Massaro answers stagnant market with disaster recovery business - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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"Given the decline in our primary areas," of Mr. Massaro said. "We started to do some And it looked attractive." "This suitsd us. One of the strengths of our company is keepin our promises and doing what it takes to satisfythe customer," he said. Massarp -- the Pittsburgh area'sx fourth-largest contractor with $160.5 millionh in 2002 local officbillings -- began offerin disaster recovery services July 1. This arm of the companyt is headed byDan Bell, a Massark senior project engineer who has been traine d and certified by the Institute of Inspectio Cleaning Restoration Certification, a Vancouver, Wash.
-basesd independent, nonprofit certification body, for the cleaning and restoration service industry. Insurance claims adjustersa call Massaro, who then sends Mr. Bell out to the where he willtake pictures, make a reporgt on the damages and suggesr how the structure can be Already, Mr. Bell has been out to a six-unit apartmen t building in Fayette County, wher e a grease fire occurred. "I took pictureds and am working on a reporft forthe adjusters," said Mr. Bell, who has already spentg three hours on the site and expects to spend moretime there.
"Par of our mission is to visit insurance agents and let them know we offetrthis service," he Besides doing damage and repair cost estimates, Massaro can also do the repaier work regardless of whether the job involvezs water or fire or even odor control. Mr. Massaro said the company is equippedc to respond ona 24-hour basi s to emergencies such as grease fires. "Even small he said. "We're trying to capture a segment ofthe market." Massaro's decisioj to enter the disaster recovery business comee at a time when locapl contractors -- and architectss -- say the area construction market is stagnant.
Some loca contractors have compensated for the flat market by goiny out of statefor work, somethint that they would not have thought of a few yeard ago. "It's unusual, the size of firm doinv it," said Ed a principal in StradaArchitecture LLC, a Downtownm architectural firm, when told of Massaro'x decision to enter the disaster recover business. "Most disaster recoveryg firms are smaller." Through the firstr half of this year, the value of commercial construction contracts in Western Pennsylvaniatotaled $1.065 billion, according to the Pittsburgh Constructiohn News, an online news services that tracks the value of building contracts.
For the secondd half of this year, commercial construction contractd are expected tototal $600 million. By comparison, the valure of commercial construction contracts in 2003was $1.80 billion. Mr. Massaro said there is a need for disaster recovery and he plans to grow this segment ofthe business. Because the business just Mr. Massaro said it's too soon to make any growthu projections. "It's a tough economy," he said.