who install solar can typically expect their rate savings to pay for it in six to eight years. Taking away the federal incentives doesn’t change that by more than a couple years, Peterkin explained.

“This equipment is designed to last decades — 30 years, even 40 years for some equipment. A slightly different payback schedule isn’t significant when you’re going to be producing energy for 40 years.”

 

Watts Happening

Garrison said Northeast Solar has grown from a very small outfit to 24 employees today.

“We don’t grow any faster than our installation capacity — so it’s been nice, steady growth. And I would say a lot of the initial growth was from the incentives that were out there, both on the state and federal sides, with the intention of building more capacity in the state, getting more solar installed, and then making it more competitive and driving down prices.”

That has largely come to pass, he added. “When I first started in solar 15 years ago, [installation] was around $10 a watt. So if you wanted a 10-kilowatt system, it cost you $100,000. There were incentives and rebates to do to help you pay for that, but that’s what it cost. Today, it’s less than $3 a watt. So what used to be $100,000 is now less than $30,000.”

All that means the annual savings solar customers see over other forms of energy have shrunk the payback timetable, which, as noted, is typically around six to eight years.

“We’ve never offered leases. We’ve always offered direct buy, so the money stays here,” Garrison noted. “And as far as the incentives and rebates, like the federal tax credit, I looked at that money as an incentive for communities to develop better solar policies, better permitting policies, to get solar to be something that everyone would want or could afford. So every time that we put a system on someone’s roof and that 30% tax credit came back, that was money that’s going right into the economy.”

Meanwhile, both he and Peterkin said, it’s much easier to install solar capacity than increase fossil fuel generation at a time when the region — and the country — needs more production.

“It’s especially important to build solar energy on your homes or your businesses because then your energy costs are locked in. You’re not subject to increasing rates.”

“The Massachusetts DPU expects energy requirements are going to be much higher in the coming years,” Peterkin said. “And it’s difficult to have new generation created in Massachusetts. The cheapest way to get electrons onto the grid is with solar power. Other energy sources cost a little bit more; some cost quite a bit more. It’s so expensive to build a coal-fired plant. It’s so expensive to build a natural gas plant. But it’s so cheap to build solar power. And it’s frustrating to see that the best option to meet this quickly growing need is being disincentivized.”

Solar power can put downward pressure on everyone’s utility bills, noted Chris Harto, a senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports who specializes in energy and transportation. “Conserving energy is almost always cheaper than building new infrastructure to supply increasing demand,” he noted in a recent article. “Unfortunately, the premature elimination of energy efficiency programs can have the opposite effect, potentially increasing utility bills for all Americans.”

Garrison noted that Massachusetts utility rates are currently around $0.32 per kilowatt hour and rising about 3% annually. But solar costs are around $0.133 per kilowatt over the system’s 25-year lifespan — approximately 58% cheaper than the current utility rate.

“It’s especially important to build solar energy on your homes or your businesses because then your energy costs are locked in,” Peterkin added. “You’re not subject to increasing rates.”

The team at PV Squared, a worker-owned cooperative.

The team at PV Squared, a worker-owned cooperative.

As a workers’ cooperative, he explained, about 30 PV Squared employees own the company together.

“And the mission that we share — which is that we share the success together — has driven us to grow and increase employment priorities in the renewable energy sector and share the success with as many people as possible,” he said, while helping clients ranging from homeowners to factories to nonprofits like the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, for which it recently completed a major project.

“With this recent legislation and recent treasury guidelines, there are definitely challenges that make it harder for regular people to achieve energy independence,” Peterkin told BusinessWest. “But the core of it is still so strong. We’re optimistic about our business because people need to lower their energy costs, and this is the cheapest and best way to do it. So we see a bright future ahead.”

 

Shine On

Northeast Solar performs mostly residential work, with a few commercial projects mixed in. And Garrison noted that Massachusetts homeowners can still take advantage of a $1,000 state tax credit.

