Page 59 - BusinessWest February 21, 2022

Carl Mercieri says hiring remains a challenge, as few applicants have the experience the job requires.
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Open communication is key because it’s a given that timetables and prices will change during the project.
“When we need relief on the cost of material increases, we do what all good contractors do,” Mercieri said. “We open our books and show our client the original price from the vendor against the current price.”
While access to materials can be unpredictable, stockpiling them when available isn’t a feasible option, according to Perrier, because that would require large amounts of storage space that most con- tractors simply don’t have. Also, a big investment in materials
today might become a losing proposition once supply catches up with already-considerable demand and prices move even slightly downward.
As general contractors, Burger, Mercieri, and Perrier all remarked they are fortunate to have a core group of longtime employees. Problems arise, they said, as new projects get scheduled and
they want to add new people, because, here again, there is ample demand but inadequate supply.
“There have always been long lead times for certain products, but generally
most materials were readily available. This is a new experience, where lead times are no longer predictable, and some of the most common building materials are now delayed by weeks and months.”
“As many ads as we run looking for workers, we don’t get much response,” Mercieri said. “Out of the 50 or 60 applications we receive, maybe one person has the experience we’re look- ing for.”
Subcontractors who do the plumb- ing, electrical, and other work on a building project have their own labor shortages that become even more pronounced when COVID strikes. By working as a team, subcontractors
can be vulnerable to the easily trans- missible virus, and one worker with a positive test can force the whole group into COVID protocols, causing another delay to a project.
“We’ve had jobsites where the sub- contractor had COVID issues among their workers,” Burger said. “Out of precaution, they can’t show up for 2 or 3 days, at best, so that certainly hurts your schedule.”
Despite all the challenges, the three contractors have an optimistic outlook for the rest of this year and
into 2023. They all have a mix of public and private projects, with some jobs bringing real satisfaction. Mercieri’s company is wrap- ping up a renovation project for the Mullins Center at UMass, and Burger discussed a building expansion nearing completion for Jew-
BusinessWest CONSTRUCTION FEBRUARY 21, 2022 59