Construction 2020

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PageO Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, August 5, 2020 `lkpqor`qflk =======================================================================================================================================================================

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Wait and see

PageP Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, August 5, 2020 `lkpqor`qflk =======================================================================================================================================================================

Construction Roundup

Virus pandemic has caused uncertainty, delays

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And although some in that field are currently feeling the effects of COVID-19, others are predicting that if the pandemic continues on into the fall, growth in the industry will begin to stall early next year.

Mike Rozier Construction recently felt the brunt of the pandemic when a $12 million project the Greenwood-based company had been working on was halted.

“We had a very large job we were doing in Durant, Mississippi, for a manufacturing facility, and we were about 30% complete with it, and they shut it down,” said Mike Rozier, the company’s founder and CEO. Rozier said that was the biggest pandemic-related impact his business has felt.

He said the rest of the construction company’s jobs have stayed steady.

Mike Rozier Construction, which is licensed in 14 states, does commercial and industrial jobs, large and small, and is currently working on 15 projects from Texas to Kansas to Kentucky to Arkansas and Mississippi, Rozier said.

“We do more commercial, probably commercial retail, than anything,” he said.

On a positive note, he said commercial retail has stayed steady. One area of concern, however, is the number of public jobs available to bid on. “There seems to not be as many as you would normally have this time of year,” said Rozier.

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Given the uncertainty around the pandemic, some jobs may be on hold for just the time being, he said.

“I think a lot of it is people are just waiting to see what’s going to happen and where the economy is going, and I think a lot of the questions will be answered after the election in November,” he said.

The pandemic has brought with it other

negative impacts for the construction industry that all are facing.

“You’ve got a lot of price increases; you’ve got a lot of delays in material being delivered,” said Rozier, adding that delivery delays are beginning to be a very big problem.

“Something that would take a week to 10 days to get here is now taking six to eight

weeks,” said Rozier. “It’s got a big effect. I can’t complete the job on time if we can’t get our material in a timely manner.”

Heath Hodges, a Greenwood residential contractor, has had the same issues with delayed deliveries.

“As far as us getting materials, it’s definitely slowed down,” he said. “It has a lot to do with the trucking industry and people trying to get materials to the distributors.”

Hodges said the delays make it difficult to keep a schedule.

“It slows it down, and it’s kind of hard to plan,” he said. “If you plan to do something and something doesn’t come in, it just keeps pushing things back.”

Hodges’ business, Heath Hodges Building and Design, does everything from new construction to kitchen remodels or additions. Even with the pandemic, he said business is steady.

“Everything is the same as it has been,” he said. “The jobs haven’t slowed down.

People are still wanting things done. We still get a lot of phone calls.”

Right now Heath Hodges Building and Design is working on two remodels and an addition.

For the past couple of years, Hodges said, there’s been an uptick in the number of new home construction projects. He suspects there are probably even more people who want to build but are all having the same issue. “I’ve got a lot of people calling wanting to build and just can’t find land to build on,” he said. “I’ve got three or four people now having to find land.”

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PageQ Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, August 5, 2020 `lkpqor`qflk =======================================================================================================================================================================

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While the delayed deliveries have caused setbacks, for residential construction, “I don’t see anything slowing down anytime soon,” he said.

Dixie Roofing Inc. hasn’t felt many negative effects from the coronavirus pandemic.

A major reason is that two back-to-back storms occurred around the time the pandemic began to take off, said Kris Blakely, the company’s president.

“That set a workload for us, and it put us behind immediately,” said Blakely. “We’re still trying to play catch-up from all that.”

Dixie Roofing did have to make adjustments to follow health and safety guidelines, such as increasing cleaning and reconfiguring its coffee station, which was normally a morning gathering place for the employees.

“We have to keep them distanced,” said Blakely. “We made these neat little masks that have Dixie Roofing on the face.”

And occasionally, an employee would have to be tested for the coronavirus and be quarantined. “We would have them tested, and if they were negative, they would come back to work. If they were positive, we kept them home for 14 days,” he said.

But other than that, Blakely said, “Really and truly, it’s just business as usual here.”

Dixie Roofing, based in Winona, does commercial and residential work and has a sheet metal shop. Blakely said its jobs are about half and half.

