N.C. CONTRACTOR FINDS SUCCESS AMONG SCENIC VISTAS

Joffrey Merrill said he knew he could use a Case CX160, which even at 40,000 lbs. would easily move anywhere he needed it. Joffrey Merrill explained that he didn’t grow up dreaming about running a construction business, but he did like being around equipment as he had been brought up on a farm.

CEG CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Joffrey Merrill has a cool job.

Not only does he love his work, but he gets to do it outdoors amid the splendor of the southern Appalachian Mountains of North and South Carolina. The area where he operates his excavating company is beautiful but rugged country, particularly in and around his home base of Penrose, N.C., southwest of Asheville.

The highlands of southwestern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina have many peaks and several lakes bordered by high-end residential developments. It is here that his company, Merrill Excavating and Construction LLC, often works with luxury home builders to construct mountainside/lakeside dwellings, many of which offer spectacular vistas.

“Today, we are at the site of a project, for a Brevard, N.C., builder, that I believe was part of an old family property,” he said on a recent morning. “We are building about a 600-foot driveway up to a new house that sits on top of a hill. One of the luxuries of being able to live in western North Carolina is that when we are done, on a clear day, the owners of this house will probably have a 20- or 30-mile-view looking toward the mountain communities of Cashiers and Highlands.”

Digging, Hardscape,

Finish Work Are Specialties

The home-building market in the resort region itself has experienced peaks and valleys over the past two decades, but Merrill started his company after other contractors he trusted assured him that he could be successful building large homes in the area.

“When I started working for myself, the majority of my contacts were people in highend development in upstate South Carolina around Lake Keowee,” he said, referring to a reservoir that’s shores are dotted with large vacation homes. “In the first few years, probably 80 percent of our projects were on lakes in South Carolina and 20 percent here in North Carolina. With my family here, though, I have been trying to dial back the South Carolina work and concentrate on projects closer to home here in western North Carolina. Now, our work here can be found from the town of Cashiers, in the west, to Asheville in the east — all of which is in the mountains.”

He said that the people who want luxury or vacation homes in the mountains don’t normally purchase lots of five to 10 acres; rather, Merrill’s company is used to working on homesites sized only one to two acres. But, he added, many of the jobs are for people that have bought two or three adjacent lots in high-end developments.

“That opens up room for us to work,” he said. “For them, they prefer a buffer between their property and their neighbors, plus they want a 6,000- or 7,000-square-foot house, which is hard to build on a one-acre lot.”

Typically, Merrill’s projects begin when the home builder gives him a full set of site and foundation plans so he can submit a bid that will include everything from clearing and grubbing to the house site, the driveway and digging the basement.

“We get involved in quite a bit of the hardscapes too — retaining walls, boulder walls — and then we are back later in the project to do the backfilling and the finish grading,” he said. “I think there is a gap on the job site between what a rough grader does and what a landscaper does. We try to fill that space with our finish work.”

Merrill’s Love of Equipment Led to His Career

Merrill explained that he didn’t grow up dreaming about running a construction business, but he did like being around equipment as he had been brought up on a farm.

A 2001 graduate of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, Merrill’s degree was in horticulture and turf grass management, which, he admitted, “is a long way from grading.”

His first job was at Turf Mountain Sod in Hendersonville, N.C., where his job called for him to spend a lot of time on heavy machinery.

“We did all our own grading, land-leveling, ditching and farm work and that is where I really got hooked on running equipment,” he said. “After that, during the recession, I went to work in Landrum, S.C., for Greenspace Outdoor Construction, a big landscape and hardscape company, as a project manager. They had me overseeing the grading side of the business.

“But, as the economy started coming back, the owner of that company, Brandon Smith, who is now my best friend, kept pushing me to start my own business. It was a scary thought, but he kept telling me ‘The work is there; we will find you the work.’ Brandon single-handedly gave me the courage to start my company. He helped me get my first half-dozen jobs, which led me to begin regularly working for two or three builders down there before I came back

www.link-beltmidatlantic.com Ashland, VA 800-552-3837 Chesapeake, VA 800-342-3248 Frederick, MD 833-546-5235

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ARTBA Ranks Tarheel State 10th Worst for Deficient Spans

BRIDGES from page 12

including the cities of Raleigh, Durham, Cary and Chapel Hill.

According to WTVD, Milazzo said one of the main impediments to making these improvements has been funding. He and other advocates are pushing for more sustainable ways to fund infrastructure projects in the state.

“There is a growing body of evidence that North Carolina is not putting the investment into its transportation system like we need to,” added Mark Coggins, the director of government affairs at the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

He pointed to a recent report by the nonprofit organization TRIP that found driving on deteriorated and congested roads costs the state’s drivers $10.3 billion each year, reported WTVD.

NC Chamber is leading a business initiative to improve the state’s funding model and modernize transportation over the next decade.

“When roads are maintained and expanded and improved upon, economic development and jobs, frankly, follow that growth,” Coggins added.

The Tarheel State is certainly not the only state in need of more infrastructure upgrades. ARTBA’s Bridge Report found one out of every three bridges in the United States needs to be repaired or replaced.

“I think it’s alarming,” U.S. Congressman David Price of North Carolina said of the report.

He and other lawmakers are hoping President Biden’s federal infrastructure plan announced will revitalize many delayed projects.

Among other things, the president’s nearly $2 trillion plan includes funding for traditional infrastructure projects like bridges and roads nationwide.

Price is hopeful the proposed initiative finally turns into action.

“I would think as the country pulls out of the pandemic, and it looks toward the future, that this infrastructure plan is just what the doctor ordered,” he said. 