Tilia Builders earning a name

Repeat LBQEA winner building a company employees can grow with

Like a well-constructed house, co-founder Liam Finney has watched his company Tilia Builders take form into something he is proud of.

Tilia Builders, which is a full service contracting company specializing in carpentry, was originally established by Finney and business partner Michael Mandale in 2015.

The business quickly won the Lunenburg Queens Business Excellence Awards (LQBEA) new business award.

And as a measure of their growth, Tilia Builders also recently garnered another LQBEA award as the small business of the year.

“It’s wildly gratifying to get a second award,” said Finney. “The

first one that we got in 2016 was big boost for us at a time when we were really up and coming.”

When asked about the latest award, Finney noted it as a sign of progression.

For example, when Tilia Builders first started out of Bridgewater, they only had one crew.

Finney said the company now employs a dozen people and will hire more on during busy season.

“We’ve been able to attract a special calibre of talent to the team,” he said.

By this time next year, added Finney, the company expects to have five crewmembers Red Seal certified, allowing the company to take on apprentices.

Red Seal certification is a professional designation for tradespeople denoting a certain standard of skill and knowledge.

The company has also earned a name for themselves across Lunenburg and Queens Counties.

“Increasingly, we’re being contacted,” said Finney, adding that he’s formed relationships with a number of architecture firms.

“You’re now getting on the supply side of things with people who are looking to surround themselves with talented, high quality outfits.”

And the result of all this growth — which sees employees working on heritage restorations, retrofits and brand new homes from Liverpool to Chester — is good paying jobs along the South Shore.

“It’s something that I didn’t necessarily think of in the very early days,” said Finney.

“Increasingly, for some of the crew who have been with us since the beginning, it’s been really gratifying to watch their lives progress on the strength of reliable work.” Liam Finney Co-founder