Unclogging Boston's artery

Good salesmanship leads to unique opportunities for New England distributors

By -- Industrial Distribution, 7/1/2000

Though cost overruns by its former top manager may have tarnished the luster of Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel project, the Big Dig, as it is known, sparkles in its blend of engineering, archeological and aesthetic genius.

It's a Boston project, but the Big Dig, its bevy of steel cranes towering high above cars and trucks snaking along the city's Central Artery,, is expected upon completion to bring greater economic opportunities to local neighborhoods and other New England cities-mainly because it will be easier to get from point A to point B. During the construction phase, however, the project is providing economic opportunities for local distributors specializing in construction supplies and other needed equipment.

For Toomey Associates' Robert Geromini, the Big Dig has meant a chance to showcase his company's expertise with hydraulic jack applications. Toomey Associates is a distributor of high pressure hydraulics and is located in Westfield, Mass.

"Go ahead, see what you can do," is what Geromini heard from his boss when he asked if he could pursue leads suggested to him from friends in the construction industry. Though a geographical stretch for Geromini, as his sales territory does not include Boston proper, his marketing savvy led to business for this western Massachusetts-based company.

"For two years, we've benefited from the Big Dig," says Geromini. "I took the initiative. I saw an opportunity for the company."

A long-term project

When it opened in 1959, the Central Artery comfortably carried the number of cars and trucks-about 75,000 per day-for which it was designed. Today, upwards of 190,000 vehicles drag themselves over the Central Artery, through the South Station tunnel and up the northbound incline where closely situated exits to Logan International Airport, Storrow Drive and Cambridge branch off the highway.

What will be done? The current six-lane elevated highway will be replaced with an underground expressway eight to 10 lanes wide. At the northern point of the new highway, it will widen to 14 lanes. With the elevated highway now gone, about 13 acres of land will be landscaped and preserved as open space.

The Massachusetts Turnpike, or I-90, will be extended to connect to downtown Boston and Logan International Airport via another underground tunnel. The federal and state-funded project, now 60 percent complete, is predicted by new Big Dig chief Andrew Natsios to be completed in December 2004.

That leaves quite a bit of time for companies like Toomey Associates to reap the rewards of the project-and for salespeople like Geromini to contribute to its success. As an example, Geromini suggested contractors use a special hydraulic torque wrench in one facet of the Big Dig's plan. His suggestion and discussions with project pointmen centered on designing the entrance of the tunnel that hundreds of motorists will drive through daily.

For Robert Bell, a manufacturer's rep for hydraulics company Simplex, Boston construction projects like the Big Dig represent the design challenge he's ready to meet.

"Specials. That's what always keeps my interest, ''Bell says of an order for "48 special cylinders'' or the highway project.

Contractors needed to find a particular type of cylinder for tensioning support at a Big Dig site. Bell, with 30 years of hydraulic experience and a business relationship with Geromini, discussed what contractors needed.

"I gave the specs to the Simplex engineering department. These,'' he says of the specially designed cylinders, were ready "in less than four weeks to support the columns for the over-passes. Quite a nice application.''

The Big Dig and beyond

The opportunities for New England distributors seem endless..Along other major roads through Massachusetts and the two other southern New England states, neon orange sawhorses, jersey barriers, building fixtures and rerouted traffic patterns signify new vistas. Logan International Airport also is being expanded to accommodate more air travelers.

"Signature people are coming into town to build a new city for us," Mary Gately says of renowned architects designing new buildings in the Hub.

Gately, the director of market services for Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts, expects to see strong commercial building growth.

"We are seeing at least the next 18 months to be as strong as it was last year,'' Gately says. "Now it's leveling off, giving some breathing room.''

New vistas and landscapes also will appear, if not already completed, on college campuses. In an effort to attract the best students and provide the most comprehensive programs, academic institutions are getting spruced up. A multimillion dollar building project, the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, will open in the fall of 2001 in Needham, Mass. It is an affiliate of Babson College in nearby Wellesley.

And Boston College Law School, in Newton, Mass., will benefit from a new $9 million academic building.

One of Silicon Valley's high tech stars-Cisco Systems, Inc.-will rise in the East over a three-site campus in Boxboro, Littleton and Harvard, Mass., locations.

And what was old will become new again. A vast expanse of undeveloped land where Boston Harbor hugs South Boston is the site where a new, 1.7 million square-foot convention center will be built. Not far away, the proposed South Boston Seaport will result in a blend of hotels, retail shops, condominiums and more. And at nearby South Station, a new office building will rise adjacent to the refurbished South Station transportation center.

