Page 25 - BusinessWest March 31, 2021

Tim Pelletier, president of Houle Constrution, at the Masonic Temple in East Longmeadow.
another area of expertise for his company, will also see increased activity.
“In the next few years, I think we are going to see a lot of work on replacing aging bridges in New England,” he said, adding that this should happen even without a federal government infrastructure bill, citing two recent bridge- replacement projects his crews are working on in Stockbridge and Pittsfield. Still, he’s hopeful that some kind of infrastructure legislation pass- es, saying it would be “a huge boost to us and others in our industry.”
Help Wanted
While business activity is brisk for everyone BusinessWest spoke with, they’ve all faced recent challenges; some are unique to doing busi-
ness in the COVID environment, and others are chronic problems made worse by the virus. The issue of having enough workers was a challenge on both fronts.
“We’ve definitely lost people from the work- force due to COVID concerns,” Fontaine said. “They might be taking care of a family member, or they might be in a group that has underlying health concerns.”
He added that managing COVID on the job site is also difficult. “Anytime someone tests positive for COVID, that individual and anyone in close contact with them has to go home and
quarantine for the time period,” he explained. “That can result in a lot of labor disruption on a daily basis.”
COVID also exacerbated the long-running problem of fewer workers in skilled-trade and general-labor jobs. Raymaakers said finding help in construction is a constant challenge. Co-own-
er Laurie Raymaakers pointed out that heavy- equipment operators and construction laborers can make a good living.
“There’s a misconception that laborers aren’t paid well,” she said. “The pay and benefits at our company are pretty good; the reality is there are just fewer people who want to do this type of work.”
“There’s a misconception that laborers aren’t paid well. The pay and benefits at our company are pretty good; the reality is there are just fewer people who want to do this type of work.”
She added that it’s also misleading to suggest laborers are not skilled, pointing out that her company’s laborers are highly skilled at making sure pipes are situated properly and secured to withstand years of service.
“Our workers also put together fire hydrants, which require about 50 bolts that have to be tightened in a certain pattern. Hydrants are under constant water pressure, so if it’s not built correctly, parts of the hydrant will go flying in the air.”
As older craftsmen such as plumbers and electricians continue to retire, their ranks are not being filled by enough younger workers. With
eyond for the
explaining that his company subscribes to a register that lists all the new public and private projects available for bid. Since the middle of last year, he has seen no slowdown in the volume of bidding opportunities. “Looking only at our cat- egory of construction, there were five to six new projects announced just last week.”
Raymaakers predicted bridge construction,
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