Page 22 - BusinessWest February 3, 2025

“I was young, soIwastheguy carrying everyone’s tools, and I worked for plumbers, electricians, masons ... I learned all the different trades.”
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ties as they emerge and following what has become the com- pany’s marketing tag- line: “Building What
Others Envision.”
They also plan to continue a course of expansion and diversity,
one that has seen the company take on more public-sector work and broaden its geographic reach up and down the I-91 corridor, into Berkshire County and beyond.
“It’s simple ... we want to keep growing and building on what we’ve been able to accomplish,” said Mercieri, adding that, aside from some titles and responsibilities, little else will change at this company that can borrow a term from the horse farm and say it has a great track record.
Building on the Foundation
Marois, who copied Morse code while serving in the Air Force in Alaska before landing work as an insurance adjuster, said he started his construction venture with a tool belt and a used Royal typewriter to type invoices.
He also had the requisite entrepreneurial energy, that afore- mentioned desire to control his own fate, and confidence in his own abilities born from experience — as well as lessons and encouragement from mentors.
“I always had a proclivity for carpentry,” he explained. “I worked in high school for some contractors, framing houses and so forth. I liked it, and I had some good mentors in those days; they recognized that I had some ability, and they took the time to teach me stuff.”
Marois also had a few contacts, and one of them helped him land a job rehabbing the lower floors of a block of buildings in Holyoke into apartments.
“I did the drawings at my house on the kitchen table,” he said, adding that the project eventually led to others in the Paper City, and soon he had a foundation on which to build his company.
Over the years, the firm has handled a good mix of public and private work, with clients ranging from most of the area’s colleges and universities to municipalities (public-safety facilities are one of the firm’s niches) to several area banks and other businesses.
Recent projects have included everything from extensive reno- vation of a former computer-assembly facility into the new home of Veritas Preparatory Charter School to an emergency-systems upgrade at the John Adams high-rise dorm at UMass Amherst; from a LEED-rated PeoplesBank branch in Northampton to con- version of the former HUB Insurance building in Agawam into a new public-safety facility.
Such diversity, crucial to success in this sector, is what has developed over the years, said Mercieri, who, as noted, also start- ed out as a carpenter.
“I was a millwright, and I worked at a mill; a friend of mine’s father was a VP at this company, and he got me a job,” he recalled. “I was young, so I was the guy carrying everyone’s tools, and I worked for plumbers, electricians, masons ... I learned all the different trades. I spent 10 years there earning my ribbons, and then I went out on my own and did residential work for four or five years before landing here.
“Going back to my millwright days, that was quite the experi- ence, learning all those different trades,” he went on. “I go to a job site, and I see electricians and plumbers ... I’m no expert at it, but we can speak the same language.”
Building on the company’s portfolio of diverse projects and keeping a steady flow of projects in the pipeline are the primary goals as Mercieri and Marois complete this transition of leader- ship, something that has been in the works for several years now.
“Succession planning is important, and it’s unique to each company that does it,” Marois said. “It’s been a smooth, amicable process on our side ... it was just about the bells and whistles.”
What emerged is a plan whereby Mercieri will manage the construction company
Marois
Continued from page 20
and Marois will main- tain ownership of — and remain active in —
Marois
Continued on page 24
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