“We’ve felt that that balances out best — half residential, half commercial,” he said.

“As far as fabrication, we will do some for the general public, but we are mainly doing that for our jobs.”

Blakely said he has noticed a shift in the construction industry toward manufacturing jobs.

“The reason is, in my opinion, because of the demand for products,” he said.

Just like Rozier, Blakely said that the bid market for commercial work has “slowed down tremendously. Negotiated work is a little more up, but bid work is down.”

For residential, Dixie Roofing might have seen a slowdown because of the pandemic if the work was just homeowners needing new roofs.

“They might put that off,” said Blakely.

“But since the storms are a factor, then most of our residential is due to insurance claims, so that’s not out of pocket for the homeowner.”

Dixie Roofing has had an increase in jobs this year. “We’ve been fortunate enough to

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have a lot of negotiated commercial work throughout this year and carrying on,” said Blakely.

The company, which is licensed in Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee, currently has 70 residential projects it either is working on or has in the works and 11 commercial projects in the works.

For residential work, Blakely believes it will continue to stay steady. For commercial, however, he doesn’t know what the future holds.

“We’ll really know more about that the first of next year,” he said. “If schools get back open, plants get back open, I think we’re going to see a major flood next year.

There were so many things put on hold this year — bid work — that next year it’s going to be, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get these projects done.’”

Even with the pandemic, Robinson Electric is having a record year.

“We’re running between 7 and 8% ahead of where we were last year, and last year was our best year ever in 67 years,” said Brian Robinson, the Cleveland-based company’s president and CEO. “Our service business slowed down just briefly — when I say briefly, for about 10 days — at the initial onset of the

pandemic,” he said. “But since that time, our business is actually stronger than it was even this time last year.”

Robinson said he has noticed that hospitality and restaurant businesses are not planning the new projects that they were a year or two ago. However, manufacturing jobs related to agriculture and food are increasing.

“Even throughout this pandemic, all of those businesses have been running six or seven days a week just wide open,” said Robinson.

Projects that have been decreasing are those involving big box stores, retail, restaurants and hotels. Any of those types of current construction projects were “in the works already, funded and already designed, and paid for,” said Robinson.

“What people have to realize is it takes two years to get most of those projects planned out, budgeted, all the money in place and started.”

Because of this, Robinson predicts a lull will come at the beginning of 2021.

Before the start of a project, bidding, planning work and awarding contracts can take months. So for March, April, May and June, Robinson Electric was working on jobs that had already been contracted prior

to March.

“As we begin to work that work off, then we have to have new opportunities and new work to come up,” he said. “Although we have some, (the jobs) are not as large or as many as they once were. We’re still extremely busy right now, and we’re going to be busy until the end of 2020. But everybody in our industry seems to think it kind of looks like, and smells like, a lag or lull in the construction industry will happen early in 2021.”

Robinson remains optimistic.

“We’ve got a healthy backlog of work at Robinson Electric,” he said. In the Greenwood area, “we finished four or five large contracts there last year. Milwaukee Tool has several projects on the books that they are wanting to do, and we’re looking at other projects in the Greenwood area.”

Robinson Electric has a little more than 75 active contracts, which are a blend of industrial, commercial, wastewater work around the state, LED lighting work and residential stand-by generators.

“We’re still steadily booking work and have a strong backlog of work that will carry us all the way through this year,” Robinson said. “We’re concentrating on opportunities for 2021 now.” n

PageR Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, August 5, 2020 `lkpqor`qflk =======================================================================================================================================================================

Brothers and plumbers

PageS Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, August 5, 2020 `lkpqor`qflk =======================================================================================================================================================================

Danny and Tony Westerfield

Competitors have many years of experience A

lthough they probably would be reluctant to admit it, Danny and Tony Westerfield have a lot in

common.

Primarily, the two brothers have shared three loves: fishing, hunting and plumbing.

“My brother would be a better bass fisherman because he’s been in fishing tournaments for 30 years,” Danny Westerfield said.

“He’s the better fisherman, and I’m the better hunter. … Well, I guess, with hunting, you’d call us close to about the same,” Danny Westerfield admits.

