Page 30 - BusinessWest January 20, 2021

Construction
Space Jam
Home Builders F
or home builders in Western Mass., 2020
Reflect on a Successful, If Challenging, Year
brought opportunity and challenge in equal measure.
For example, Nick Riley, owner of N. Riley Construction, said 2020 was his best
year based on the number of projects, but COVID-19 posed obstacles to nearly all facets of the job. In fact, when the pandemic first arrived, he rescheduled all his in-home projects until he could learn how to safe- ly do those jobs.
“We were fortunate that we had several new con- struction projects that kept us working until we could figure out the right way to get our in-home jobs done,” Riley said.
Other home builders shared similar stories of adjusting to a new reality on the fly.
When many industries were mandated to stop working back in March, home builders were deemed an essential business by Gov. Charlie Baker’s admin- istration. That was the right call, said Bill Laplante,
By Mark Morris
Nick Riley says he had to reschedule in-home jobs at the start of the pandemic until he could figure out how to do them safely.
30 JANUARY 20, 2021 CONSTRUCTION BusinessWest