“The state has also maintained, with the utilities, a net metering policy. That’s where, if you export your power, you get that credit back to your bill. That’s an important part of solar. If you didn’t have that way of storing those energy dollars so you could use them later, solar would be a lot different.”

While incentives have no doubt drawn many customers to the solar side, Garrison said he relies on educating them with the savings figures.

“It’s going to take a while, and we’re going to have to go through that curve of education. But when you put solar on your roof of your home, you are fixing the cost of your electricity going forward. We call it the levelized cost of energy. You don’t have to worry about the fluctuations in energy, and you increase the home value right off the bat by putting solar on it.

“We try to get people to understand that they have an option to control their own energy, and solar is the cheapest form of energy you can buy,” he added before waxing philosophical about the power of the sun.

“It really is a simple technology that people just don’t fully understand. All the energy that we use on this planet, every bit of it, from the oil, gas, and everything else, all of it is derived from the sun. Without that power plant we have out there, we wouldn’t have any of it, because oil was created by the original plants. We’re just cutting out the middle.”

Area Contractors Hoping for a Strong 2024

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

Building on Momentum

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

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Challenge and Opportunity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

entryway for the Air National Guard in Westfield

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

From the Ground Up

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

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

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

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

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

Home-improvement Contractors Stay Busy Despite Challenges

By Contributor
Infinity Construction Corp.
Home Improvement Special Coverage

Space Race

Infinity Construction Corp.

Infinity Construction Corp. has stayed busy with excavation and site-preparation work.

The past two years have been challenging for most sectors of the economy, and home improvement is no exception, beset as it has been with material shortages and soaring costs. But customer demand has certainly been a positive story, as people suddenly spending more time in their homes found plenty of reasons to call a contractor. Now, however, with inflation not receding and the economy still in flux, the question is whether those phones will continue to ring with such regularity.

By Mark Morris

 

Two years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic and a sudden shift to remote work drove people across the country into their homes, and they didn’t always like what they saw. So, instead of spending money on vacations or luxury items, many people chose to address long-ignored projects around the house. It was a good year for the home-improvement industry.

“Because so many people were working from home, they decided to tackle problems instead of continuing to put them off,” said Ger Ronan, president of Yankee Home Improvement in Chicopee. “The pandemic definitely changed people’s buying patterns.”

The problem today is that those patterns have continued, and in some cases, customers have had to wait for their contractor to start catching up on all the work they scheduled — while professionals are still dealing with price hikes and material shortages caused by global supply-chain issues.

“Because so many people were working from home, they decided to tackle problems instead of continuing to put them off. The pandemic definitely changed people’s buying patterns.”

Siervo Jimenez, owner of ProBuilders Home Improvement (ProBHI) in Springfield, said some of his current customers first called when the pandemic started. “We’re still finishing the projects we received from that time.”

As area contractors told BusinessWest, the projects homeowners have been asking about run the gamut from flooring and bathrooms to whole additions. “People have told us the housing market is so expensive right now, they want to make their house bigger instead of buying a new one,” Jimenez said.

Early in the pandemic, there was a time when people were nervous about having outside workers in their homes. Jake Levine, design associate with Advanced Rug and Flooring Center, said this phenomenon caused orders to decline for a time in 2020 — but it didn’t last long.

“We’ve come full circle, and now the phone hasn’t stopped ringing,” he said, noting that the most popular flooring these days is luxury vinyl planks (LVP), which click together and look like hardwood floors.

Ger Ronan says his company has avoided some supply-chain issues

Ger Ronan says his company has avoided some supply-chain issues by anticipating shortages and buying a considerable amount of materials in advance.

For the last two years, weather has taken a toll on Western Mass., as the amount of rain each year has increased. Fixing drainage issues for homeowners has been a big part of Kyle Rosa’s recent activity. Rosa owns Infinity Construction Corp., which handles commercial and residential site development.

“People who have been living in the same home for 20 to 30 years were suddenly finding leaks from the basement floor and concrete walls cracking from moisture,” he said. “That’s been the number-one problem we’ve been helping people solve.”