Each brother has his own plumbing business: Danny’s Plumbing and Home Repair, owned by Danny Westerfield, 58, and Westerfield Plumbing & Heating Inc., owned by Tony Westerfield, 56.

But it wasn’t always that way.

Danny worked for his brother off and on for 12 years before going off on his own in 2009.

They were raised in Phillipston and moved to Greenwood in 1973. Both attended Greenwood High School before starting their careers.

“We rode our bikes, played in the dirt in the cotton fields,” Tony said. “Picked cotton, hoed cotton, sprayed cotton.”

And, Danny said with a laugh, “Like any other brothers, we fought sometimes.”

Or as Tony put it, they fought “like cats and dogs.”

Both have their fair share of accomplishments.

Tony worked at Long and Chambless Plumbing from 1981 until 1996 before deciding to start his own business. He estimates that he and his employees normally work around 4,000 jobs a year. A selfdescribed “workaholic,” he has worked in plumbing for almost 40 years.

Danny has worked in propane and natural gas for 42 years. He also works for several different contractors, including Delta Design Build in Greenwood, as well as companies that assist Scott Petroleum and Walmart.

Both have families they love.

Tony and his wife, Lori Lott Westerfield, have a daughter, Anna Claire, 32.

And Danny has three children: Jennifer, 38, and 33-year-old twin sons, Robert and Aubrey.

Still, working with family can get dicey.

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“Sometimes it is hard to work for a family member, but also we got along pretty well sometimes,” Danny said. “It just depends.”

Tony countered: “We couldn’t get along, and he ended up going on his own.”

But, at one point, three family members worked in the same company: Tony, Danny and their mother, Betty Joyce Lamb. Tony was the owner, Danny was the plumber and Betty handled the books.

Tony will be the first to admit, if it had

not been for his mother, he does not know if he would be the worker he is today.

“The reason why I’m in business today is because of my mother,” he said.

Although the brothers may be competitors in business and have had their share of disagreements, they know it is not permanent.

“It is getting better, but it is not there yet,” Tony said.

“We’re working on our relationship. It’s always been like that,” Danny said. “We’ll

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get frustrated with one another, and one will go separate from the other, work a while, and then we eventually work it out.”

“I’m not saying he doesn’t know anything about plumbing,” Tony smiled. “I taught him well, or else he wouldn’t be where he is today.”

And even though their mother died two years ago, her advice still resonates with her sons today.

“It’s like our mother said: ‘Time heals everything,’” Danny said. n

50 years and counting

PageT Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, August 5, 2020 `lkpqor`qflk =======================================================================================================================================================================

Upchurch Plumbing

Family has stayed close as business has grown

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obbie Upchurch recognizes that some people can work with their siblings and others can’t. But he’s worked with family for decades at Upchurch Plumbing, and he says that in addition to making the job enjoyable, it’s been good for business.

“It’s really an asset and beneficial to us,” he said. “We each have our own roles in the company, and everybody does it. But naturally, when somebody needs help with their side, be it the administration part of it, the organization, logistics of moving people, doing jobs, estimating, we just chip in.”

He is president of the company, which his father, Vennis, started 50 years ago. Robbie’s brother Mike is vice president; another brother, David, is treasurer; and sister Cindy Hawkins is secretary.

They have remained close outside the office, too, Mike said.

“We’ve all gone to church together,” he said. “And outside work, we had family functions or hunting or fishing; we did everything together. Real fortunate to have the availability to do all that with your family.”

Robbie and Mike started in the business while in elementary school, working on weekends and in the summer.

The brothers say their father taught them some important things about business and dealing with people in general. Treat them as you would want to be treated. Be fair. Don’t ask someone else to do something you wouldn’t do. Deal with conflicts head-on, make decisions for the good of the company and be prepared to explain those decisions.

And put in an honest day’s work.

“My dad was one of the hardest-working Vennis Upchurch guys you’d meet, and you would not know that he owned the business,” Robbie said.

But family meant a lot to Vennis Upchurch, too. When his sons played baseball, he made sure they got to their games after work, even if they were a little late. “If you had something to do, he’d do whatever he could to get you to the ballgames,” Mike recalled. “So I had a lot of respect for that.”

