The Weekapaug Inn of Westerly is in the midst of a $17 million renovation this year that will preserve the waterside inn’s historic charm while incorporating new, state-of-the-art amenities.
That is just one of the projects occupying the time of Michael Alviano, director of finance for New England Construction, as the company enjoys one of its busiest seasons in years.
As the head of accounting and finance for the Rumford-based design-to-build firm, Alviano does the work of three people. Though that was not the company’s intent when he started working there four years ago as an account manager.
Soon after hiring Alviano, the company abruptly lost its chief financial officer. Alviano loaded on the responsibility, while the company scrambled to find a new finance head. But Alviano caught the management’s attention when he seemed to seamlessly acclimate to additional duties.
“We stopped and thought, ‘Let’s see if Michael can hold down the fort for a while,’ and slowly, we put more responsibility on his plate,” said John Pignataro, president and chief operating officer of New England Construction. “He very eagerly accepted the challenge.”
With only a few months on the job, Alviano went from managing basic payables and receivables to overseeing project managers’ budgets and finances for the entire business, as it contracted construction projects worth tens of millions of dollars throughout New England.
Pignataro realized the right candidate for the job was already doing it. Alviano got a promotion to director of finance.
Since then, the company downsized its accounting department from five people to two. Alviano supports project operations, invoices and billing, and corporate finance.
His background did not suggest that he would be ready to take on so many varied roles. A lifelong resident of Cranston, Alviano earned his bachelor’s in accounting from Bryant College. For 16 years prior to arriving at New England Construction, he worked for Advanced Business Machines, Energy Source Inc., and for a private CPA. But in his case, the past was a perfect preparation for the present.
The demands on a finance director escalate when clients request specialty materials, like Italian tiles or fine hardwoods, or if a client’s financing gets delayed, pushing the project into the less-desirable winter season.
“The trick is to foresee any hiccups and take the risk out of the project,” said Alviano. “By doing so, we lower our risk, and the risk of the owner. The last thing a client wants to see is changes in the project that are unforeseen.”
Alviano regularly travels out to the building sites, which stretch from northern Maine to as far away as Tennessee and South Carolina, to see for himself how work is progressing.
“That’s when I analyze the true costs of the project,” said Alviano. “You can only learn so much from a sheet of paper. You really need to be out on the site.”
There can be a lot to monitor fiscally. The Weekapaug Inn project, for instance, is a renovation of the 42,000-square-foot waterfront structure. New England Construction will be preserving the character of the 1930s building while adding an eco-friendly waste treatment facility, exterior Japanese soaking tubs, heated bathroom floors and towel racks, and a 25-yard lap pool – which will be warmed by on-site geothermal wells.
“The finished inn is going to be extraordinary,” said Alviano. “We’re even making the gas fireplaces so they have a crackling sound, like a real fireplace.”
Providence residents might recognize a New England Construction landmark in Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island on North Main Street. Over the course of six months, the firm renovated the skeleton of an existing 47,000-square-foot, four-story building and, in 2009, completed the first LEED-gold-certified building in Rhode Island. Today, the space offers 24 hospice care units, administration and food facilities, a library and a chapel.
New England Construction also works on offices buildings, churches, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and auto dealerships. The company built the majority of car dealerships inside Inskip’s Warwick AutoMall in Warwick. The cluster of dealerships amounted to $25 million in contracts and 18 months of construction for the company.
Despite the slumped economy, New England Construction has grown over the last three years by attracting new clients throughout the Northeast and maintaining good working relationships with old ones. New England Construction is now signing onto projects down the East Coast and into the Midwest, as clients travel to new locations.
“We do business in New England first, and then we travel with them,” said Alviano. “That’s what you want. You want to do a job for somebody and they say, ‘New England Construction treated us fairly and next time we do a project, we want to call them.’ ”
In 2009, the company employed 25 people. By 2011, the payroll had expanded to 32 employees. The firm’s annual gross income has grown from $15 million in 2010 to $27 million in 2011.
And 2012 is looking optimistic for New England Construction as well.
“We have some individuals that work for us right now that come from the big construction companies. With those people in place and the family that owns this business behind us, we’re just hoping that we continue to grow,” said Alviano.
He said his own growth as director of finance hinged on the support of his co-workers.
“To have gotten where I am in such a short amount of time took a lot of confidence by the people here,” said Alviano. “They could have kept me in the position I started in. Instead, they had the confidence in me to groom me into this position. That tells a lot about the company.” •