The most popular improvement project for Ronan involves people getting rid of their bathtub for a dedicated shower installation. While that’s been a strong trend for retired and older homeowners, Ronan said they are not his only customers.

“I’ve been seeing people make more practical choices. We’re seeing projects where the emphasis is less on making it beautiful and more on what’s practical.”

“Our younger customers are doing shower conversions because they just aren’t using their tubs,” he explained. “For many people, the idea of sitting and lounging in a bath just isn’t as popular as it once was.”

Ronan was able to get around some of the supply-chain issues because his production manager anticipated there might be shortages last year and ordered a considerable amount of tub and shower materials to have on hand at the warehouse.

“When most people had to wait three to six months for a shower conversion, we could do the job within a week,” he said. “We were able to circumvent many of the supply-chain issues because we had materials in stock.”

 

Life Improvements

Sometimes a simple home improvement can change someone’s life. When the child of one of Yankee Home Improvement’s construction managers suffered a paralyzing accident, the old shower and tub set up at his home was no longer feasible. Before Ronan could even offer, his crews came to him with a plan to help the family.

Siervo Jimenez

Siervo Jimenez says the cost of new homes has caused many homeowners to invest in additions instead.

“On their own time, our crews jumped into action and converted the bathroom to make it easier for the child to shower,” he said. “I encouraged them to take whatever materials they needed, and in short order, they got rid of the tub and installed a shower setup that would accommodate a wheelchair.”

Like many contractors, Ronan admits that finding replacement windows has been tough. He will work only with vendors who can assure they have stock, and that’s what he offers to customers.

“I will only market products that I can get,” he said. “If there is a long wait list for a product, I won’t offer it because I don’t want to inflict that on the homeowner.”

Jimenez uses a similar strategy of stocking up when items are available. When prices dropped a while back on electrical outlet boxes used for plugs and light switches, he bought them in bulk.

“These are now hard to find, and when you can, they cost two or three times more than before,” he said, adding that every cost savings makes a difference when bidding for new work. “If you have to keep increasing your estimates from project to project, you might lose out on jobs because your prices are too high.”

Not surprisingly, hardwood floors became much more expensive when lumber prices everywhere increased. While the supply of the popular LVP flooring has been steady, so are price hikes, with manufacturers increasing prices 20% to 30% in the past year.

“As a result, traditional laminate flooring is making a comeback,” Levine said. “It has remained affordable as an option that hasn’t gone up 30%.” Laminate floors are known for their durability but are prone to water damage, making them a poor choice in kitchens and bathrooms.

Ceramic flooring is one product in short supply. Levine said consumers who want the durable floor are faced with limited choices. “Many of these companies are still running at half capacity, so they are producing their most popular selections, and that’s all.”

Rising inflation on everything in the economy is causing a shift in customer attitudes when they sign up for a home improvement.

“I’ve been seeing people make more practical choices,” Ronan said. “We’re seeing projects where the emphasis is less on making it beautiful and more on what’s practical.”

“These days. I’m definitely seeing more people who are careful about spending their money.”

Rosa noted that his customers have stopped asking for add-ons. “Back when people were receiving stimulus checks, they wanted esthetic projects like retaining walls, and they would often request an extra project like hydroseeding their lawn. Now that things are getting tight, lots of people are pulling back on the extras, and I get it.”

Levine believes there are two types of customers, those who watch what they are spending and those who get what they want, no matter the price.

“These days,” he said, “I’m definitely seeing more people who are careful about spending their money.”

 

Up and Down

Jimenez and his crews continue to stay busy with projects from their current customers, but lately his phone is ringing less. “I have seen a decrease in calls coming from new customers,” he noted.

While he expects the commercial side of his business to remain busy, Rosa predicts that high prices will cause a slowdown in residential work as consumers delay home improvements such as re-grading their yards.

