Page 15 - BusinessWest February 20, 2023
P. 15

                 “I want this company to start off what Jonathan has created and to push it well beyond where he ever thought it could go.”
with them well and feed off their energy. Wright recognized that and soon moved him into a managerial role, allowing Law- rence-Slavas to grow his knowledge for the business.
At the time, Ledwell was looking to retire, so the founders started to groom him for the president’s position. It was important, Lawrence-Slavas said, for them to have a clear and concise way to trans- fer ownership of the business. He eventu- ally gained half-ownership of the firm and worked alongside Wright until he decided to retire as well.
Low Impact, High Performance
Wright Builders was started 45 years ago, with the goal of building high-efficien- cy, high-performance buildings that empha- size sustainability and energy efficiency.
For commercial projects, Lawrence-Slavas explained, the builder typically gets to choose its products, but it can be a little more diffi- cult when it comes to building residential homes.
“We are not somebody who goes and builds a code-minimum commercial building. And for the most part, people know that about us. It limits us a bit on the commercial side, but a lot of these new energy codes for commercial buildings are where we’ve been for the last 20 years in those buildings already.”
Wright Builders tries to use products that will leave as little car- bon impact as possible, as well as materials that will be less harm- ful to occupants and the people making the products. For example, instead of using steel and plastic materials, the company tries to use wood and natural materials, and as few off-gassing materials as possible.
“There’s too many stories about saving costs on the backs of working people, and that’s really a standard that we’re not willing to
River Valley Co-op in Easthampton is a good example of a green building, a niche Wright Builders specializes in.
ever have. We care about it,” Lawrence-Slavas said.
He went on to explain that sustainability and low impact used to
be a niche market, but now it is being brought to the masses, and Wright Builders is in a good position because it has specialized in that for a long time. The firm knows how to construct a net-zero building — which is a building that produces enough renewable energy to meet its own annual energy-consumption requirements — and is now focused on the microeconomics of those efforts.
“How can we make sure that rk MILES stays in business? How
 can we make sure that Greenfield Glass is still creating glass? These
Wright
Continued on page 23
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