The brothers grew up in the business and learned a lot about it, and the work proved to be a natural fit.

“I liked the craft, and I enjoyed being out, so I didn’t think of doing anything else,” Mike said. “Just always where I wanted to be.”

Robbie agreed and said he still feels that way.

“I like getting up every day and doing what I’m doing,” he said.

Robbie, now 62, joined the business full-time after high school in 1976. Mike, who is 60, did the same in 1978.

David Upchurch, 57, and Cindy Hawkins, 56, came on board in the 1980s.

Mike said he and Robbie worked directly with their father for their first 20 years or so, and even after they gained more experience and began running their own crews, they still talked with him every day. Over time, the Upchurches settled into their roles in the business, with Robbie and Mike doing much of the day-to-day management for about five years before their father’s death in 1997.

“When he passed away, it was really nothing drastic as far as the business changing,” Mike said. “Just missed him being part of it.”

Robbie said he and his siblings didn’t have titles in the company before their father died, but they had to assign titles in order to be able to sign papers. The structure they settled on remains the same today — just with more responsibility as the company has grown.

In the early years, Upchurch Plumbing built a reputation by working for about 10 contractors and getting repeat business from them. As the company grew, Robbie said, they figured out what they did well and kept doing it.

Early customers included Viking Range and its founder, Fred Carl Jr. “We worked for Freddy when he was a house builder, and he never forgot it,” Robbie said. “We’ve done 99% of Viking Range’s work.”

Upchurch Plumbing received a big boost when casinos began locating in Mississippi in the early 1990s. The company landed a job at a casino in Vicksburg, which it started in 1993, and it went well. That gave them the confidence to pursue other jobs they might not have pursued before. pqlov=_v=a^sfa=jlkolb=n melqlp=`lroqbpv=lc=rm`ero`e=mirj_fkd

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PageU Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, August 5, 2020 `lkpqor`qflk =======================================================================================================================================================================

“It was different, but we realized then that we could do fast-paced work, and it just kind of evolved from that,” Robbie said.

More casino projects followed, including jobs in Lula, Tunica and Robinsonville as well as more work in Vicksburg. Upchurch did less work in that field after the casino industry slowed, but it built long-term relationships with other frequent customers, including hospitals, universities, prisons, jails, poultry and catfish processing plants and manufacturers.

The company prefers to do as much work in the “Southeastern Conference” geographical area as possible so managers can monitor the work better. The addition of an office in Jackson, Tennessee, a few years ago has helped.

Mike Upchurch estimated that the work volume in the last couple of years has been about 40% in Mississippi, 35% in Tennessee, and the rest in nearby states including Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas. They are willing to travel farther, but it’s usually for a contractor they already know well.

An asset that has helped in recent years is a sheet metal shop where they can make ductwork and transport it to job sites themselves.

Upchurch is also usually involved in renovations at schools in the summers.

That has been important this year because of the shutdowns of schools during the coronavirus pandemic; projects in 2020 have included work in three schools in Tennessee, two in Greenville and two in Madison. v v v

Upchurch and its associated businesses now have a total of 645 employees, including some who have been there for a long time.

Robbie said the employees are the company’s greatest asset. “I would imagine there’s 30 or 40 here today that’s been here 20 years-plus,” he said.

Technological advances have helped the business grow, and Upchurch has been able to add young employees who are wellversed in the new equipment.

Upchurch also puts great emphasis on training. Through the Mississippi Construction Education Foundation, employees can learn more job skills through an online program. This is useful if they are out of town for long periods, because they can take the classes in hotel rooms. More schooling gives them the chance to make more money in addition to helping the company, Robbie said.

The 645 employees under the company’s umbrella work for a number of companies that have been added over the years.

Upchurch Services, which is based in Horn Lake and also has an office in Jackson, was started to help Upchurch Plumbing stay in contact with owners and maintain relation-

ships with them. Upchurch Services is run by David Upchurch, who lives in Hernando.

The other companies acquired by Upchurch are locally run, although Robbie and Mike Upchurch meet with their managers at least once a month.

Robbie cited the acquisition of Craft Croswell as a deal that has worked well for everyone involved.