Sometimes, however, when one side of the business decreases, the other increases. Rosa may be doing less work at older homes, but he has been preparing building sites for new homes “like they are going out of style” and does not see that trend slowing down anytime soon. He believes the high prices of established homes are making new construction more desirable.

“New houses are selling before they even hit the market,” he said. “In fact, people are making offers to buy the homes we’re building while we are still on the job site.”

Overall, even in this up-and-down business environment in many sectors of the economy, home-improvement contractors remain busy and always on the lookout for what will drive new business.

“We follow the market trends,” Ronan said — however unexpectedly they may shift.

Home Show Fills Need for Contractors, Consumers

By Contributor
Chris Grenier says even a scaled-back show brings value to vendors.
Home Improvement Special Coverage

Summer Special

Andrew Crane says the Home Show helps contractors fill their pipeline with future work.

Even though they’re busy now, Andrew Crane says the Home Show helps contractors fill their pipeline with future work.

By Mark Morris

In the old days — prior to the pandemic — when homeowners wanted to make improvements to their property, they called several contractors for competitive bids. Once a contractor was selected, the job would start shortly after that.

Since the pandemic, those days are long gone. Contractors are busier than ever, and building materials have been affected by worldwide supply shortages and price hikes. Now, homeowners seeking a contractor can leave a phone message, but may not receive a call back.

For those reasons and many more, the Home Builders and Remodelers Assoc. of Western Massachusetts is staging a “special summer edition” of the Western Mass Home & Garden Show, usually held each March.

Andrew Crane, executive director of the association, told BusinessWest that, even though contractors are busy, the event (scheduled for Aug. 20-22) fills an important need.

“Many people will research their home project online, but at some point they need to see and touch the products they want and speak to professionals who can get the job done,” Crane said. “The Home Show allows them to move the project forward and not wait for a callback.”

The Home Show also works for contractors because it allows them to fill their project pipeline with future work.

“While most contractors are straight out right now, many don’t know what their business will be like in the coming fall and winter months,” Crane said.

By labeling it a “special summer edition,” Crane made it clear this is intended to be a one-time event. Plans are full speed ahead for the 2022 Home Show in its traditional late-March timing. The summer show is a way to fill the void left when COVID-19 forced cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 editions of the Home Show.

The special edition will be a scaled-down version of the full show, running only three days instead of four and setting up in only one building at the Eastern States Exposition grounds. The smaller event will still look similar to past shows, with booths set up in the Better Living Center and several outdoor displays.

Chris Grenier, owner of Grenier Painting & Finishing, said he appreciates having any version of the Home Show this year.

“I’m very busy right now, but it’s well worth it for me to be at the show because I still need a steady stream of work that I can plan for in the months ahead,” he explained.

Chris Grenier says even a scaled-back show brings value to vendors.

Chris Grenier says even a scaled-back show brings value to vendors.

BusinessWest spoke with a few contractors who have found both short-term and long-term benefits from participating in the show.

Frank Webb Home in Springfield sells a wide range of kitchen and bath fixtures, as well as lighting. Manager Lori Loughlin said taking a booth at the Home Show is well worth the investment.

“We often see a 40% increase in business right after the Home Show,” Loughlin said. “Even though we’re in a busy time right now, that can change, so we want people to keep us in the loop when they plan their kitchen and bath projects in the future.”

For the last five years, Gisele Gilpatrick, project manager for Pro-Tech Waterproofing Solutions in Chicopee, has chaired the Home Show organizing committee. Her company has always done well at the event.

“It’s a chance to meet people one on one and for them to collect business cards,” she said. “People will often call us six months to a year after the show to say they are ready to fix their wet basement.” She also said it’s not unusual to hear from people up to five or six years later.

When Gilpatrick meets people at the Pro-Tech booth, they often share photos with her, but they are not of children and pets. “They bring us pictures of their basements and say, ‘this is what my nightmare looks like,’” she said, adding that an interesting dynamic happens when someone describes the specifics of their wet-basement problem.

Gisele Gilpatrick says the lingering pandemic has forced show organizers to constantly reassess safety protocols.

