For the last year, contractor Glenn Pierleoni has worked steadily. He has cut labor costs as a result of the recession and seen projects shrink in scale. Prior to a year ago, the slowdown drove Pierleoni ”“ with 37 years in the business ”“ off the scaffold and into retail. “It was always with an eye toward getting back into contracting,” he said.
Now back among the circular saws and custom cabinets, “I consider myself blessed.” He is currently working in a Bronxville, N.Y., home with partner Frank Martorello. The owner wants to sell. The place needs a sprucing up. Pierleoni  referenced “The Brady Bunch” to indicate the home”™s kitchen and bath decor and said he hoped remakes might come after the sprucing up. They work in Connecticut and across the border in Queens and north into the Hudson Valley.
In New Canaan, Karp Associates Inc. is also seeing work via small projects.
Arnold M. Karp is president of the company, now 30 years old, and in Karp’s words, “a multifaceted construction firm specializing in distinguished custom homes, diverse renovations, home and commercial rehabs and professional construction management. We also do consulting, planning and construction for exterior projects such as pools, pool houses and tennis courts.”
The recession has provided a learning curve of sorts as Karp has seen it play out.
“Less clients building new homes, less clients renovating or remodeling existing houses,” he said in written response to Business Journal questions. “The change in our focus is to make sure we follow up in a very timely basis all leads and conduct seminars focusing on our experience and ability to get projects done on time and budget.”
Karp employs five full-time and three part-time workers and “many subcontractors.” He was asked about an ideal phone call. “An existing/past client calling to say they want to do another project with us ”“ immediately,” was the response. “Second best is, someone who has been referred from an existing client and already believes we are the right firm for the job.”
For Pierleoni, much of his work is word-of-mouth networking. He dishes business cards for advertising. When he was at Western Tool in Westchester County, N.Y., he met several customers with whom he has maintained professional relationships as a contractor. “I’ve handed my cards to a good number of former customers, which is kind of a kick,” he said. “In that respect, the job was nice; I made a lot of contacts.” (Western Tool Supply has now folded its East Coast stores and refocused in five Western states.)
A summer 2010 job ”“ building a bathroom in an 1885 Brewster home in a nook where previously there was no bathroom at all ”“ arrived when Pierleoni and his wife hosted a dinner party. A guest liked the work Pierleoni had done with his own home and he was off to Brewster.
Pierleoni said he now works in a changed contracting environment of extremely savvy consumers who are using the Internet to challenge pricing. “There”™s a lot more discussion while they”™re looking for a contractor: knowing prices, knowing what materials are worth. They”™re doing their homework and bargaining a lot more intensely. They don’t want to pay as much.”
If working close to the home base of White Plains, N.Y., might seem preferable, now it”™s “Connecticut, Queens; I’m not that bashful anymore.” The company expands and contracts as jobs require under the name Pierleoni Remodeling, 12 years old. Pierleoni previously worked with his father at the former Westchester-based Gino Pierleoni Remodeling.
Like Pierleoni, Karp has witnessed sharp pencils and knowledgeable clients in negotiations:Â “More creativity and sharper numbers today,” he said addressing changes over the last five years. “While the cost of materials has increased, labor is less expensive so for the client who is looking to create value this is the time.
“We are seeing smaller projects due to the harsh winter certainly, but also clients who have decided they are not moving and want to make small changes,” Karp said.
Some firms, he said, are not acknowledging the complexity of the projects they claim to want. “The bigger jobs are much more competitive as firms without the experience seem to be bidding not understanding the complexity of the projects.” He called that “bad bidding.”
As Karp sees it, a wellspring of economic activity uncorks when his trucks head out. “Everyone from the 60-plus subcontractors we provide work for to the attorneys, brokers and general local businesses. The local car dealer, who is waiting to sell a bigger car to the growing family-insurance agent and so forth. The local trades impact everyone from the coffee shop to the ice rink: If the parent has no work (that means) less coffee and less children”™s sports.”