The challenge exists for distributors to be part of the plan to remake Boston a vibrant city. Robert Wilson, branch manager of the Westwood, Mass., office of electrical distributor WESCO International, says his branch is providing supplies to contractors working on the Big Dig.

Located off Massachusetts' Route 128, a high tech corridor in its own right, Wilson's branch serves electrical subcontractors bidding on work to general contractors. That generates a million dollars in sales of pipe and wire, Wilson says. In 1998, sales at the Westwood branch reached $12 million. For 1999, the tally is expected to approach $19 million.

"We're right on pace. '98 was a super year ... we're still moving along at a pretty good clip,'' says Wilson.

With more than 12,000 line items at Wilson's branch and a vast amount of product knowledge to match, WESCO is just one distributorship involved in the robust New England economy.

Northern opportunities

Elsewhere in New England, residential and nonresidential construction is going strong. In the northern New England states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, completed and on-going projects may ensure a progressive economy. The laying of 630 miles of natural gas pipeline from Dracut, Mass., to Goldboro, Nova Scotia, could lead to more year-round jobs for residents, tax base boosts to rural towns and more utility choices to lure new businesses north. In Maine alone, the natural gas pipeline stretches 240 miles.

To the west, Vermont's Reynolds & Son, Inc., also is benefiting from a strong economy.

"I see nothing that would indicate a slowdown,'' says Bruce Seel, president of the Barre-based company that distributes general MRO supplies. Sales are "up about 20 percent from last year.''

Jon Eames, vice president and general manager of N.H. Bragg & Sons in Bangor, Me., notes residential construction is steady but started to slow down slightly in recent months.

"While still relatively strong due to high employment and a good local economy, it may be starting to feel the effects of higher interest rates,'' Eames says of the northern New England economy. N.H. Bragg & Sons' market area is the entire state of Maine and coastal and northern New Hampshire. Herein lie building opportunities, but they must be sought out.

"This is the weaker of the two sectors for us,'' admits Eames about residential building projects. "Smaller contractors are harder to call on and are more apt to shop at night or weekends at Home Depot.''

Still, especially with the pipeline in place, commercial and industrial construction for N.H. Bragg & Sons is robust.

"It may actually be peaking right now. Last year, Maine was completing its largest infrastructure project, a 240-mile natural gas pipeline. This year, there are a number of power plants being built to utilize this source as well as many other projects,'' Eames says.

Product lines that do well for the 146-year-old company include power and hand tools, safety items and hoists. Cutting tools and MRO supplies also are selling quickly.

"Our industrial/construction side of the business has grown in double digits for the last year and a half,'' says Eames.

Eames and his staff are involved in a number of major projects, but on a smaller scale than the Big Dig.

"Most of the major projects are tied into paper mill modernizations or expansions and power plants, although there are a number of mid-to-large projects underway outside the area. Most of the customers being awarded these contracts are regular customers of ours,'' he says.

"We stay involved through a variety of means including construction bid and award lists like the Dodge reports,'' Eames says.

Eames and Wilson, as is the case with any industrial distributor, must keep an eye on competitive threats-which include rental companies and "big box" stores.

"Home Depot does OK with the smaller contractors but still doesn't dominate the medium and larger contractors," Eames says. "We've seen some increased competition from the rental companies as they consolidate and get larger.

"Construction supply specialists still seem to do well ... We haven't noticed it yet, but we expect to see some business start moving to the 'Net,'' he says.

Broadening its product and service offering may keep N.H. Bragg & Sons ahead of the pack, though. The Maine company always has carried product lines used in the construction industry. They have expanded to offer more service by adding a construction-site specialist to their team. And they've been awarded several primary supply contracts with very large customers, Eames notes.

The ability to seek and capture new business opportunities keeps N.H. Bragg & Sons motivated, Eames adds.

That is true of any distributorship and any salesperson, such as Toomey Associates'Robert Geromini. In the midst of a booming New England economy, and always on the go, Geromini took time to notice something else.

Despite the scrutiny the Big Dig faced recently over previously undisclosed billion-dollar plus cost overruns by a project manager preceding Andrew Natsios, amazing work is being done down in the 50-foot deep depressions below the highway.

"Each job unto itself is tremendous. It was much more interesting and on a much larger scale than I imagined," Geromini says from his cell phone, en route to a sales call. "To see the magnitude, the coordination, to make it happen smoothly is inspirational. The workers that do the actual, physical labor, they're making this happen."

It's business, nonetheless