Gisele Gilpatrick says the lingering pandemic has forced show organizers to constantly reassess safety protocols.

“One person might be telling us their story, and others who overhear become interested in the conversation because they have similar problems in their basements,” she said. “The next thing you know, a group of people are gathered around our booth.”

 

Safety First

While gathering at a booth can be good for business, this year, people will need to take social distancing into consideration when they congregate. The emergence of the Delta variant of COVID has show organizers making constant adjustments to their safety protocols.

“In planning the show, we’ve gone back and forth from wearing masks to not wearing masks as mandates keep changing, so it won’t be a surprise if they change again,” Gilpatrick said.

The maintenance staff at the Exposition grounds have boosted their protocols with more frequent surface cleaning during the show. They have also strongly encouraged people to wear masks. Crane advised, “if you are at all uncomfortable, wear your mask.”

Despite all that, Gilpatrick believes it’s worth attending the show, and for some, the scaled-down version might be easier to navigate.

“The crowds at the March Home Show can be overwhelming for some people,” she said. “This edition of the show will be easier to get around, and we will still have lots of quality exhibitors.”

Lori Loughlin says finding a contractor can be difficult right now

Lori Loughlin says finding a contractor can be difficult right now, and the Home Show can help make those connections.

As people have stayed closer to home for the last 18 months, many have set aside the money they would normally have spent on vacations and going out, and are using those funds instead to make improvements to the inside and outside of their homes, a trend Loughlin said is far from over. “People who are planning home projects now have been looking at their houses for a year and a half, and they are ready to make some changes.”

Crane emphasized the importance of planning and noted that the combination of busy contractors, shortages of certain building materials, and difficulty finding enough laborers all contribute to projects taking more time than in the past.

“Plan as far ahead as you possibly can,” he said. “I don’t want to scare anyone from doing a project, but planning is more important than it’s ever been.”

Grenier said good planning starts with recognizing that everyone is busy right now. “If folks go to the Home Show looking to make an interior improvement, they should plan it as a winter project. If it’s an exterior project, plan for next spring.”

Crane agreed. “The days of getting prices from four or five contractors are going away. If you talk with a contractor who gives you a reasonable price and you have a comfort level with them, sign them up.”

Loughlin said just finding a contractor to start a project is now more challenging. “The Home Show gives people an opportunity to meet contractors they might not have known about who can help them. It’s a chance to meet contractors in person and establish a point person to contact.”

The real opportunity is moving past thinking about a project, to making it happen, she added. “I believe people will come to the Home Show because many are at the point where they’ve done all they can online, and now it’s time to broaden what’s actually possible.”

Crane also emphasized how the Home Show has become a social event. For a $10 admission, it gives people an inexpensive time outside the house. It also allows people to see and touch new products.

“For the low cost of getting into the Home Show,” he said, “you might see that one thing that completes the puzzle of putting together your project.”

What’s in the New COVID-19 Relief Package for Contractors?

By Contributor
Construction

Something to Build On

By Joe Bousquin

The term ‘construction’ appears 636 times in the $908 billion pandemic relief package and $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill passed by Congress and signed by President Trump at the end of December.

In other words, while the relief package was less than half the size of last spring’s $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, there’s still plenty in the overall bill for contractors to be happy about.

“Lots of construction spending is always a good thing, as long as everyone has access to it,” said Kristen Swearingen, vice president of Legislative and Political Affairs at Associated Builders and Contractors. Her cautionary tone refers to the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which many non-union contractors oppose, potentially being passed in the 117th Congress after Democrats regained control of the Senate earlier this month.

But in general, construction advocates said the new pandemic relief package should be viewed as a win.

“This bill for the construction industry has a lot of good things overall,” said Jimmy Christianson, vice president of Government Relations at Associated General Contractors of America. “I would say, on the list of the many things we were asking for, we got probably 80%.”

“This bill for the construction industry has a lot of good things overall. I would say, on the list of the many things we were asking for, we got probably 80%.”

