Page 60 - BusinessWest September 19, 2022

Tim Pelletier (fourth from left, with some of his team) says he’s had to plan around expected supply-chain issues to meet customer timetables.
Projected Plans
Even though prices look to be stay- ing where they are for the moment, construction companies are planning ahead to hopefully get themselves started earlier. All the contractors who that talked to BusinessWest mentioned bidding on projects way ahead of the starting timeframe.
“Taking a vacant lot and bringing it back to life in the city is an excit- ing project for us,” said Pat Sweitzer, partner at Sweitzer Construction. “One of the projects that we are look- ing forward to is breaking ground
on a dispensary on Boston Road in
Springfield.”
She went on to say it’s a real privi- lege to be part of revamping old mills in Holyoke and Hardwick; “it’s an excit- ing project, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work.”
Raymaakers said one of his firm’s next projects is going to be at the air- port in Garner, as well as four to five pump stations. About five crews are currently out in the field, allowing the company to work on different jobs at once.
Gagliarducci is planning to branch out this upcoming season in the public sector.
“We’ve taken in a few employees that are just raw to this field. They’re learning, and it’s good for us in the future to have younger people. We are very lucky because the employees we have are very dedicated to us and very knowledgeable. They’re fantastic workers.”
“There’s not as many projects, and we’ve done a lot of site work on schools in the past dozen years — it doesn’t seem like many schools are being planned and coming out for bid this coming season,” he told BusinessWest. “We’ll be looking more into the pub- lic sector for roadwork and things like that. There seems to be a big push for infrastructure money — water, sewer, and new roads, that kind of thing.”
Even though the past year has been tricky, construction employers are feeling fortunate to have dedicated employees by their side. With a lot of work to be done in the construction sector, new employees are hard to come by, but Raymaakers is proud to have new trainees on his team.
“We’ve taken in a few employees that are just raw to this field. They’re learning, and it’s good for us in the future to have younger people. We are very lucky because the employees we have are very dedicated to us and very knowledgeable. They’re fantastic workers.”
It’s clear that the challenges that have beset construction over the past couple of years aren’t going away any time soon. But as the summer con- struction season comes to a close, area companies see enough positive signs — and have enough work in the pipeline — to feel good heading into 2023. u
Kailey Houle can be reached at [email protected]
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