“There were two brothers that owned it, and they were looking for an exit plan,” he said. “They’re still working; they’re one of the biggest flooring companies in Mississippi, in commercial flooring. We bought it, they stayed in business, they’re still working today, and it kind of got a lot of the worries off them from being owners. And they’re kind of rejuvenated.” v v v

Upchurch Plumbing has been looking for more work, but the market has slowed as the pandemic has continued. There was “a lot of potential work out there before this thing hit, and they just kind of put the brakes on it,” Robbie said.

Many in the private sector are waiting before committing to major projects.

Robbie said that’s understandable: “Somebody doesn’t want to put $200 million in a project and not know if they can staff it.”

Still, he said, the company has invested a great deal in its employees, including safety and training, and “we’re going to do everything we can to keep every employee we’ve got.”

Robbie and Mike Upchurch say they are confident that they will have opportunities when the pandemic is over. Mike said it helps that the Southeast has been the biggest market for manufacturing growth over the last five to 10 years, so they’re in a good position.

“At some point, this thing will go away,” Robbie said.

“Things will come back to normal. ... I really believe you’re probably going to see more manufacturing in the United States when this is over, and I think things are going to be built, and we want to be ready for it when it comes.” n

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The reality of renovation

PageV Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, August 5, 2020 `lkpqor`qflk =======================================================================================================================================================================

House Flipping

Fixing up, selling houses not as easy as it looks D

evotees of home renovation TV shows such as “Flipping 101” or “Home Town” — a Mississippi favorite set in Laurel — or even the granddaddy of them all, “This Old House,” know that willful ignorance often plays a significant role in anticipating the big reveal at the end of each episode.

Although they’re called “reality” shows, the reality part is usually missing from the action we see on screen as the project hurtles toward completion, when the magic happens.

“I hate those shows,” Ken DuBard groaned. “They are so unrealistic.”

Ken prefers real reality. He believes that if you’re inspired to renovate or restore a house by what you’ve watched on TV because it looks like so much fun and you can almost always bring it in under budget, you’re headed for a big letdown and probably financial loss before you turn the house keys over to your new buyer.

Ken doesn’t want to throw cold water on anybody’s flipping dream; he just prefers fact over fantasy, and he does speak from some experience gathered over the last couple of years.

Flipping houses is buying houses that need some fixingup, completing the renovation and then selling the house.

The object is to buy low, stick to a budget for the reno and sell at a reasonable profit that covers what you paid for the house and the improvements you made to it. Or you might decide to live in the house yourself for a while before you sell it. Theoretically, if the economy and your local housing market are sparkling and percolating together, a fortune can conceivably, eventually, be made.

Ken’s full-time, put-bread-on-the-table job is selling seed, chemicals and fertilizer to farmers in his territory with Helena Agri-Enterprises LLC, which is based in Collierville, Tennessee. He’s in his sixth year with the company, loves his work and stays quite busy at it. He also works with his mom and dad, Betty and Ron DuBard, in real estate sales at DuBard Realty, in Greenwood.

Jeanne Williams DuBard, Ken’s wife, is the assistant headmaster at Kirk Academy in Grenada — also a fulltime job.

“She’s a big fan of those HGTV shows,” he said, “and, you know, I’m not.” But Ken confessed he will sometimes sit down to watch a reno reality show with Jeanne.

From previous marriages, Ken, 45, and Jeanne, 42, have four children, who attend Pillow Academy in Greenwood.

Their son is 15 years old; their three daughters are 13, 12 and 11.

So with all of the above on their plate already, what made Ken and Jeanne turn to flipping houses in their spare time?

The simple reason: “I have always liked fixing up older houses,” Ken said.

He and Jeanne got some solid practice several years ago with an exquisite renovation/restoration they did on a house on West River Road Extended that they had bought for their own family; the house was featured in the Winter hÉå=aì_~êÇI=êáÖÜíI=ë~óë=ÜÉ=Ü~ë=~äï~óë=äáâÉÇ=ÑáñáåÖ=ìé=çäÇÉê=ÜçìëÉëI=ëç=ÜÉ=~åÇ=Üáë=ïáÑÉI=gÉ~ååÉI=Ü~îÉ=ÖçííÉå=áåíç=ÄìóJ 2015 issue of Leflore Illustrated. áåÖ=ÜçìëÉëI=êÉåçî~íáåÖ=íÜÉã=~åÇ=ëÉääáåÖ=íÜÉãK=

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“Jeanne has great taste,” Ken said. “She knows what looks good and what works well together.” She makes the design decisions for tile and color selection and fixtures, and she has the unerring vision to be able to determine whether a particular wall should stay up or come down, depending on the space.