Nevertheless, one lament is that the package doesn’t include liability protection for employers against lawsuits from employees who were exposed to or became infected with COVID-19 at work.

Here’s a closer look at some of the provisions that should help contractors in 2021:

• Paycheck Protection Program. There are several wins for contractors in the the legislation’s renewed PPP funding, including a provision to ensure expenses paid for with forgiven PPP loans are tax-deductible, an issue many contractors were wringing their hands over last fall.

• Expansion of the Employee Retention Tax Credit. This gives qualifying employers a $5,000 credit per worker for employees not paid with PPP funds in 2020, as well as a $7,000 credit per worker per quarter in the first half of 2021.

“That’s a huge deal for construction companies and employees to help manage the continuing uncertainty that’s still happening,” Christianson said.

• State transportation funding. One of the headline numbers for contractors is the $10 billion earmarked for state DOTs, many of which saw their funding decline in 2020. That should provide relief for road and other civil builders who have increasingly felt the impacts of stalled projects.

“It will help mitigate the impact of bid-letting delays and project cancellations that we saw in 2020 throughout the country,” Christianson said. “And the fact that it’s dedicated funding means that states can’t use it for other things.”

• School construction. The package also includes $82 billion for education, at least some of which can be used for construction and renovations post-COVID-19, when students return en masse to classrooms.

 

Joe Bousquin reports on the construction industry for Construction Dive.

Contractors Report Difficulty Finding Qualified Craft Workers to Hire

By
Construction

People Pipeline

Eighty percent of construction firms report they are having a hard time filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce, according to a national, industry-wide survey released last week by Autodesk and Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Association officials said the industry was taking a range of steps to address the situation but called on federal officials to assist those industry efforts.

“Workforce shortages remain one of the single most significant threats to the construction industry,” said Stephen Sandherr, AGC’s CEO. “However, construction labor shortages are a challenge that can be fixed, and this association will continue to do everything in its power to make sure that happens.”

Of the nearly 2,000 survey respondents, 80% said they are having difficulty filling hourly craft positions, Sandherr noted. All regions of the country are experiencing similarly severe craft-worker shortages, with 83% of contractors in the West and South reporting a hard time filling hourly craft positions, slightly higher to the 81% rate in the Midwest and 75% rate in the Northeast.

Seventy-three percent of firms report it will continue to be difficult, or get even harder, to find hourly craft workers over the next 12 months. One reason for their worries is that contractors are skeptical of the quality of the pipeline for recruiting and preparing new craft personnel. Forty-five percent say the local pipeline for preparing well-trained and skilled workers is poor. And 26% say the pipeline for finding workers who can pass a drug test is poor.

Labor shortages are prompting many firms to boost pay and compensation. Two-thirds of firms report they have increased base pay rates for craft workers. And 29% report they are providing incentives and bonuses to attract craft workers. Firms are also taking a greater role in developing their own workforce. Forty-six percent say they have launched or expanded in-house training programs, and half report getting involved in career-building programs.

“Construction workforce shortages are prompting many firms to innovate their way to greater productivity,” said Allison Scott, head of Construction Integrated Marketing at Autodesk. “As the cost of labor continues to increase and firms look to become even more efficient, technology can enable better collaboration and ultimately lead to more predictable outcomes. There is also opportunity in untapped pools of talent such as tradeswomen, veterans, and young people looking for an alternative to the traditional four-year university.”

Scott noted that 29% of firms report they are investing in technology to supplement worker duties. One-quarter of firms report they are using cutting-edge solutions, including drones, robots and 3-D printers. Meanwhile, 23% of firms report they are taking steps to improve job-site performance by relying on lean construction techniques, using tools like building information modeling and doing more off-site prefabrication.

Association officials called on the federal government to boost funding for career and technical education. They also called on federal leaders to allow more immigrants to enter the country to work in construction, let construction students at community and career colleges qualify for federal Pell Grants, and make it easier for firms to establish apprenticeship and other training programs.