Page 24 - BusinessWest March 31, 2021

approvals, and the other essential documents
we need to start and finish a building project,” Bradbury said, adding that Associated has proj- ects in the works in a number of different sectors. One example is a 30,000-square-foot building in Bloomfield, Conn., where a local chemical com- pany will occupy part of the building and lease the remaining space.
His company’s experience isn’t unique. Busi- nessWest spoke with several area construction managers to discuss how their industry looks this spring compared to a year ago, when COVID-19
erings for the past year, so they are using the downtime to make renovations for when they can open again,” Pelletier said, adding that it’s a way to take advantage of what every- one has gone through and find a positive side.
Bradbury credits pent-up demand for the increase in projects his company has been taking on this year.
“As soon as the calen-
dar page turned to 2021, our
phones started ringing,” he
said. “We already had some
projects scheduled to start this
spring, but, more importantly,
we’re starting to fill our pipeline
again with projects that will
take us well into the fall of this year and poten- tially into 2022 as well.”
Dave Fontaine Jr., vice president of Fontaine Brothers, said his company has been fortunate
to have several projects ongoing since before the pandemic hit. Many of his largest projects involve building schools, for which budgets are approved long before breaking ground, so funding for them was not affected by COVID concerns. Since the pandemic hit, Fontaine said some towns have delayed public funding approvals, but not as many as he had anticipated.
“It’s amazing the amount of infrastructure work that is out there for bid.”
suddenly changed the world — and the main takeaway is one of optimism and promise.
A significant
part of Houle Con- struction’s business involves interior ren- ovations for medical facilities. Company President Tim Pelle- tier noted that, when
An aerial view of Worcester South Community High School, one of the many recent school projects undertaken by Fontaine Brothers.
are the $75 million DeBerry-Homer School in Springfield and the $240 million Doherty Memo- rial High School in Worcester.
Infrastructure construction also experienced steady business last year. J.L. Raymaakers and Sons Construction specializes in installing water and sewer lines as well as site excavation for municipalities, airports, and private companies. After a busy 2019, co-owner John Raymaakers said 2020 was nearly a record year for his com- pany, and he’s on pace to fill up the project list for
COVID first struck, business came to a complete halt as medical professionals were dealing with rapidly increasing numbers of COVID patients. One year later, he’s optimistic about the increase in construction activity.
“It’s absolutely busier than last year,” he said. “We’re seeing more projects taking shape, espe- cially with our hospital clients.” In the meantime, Pelletier has picked up renovation projects at organizations that offer hall rentals, such as the Masonic Temple in East Longmeadow.
“The temple has not been able to host gath-
“In the last six to eight months, we’ve picked
up more than $400 million in new work,” he
noted. “Some of these projects are in pre-con- 2021.
struction now and will start this summer.” “It’s amazing the amount of infrastructure
We Built That.
Among the projects scheduled to begin in June work that is out there for bid,” Raymaakers said,
This Is Us.
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Healthcare Engineering
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24 MARCH 31, 2021
CONSTRUCTION
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