Local Cos. Eye Stimulus Funds
The construction industry may be in a deep funk, but Lunenburg paving and construction materials company P.J. Keating Co. is in the market for two new managers.
Eric Lundberg, vice president and director of commercial sales, said the company needs new staff both to handle its current workload and because it has high hopes for the spring bidding season that’s just starting. And part, though not all, of that hope comes from the federal stimulus package that should start sending money into Central Massachusetts and the rest of the country over the coming months.
“It looks like there’s some good opportunity there for us, and other people in the industry,” Lundberg said.
Colleges, government agencies and towns that have requested funds from the package are still holding their breath to see what, if any, money will show up. But for companies like P.J. Keating that stand to get a piece of any business generated in their industry, there’s already a lot to look forward to.
Electrified Possibilities
One of the area companies that seems most confident about what the stimulus will bring is eClinicalWorks, the Westborough-based electronic medical records company. The package includes $19 billion to get health records out of filing cabinets and into computers, and the company expects to get a chunk of that money.
Spokeswoman Heather Caouette said eClinicalWorks plans to add about 500 jobs in the next year and a half to two years, and 350 of those will be a direct result of the stimulus. She said the company has good reason to expect that, once medical practices are offered new incentives to implement electronic medical records, many of them will buy its products.
“We’ve had a very good business beforehand and been growing at a very good rate,” she said.
The stimulus plan also sets aside money for green energy projects, something that could help out American Superconductor of Devens, which makes windmill components and power distribution technology.
“We’re hopeful that it’ll benefit us,” said Jason Fredette, director of investment and media relations.
Fredette said American Superconductor has requested some direct stimulus funds for the commercialization of new technology, though he wouldn’t say how much money or for what sort of technology. And, he said, new green energy projects will create demand for the sort of products the company makes.
But Fredette said American Superconductor sees hope for the near future not just in the stimulus package but also in other new federal initiatives to support green energy. And he said the company isn’t pinning all its hopes on any particular source of money.
“We’re not counting on the stimulus money in our budget process,” he said. “We’re looking on it as upside.”
That kind of caution is also on display at UMass Medical School. Chancellor Michael Collins has predicted that the school stands to get $70 million in grants from the National Institute of Health, but spokesman James Fessenden was quick to point out that that figure is based on current ratios for fund distribution that may not hold up when it comes to stimulus money.
The medical school also requested $530 million in direct stimulus funding for various projects, more than half of it for a facility that would hold the new Advanced Therapeutics Center for stem cell research, but Fessenden said that project and others will move forward regardless of whether the money comes through.
“If there are additional targeted funds that come down from the stimulus, obviously that would be helpful,” he said. “But we’re still moving ahead with our plans.”
Of course, much of the buzz around the package has focused on creating new jobs within the beleaguered construction industry. But how hopeful construction companies are depends heavily on what sort of work they do.
Companies that handle mostly infrastructure, like P.J. Keating, are likely poised for a windfall as road reconstruction and paving projects get quick approval. Others that focus more on buildings, like Consigli Construction Co. Inc. of Milford, don’t expect as much benefit.
“We can’t really get our expectations really high,” said President Anthony Consigli.
Consigli said it’s not yet clear what sorts of building projects will be approved under the stimulus plan. And, he said, whatever projects do get the go-ahead will have a lot of construction companies vying for the work.
That points to another difference between infrastructure-focused companies and those that do vertical construction. While companies that build buildings have suffered greatly from the loss of commercial work, those that handle roads and bridges have already been cushioned by state and federal spending.
Lundberg said his company typically gets 65 percent of its business from the public sector and 35 percent from the commercial and residential side. Last year, the public side was up to 85 percent, and total business actually grew.
He said the infrastructure field has been a good one since former Gov. Mitt Romney introduced a “fix it first” philosophy focused on road improvements instead of new initiatives.
Since Gov. Deval Patrick took office, he said, investment in roads and bridges has only grown.
Still, not everything in the infrastructure industry looks rosy. Jimmy Ricciardi, president of Worcester road construction company Ricciardi Bros. Inc., said his company handles a mix of municipal and private jobs. It’s now completing some multi-year municipal contracts, but Ricciardi hasn’t seen many more jobs coming out this year.
He said he’s excited about the stimulus package, even though he’s still waiting to see some actual bids come out of it.
“I think it’s extremely important,” Ricciardi said. “I think without that, you know, we’re going to suffer more, basically.”
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