Q&A: Spates Construction builds up the North Country

Vermont Business Magazine, Sep 01, 2002

I think the editorial discussed how these men who do the actual work in this country, and get dirty doing it, have suddenly become role models in America, the image of a "real man" it said. Do you see this, and do you think its about time?

Spates: Sure. You read about the guys that come up with the new computer software, but someone is building the new buildings for those guys, and their $5 million houses, and taking care of the grounds. The blue-collar guys don't make the headlines unless they're cutting someone out of a building or saving someone trapped in a mine. We're slowly losing our industrial edge in this country as we ship more stuff overseas, and we don't want to lose that hands-on, blue collar guy that gets dirty and rolls up, his sleeves.

And today we tell kids that they could make a living in a rural area just being a door to door electronics repairman. Everyone has a computer now, and not ever one wants to put something in a box and ship it back to where it was made. That's another untapped market just waiting for kids to come along and take advantage of.

VBM: People still want to do work where they actually make something and see the results.

Spates: There are still a lot of kids that like that. Not every kid is meant to sit in front of a keyboard or to go to college. Especially in rural America there are still a lot of kids who want to work outdoors and with their hands and have the satisfaction of seeing something that they built themselves, or drive by it 50 years later and show it to their grandchildren. Computers are nice, but at the end of the day everything you did is just on a little disk, and it's kind of hard to show it off.

Hopefully there is a rejuvenation of the blue-collar worker in this country. We grab sports figures as heroes, but it's the average guy or gal who gets up early and heads out in the dark with a packed lunch pail, and comes back in the dark,- they keep America running.

VBM: And if you're a good mason or mechanic or furniture maker or carpenter or electrician, it's possible now to make a really good living doing it.

Spates: Yes. It's just getting the kids interested. That's why most of these businesses are family businesses. You learn it and get interested in it from your parents. But we need to encourage more kids to get interested.

VBM: What do you see in the future for your company? Do you want to expand?

Spates: Probably not a lot. We've got a good mix of bids and negotiated contracts, and we'd like to keep that, I like the negotiated work, where you've got to sell yourself before you can get the contract. It fits the kind of company we are. Bids are pretty cold - if you've got the lowest numbers you've got the job. It's pretty cut and dried. That's a tough game and we play it.

VBM: What do you think your company's strengths are?

Spates: I think we're small enough to deal directly with an owner. Myself and my two brothers will be out on the job site. We've got a good core of people here in the office with Oscar, who does most of the drafting now, and Carol Piper, who is very knowledgeable in the permitting process and with contracts.