Staying ‘as agile as possible’
Bridgewater company relies on creativity, chamber through the pandemic
... the cost of raw materials has been hugely disruptive as supply was cut back and demand went through the roof.
Some things are a given.
“To say that 2020 was challenging would be an understatement,” says Liam Finney, co-owner of Tilia Builders Inc. in Bridgewater.
When the pandemic restrictions came into play, Finney and partner Michael Mandale had a tough time squaring the realities of a construction site with the government mandate. First of all, most of their employees carpool, so immediately, that could not continue.
The business had open contracts with hard finish deadlines to meet with customers, and with the bank. Finney knew if the deadlines weren’t met there would be implications with relationships. They had some tough decisions to make — fast.
The first step was a shift to operate from home and look for opportunities to save money right off the top; bringing overhead expenses down to be as agile as possible. They struggled to keep work environments safe and clean with proper social distancing in place, and it proved to be much too challenging, so they laid everyone off to take advantage of government funding (CERB).
For a couple of months things were up in the air. To meet their commitments, Finney and Mandale each took a project to work on alone and they are proud to say they finished them both.
Also, the cost of raw materials has been hugely disruptive as supply was cut back and demand went through the roof. People were suddenly at home, wanting to get projects done. There has been a huge surge in demand for renovations and new builds. It’s more expensive to build a home now and the bidding is more challenging for companies like Tilia Builders – there are more out-of-province buyers and a high demand for the housing stock that exists.
People are snapping up what they can get with the hopes of renovating, and in some cases, even moving a building to a new location.
Finney and Mandale feel very fortunate to have a stable network of tradespeople – people who wanted to work. Protocols are in place for everyone to work safely and sensibly and they are busier than usual. They came back with half the employees for now and closed their office space; slimmed down the size of the company and cut back on expenses.
They are leaner and know the drastic measures they took helped protect their company. Finney and Mandale and their office manager are still working from home offices and plan to do so for the foreseeable future.
Tilia Builders Inc. anticipates this year to continue to be very busy. Demand is high and it will take some time to get the supply up to the same level.
Finney said he appreciates the regular and reliable communication from the Bridge water and Area Chamber of Commerce to their members on Facebook. It was a quick and easy way for him to get upto-date information and access links to government resources. He looks forward to the day when we can have networking events and business engagement. Oh, the stories we’ll have to tell!
This article was originally published in The Chamber’s Voice newsletter. More information on the Bridgewater and Area Chamber of Commerce can be found online at bridgewaterchamber.com or email info@bridgewaterchamber. com.