John Connor is the principal behind Vantage Builders Inc., a commercial contracting company with a headquarters in Waltham, Mass., which opened a new Rhode Island office at 42 Albion Road in Lincoln in mid-December.
The company, which has been in business for 23 years, also has an office in Orlando, Fla. The Rhode Island office is using a “hot desking” system, allowing Vantage Builders employees the option to do their office work in the company’s Massachusetts or Rhode Island offices.
PBN: What can you tell us about your new office in Lincoln? How big is the building and what will be done there?
CONNOR: The office is approximately 2,000 square feet, with space for about a dozen team members, a conference room for client or internal meetings, and a kitchenette.
We opened the office for two reasons. First, we’ve been working on an increasing number of projects in Rhode Island. While the visible part of our work is the space we build, the construction business is really based on relationships, so it’s important to have a physical presence here.
Second, this is a terrific location for the growing number of Vantage team members who live in the area. Believe me, it’s nice to not have to deal with Route 128 every day.
PBN: You previously mentioned “hot desking” at your new R.I. headquarters. What is hot desking and how will it work out for Vantage Builders in Rhode Island? How many of your employees will end up working here?
CONNOR: Hot desking refers to an office design where employees don’t necessarily have permanently assigned cubicles or offices; there is flexibility in terms of which workstation you use. It allows for a great deal of flexibility for the employee and a high degree of efficiency since you only use space when it’s needed.
We had been seeing it utilized in many of the office build-outs that we’ve completed and it’s grown further since the pandemic. We have just under a dozen Vantage team members who are in the Lincoln office, depending on the day. Everyone also still spends time in Waltham, whether it’s to attend their weekly team meetings, such as estimating or business development, or to meet with clients.
PBN: Vantage Builders has completed many projects in Rhode Island before. Can you tell us about your work here, and where might we see it?
CONNOR: Ed Silva and I founded Vantage Builders in 2000 and have been working in Rhode Island almost from the beginning. I grew up in Smithfield, so I’ve always kept an eye on what’s happening in the state. We’ve completed projects in a variety of markets, including office, retail, hospitality and education.
Neon Marketplace is a growing company that’s redefining the idea of a gas station/convenience store and we built their Warwick location, which is being used as a prototype to scale the chain. We also completed the renovation of the beautiful Hotel Viking in Newport. Some of our other clients in Rhode Island include Rhode Island Energy, the Carpionato Group and The Learning Experience.
PBN: What kind of projects do you hope to do more of in Rhode Island moving forward, now that you have a headquarters here?
CONNOR: I expect our Rhode Island practice to be very similar to our work in Massachusetts. So, we’ll be focused on office, cannabis, education, laboratory, retail and industrial projects. We’ve had tremendous success in those areas, and we anticipate sticking to where we have expertise.
In the past few years, we’ve really expanded work in cannabis and laboratory projects. Though those sound very different, given the complexities of both types of projects, there are many similarities. Our office opened just about the same time as Rhode Island began adult-use cannabis sales and we have already been working with some cannabis companies.
We built one of the very first cultivation facilities that opened in Massachusetts, for Theory Wellness, and since then our cannabis construction practice has grown to almost 1 million square feet of projects either completed or in process, including cultivation, processing and dispensary facilities.
PBN: What’s your expectation for the construction market heading into next year, especially here in Rhode Island? Is there a big demand right now for services and how do you expect that to change heading into 2023?
CONNOR: The construction industry, like many others, had a very difficult time at the beginning of 2020. In Massachusetts early on in the pandemic, all construction projects were closed by state order. Then some critical projects were allowed, with more and more sites opening up with strict safety protocols in place. That initial bottleneck led to a lot of pent-up demand and by 2021 and into 2020, the industry was very busy. In fact, Vantage Builders saw tremendous growth over the past year, with a 30% increase in revenue and in headcount. Our team grew from 50 professionals to 75 in the past year.
In terms of 2023, I think we’re seeing a bit of a disconnect right now. Everyone is talking about the possibility of a recession and the Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates a number of times. But we’ve not seen a slowdown in demand, and clients are not pulling back on their plans. So, we are planning to keep our ears open and keep informed on the economy, while staying focused on serving our clients.
Marc Larocque is a PBN contributing writer.
