Q&A: Spates Construction builds up the North Country

Vermont Business Magazine, Sep 01, 2002

VBM: Do you do block work?

Spates: Masonry we sub out. I've got a couple of guys who can lay some block, and I've done a couple of chimneys on some houses, but when it comes to a big masonry project, we'll sub that out. We don't have the manpower.

VBM: And it's hard to compete speed-wise with someone who's doing the work everyday.

Spates: Oh yeah.

VBM: Is it easy to find subs? Do you have a core group that you work with regularly?

Spates: When you bid' a lot like we do you're always bumping into new subs, because we're always in new areas. You put stuff out to guys you're confident in because you've worked with them in the past, but you're always looking for new subs. But there's a learning curve. You don't know them, you're taking a chance, and if their numbers are lower than the guys you usually work with, you've got to. call it that day. Do I carry a known quantity and maybe not get the job or do I go with a lower number and take a chance. on the work? Depending on the day and on what's going on, you may just flip a coin.

VBM: What I've read about some of the work you've done, it seems that coordinating your subs is a vital part of your success.

Spates: It's the key to getting it done. If you've got good subs, the job goes well. The owner doesn't care about your subs. The owner has a contract with you. The sub is your problem. Whether you're doing the drywall or subbing it out, if the drywall isn't getting installed, the owner looks to you to fix it.

In Springfield we had a sub that couldn't get it done. He was an unknown entity, a new player, and he was just going out and hiring bodies, and they weren't getting the job done. To keep that job going we had to move him off the job, get a 15 passenger van and haul people from up here down to Springfield to do the drywall.

It's always a challenge, with different players. But you find some good new players too, which you need. When it gets busy a lot of the traditional subs you've used will not migrate to new areas. They're busy in their home towns. So you've got to find new players. In today's economy they'll go further, but three or four years ago there was enough work in their own backyards and they weren't going to leave the area.

VBM: Could you fill us in on how the company is organized? I've done interviews with a few family businesses, and organizing who does what, passing it from generation to generation, that sort of thing, can be a real problem. There are a lot of family-based businesses in Vermont that would be interested in knowing how you made the transition.

Spates: My father grew up with a different style of management. Working for a company like Shell, where it was pretty much a top down style of management. With myself, always being out with the crews, even when I came to work in the office I always saw myself as more collaborative. Most of my supers I had worked with. They had worked under me or I had trained them. So for myself it was much easier to be collaborative, because I had worked with these guys. When I go out to buy a piece of equipment, I'll talk to the guys, ask them what they think. Do they prefer this one or that one.