Page 22 - BusinessWest April 15, 2024

J.L. Raymaakers & Sons has been busy on a project at Gardner Municipal Airport.
Continued from page 20
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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, direc- tors 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 run- ways 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.
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. Every- thing 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
“I’d say 60% of our work is repeat clients, and the other 40% is just getting out there and finding every lead possible.”
Outlook
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