Brookstone Builders Welcomes New Office Manager

We are happy to announce that Karen Scales has joined the firm as Office Manager.

Ms. Scales holds a Bachelor’s degree in Food Service Administration from Central Michigan University, and has over fifteen years of managerial experience. She has held the position of Food Service Director for a health care facility, and spent fourteen years as a Test Kitchen Manager at Reader’s Digest in Wisconsin prior to relocating to New Hampshire.

Her primary responsibilities at Brookstone Builders will include managing various administrative activities, record keeping, accounts payable, payroll, bookkeeping and directing portions of the company’s social media program.

Time is Money!

People often say that "time is money," and this is especially true during construction projects of all types and sizes.

For example, a regional organization was in the process of expanding their headquarters by adding a new wing. The initial decision-making and approval process took a little longer than expected, and consequently the project began six weeks late. This delay brought-about a time-challenge for the company, as winter was quickly approaching.

In addition, the communication between site management personnel, suppliers and sub-contractors was not the best. In certain instances the main crew was unable to work productively because materials were late in arriving. In other cases sub-contractors didn’t arrive on site because they were confused about the schedule. As the frequency of these types of misunderstandings increased, the "ripple effect" became significant and it soon became apparent that the facility would not be weather-tight prior to winter’s arrival, thus bringing about a need to import additional workers and to authorize overtime work – expensive solutions to say the least!

Managing a schedule is not always easy, but the upshots associated with failure to do so can be costly in multiple ways. In addition to delay-related costs, some contracts include punitive fines if certain deadlines are missed. In other cases the negative impact on worker morale can result in safety or quality lapses, as the overall job-site culture becomes one of mediocrity. Finally, a contractor’s brand-value can be damaged once they get a reputation for missing timelines.

Fast-Track: An Interior Fit-up at Milton CAT

We recently completed a "fast-track" interior fit-up project at Milton CAT's impressive new facility near the Manchester, NH airport.

The project commenced in mid-July and involved the complete interior fit-up of the new118,000+ square-foot sales and service campus in Londonderry, NH. The complex consists of sales and showroom space, offices, conference rooms, kitchen/break room, locker room, and large service areas.

The scope-of-work included metal stud framing, drywall, interior doors and hardware, windows, radiant-heated flooring plus finish carpentry work.

Read the press release...