Page 28 - BusinessWest August 18, 2025

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Nailing It
Anna Cook,
Heidi Flanders
Lead with
Integrity
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
[email protected]
it as the best alternative to having to look for
Both Heidi Flanders and Anna Cook described
work.
That was their somewhat tongue-in-cheek
way of explaining how and why they became
co-owners of Integrity Development & Construction, a
design-build firm based in North Amherst. Only they
weren’t kidding.
It was 2012, and then-owner Peter Jessop was
looking to retire, and was either going to find a buyer
— preferably from among his staff — or close the
doors, recalled Flanders, adding that she and Cook
decided to step in and take that giant step from being
employee to employer.
Beyond fear and loathing of the job market, there
were other reasons for wanting to take that entrepre-
neurial leap of faith, primarily a comfort level with the
business, the staff, the course the venture was on, and,
especially, each other.
“We partnered up because we felt we
were burning the midnight oil together
anyway; we decided we’d rather do that
than try to find jobs.”
“We worked really well together as colleagues,”
said Cook, co-owner and project manager, who started
at Integrity as an unpaid intern from UMass Amherst
in 2002. “By 2012, she was the only designer, I was
the only project manager; we felt like the two of us
were working hand-in-hand on every project.”
Flanders, co-owner and designer, agreed. She
came to Integrity as a designer in 2008 and worked
closely with Cook as the company weathered the
Great Recession — becoming smaller and leaner in
the process — and rebuilt from there. “We partnered
up because we felt we were burning the midnight oil
together anyway; we decided we’d rather do that than
try to find jobs.”
Anna Cook (left)
and Heidi Flanders
28
AUGUST 18, 2025
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