Now that the kids are older, they’re learning from their parents the value of performing honest labor in exchange for pay. This summer, for example, all four have helped with house renovations.

(What teenager could turn down money to demolish walls and smash cabinets into kindling?)

The four of them also work at Twin Rivers Recreation in varying capacities.

Sounds like Chip and Joanna Gaines’ busy, all-hands-on-deck family in HGTV’s classic “Fixer Upper.”

Ken said the first house he flipped was one on West President Avenue in North Greenwood.

“It was a good experience,” he remembers. “It didn’t take too long — only a couple of months, and there were no big surprises or setbacks.”

He put together a team of subcontractors he has come to rely on, he said, consisting of locals Isaac McCaleb for interior work (walls, bath and kitchen tile, trim, windows) and exterior siding and Stacey Burton for electrical work; and Platinum Roofing & Restoration LLC in Canton.

Ken and his team went to work on the house on West President. They replaced the kitchen and bath tile on floors and walls, painted the interior walls and exterior siding, replaced electrical and plumbing fixtures, replaced the kitchen countertops and sink, refinished the hardwood floors and installed new stainless steel appliances.

Ken was happy with the way the project moved forward and with the return on his investment. It was a good first lesson in Flipping 101 for him.

His most recent flip, a large ranch-style house that was in foreclosure on Poplar Street in North Greenwood, has been much more involved. In fact, as of this writing, it’s not officially a flip yet.

“This renovation took about eight months,” Ken said. “Hardly anything had been done with the house since it was built in the 1960s.”

In short, the kitchen and the three baths were gutted and updated by 60 years with high-end features such as double-sink vanities in all the baths; new cabinets, countertops and stainless steel appliances in the kitchen; new tile and plumbing fixtures in the baths and the kitchen; two walk-in closets in the primary bedroom; and new electrical fixtures everywhere, including canned lighting in every room.

Two tankless water heaters were added, one for the primary bath and a separate one for the rest of the house.

“There was no insulation in the walls,” Ken said. “We had to take down the old Sheetrock, add new insulation and replace

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the Sheetrock.”

All the exterior siding had to be replaced, and the house got a new roof, Spanish cedar exterior doors, fresh landscaping and a new driveway.

Ken said all the windows had to be replaced, and he decided to install wood clad windows for durability, low maintenance and an elegant finishing touch.

“I put the ‘For Sale’ sign up in the yard one day last spring,” Ken said, “and the next day, the governor announced the whole state would shut down to try to get a handle on the COVID-19 virus.”

The uncertainty surrounding the pandemic has muted interest so far, but Ken and Jeanne remain hopeful and positive.

“We’ll get through this,” Ken said. “There will always be ups and downs in real estate; that’s just the nature of the market.”

They own some rental properties they intend to renovate as tenants move out. It is reassuring to have some back-up possibilities.

“Flipping can be exciting and fun,” Ken said, “but you have to have capital to start, find the right house for you, set a budget for the renovations and stick to it, and be prepared financially to weather the ups and downs of the economy.”

That’s the real reality. n

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Wired for success

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S&W Electrical

Overleys carry on tradition in their business F

or almost 50 years, S&W Electrical LLC has been committed to installing electrical wiring systems not just throughout the Greenwood area but throughout the state, says Greenwood native Sammy Overley, the company’s CEO and head estimator.

His father, Woody Overley, worked as an electrician for JM Rose before founding his own company, Overley Electric, in 1973.

When Sammy Overley turned 12, he started working for his father at the family company during summers and holidays.

Having watched his father work, Overley decided to become an electrician himself.

“It was just the kind of thing I knew I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” he said.

When he first joined, he worked on different crews and did more or less what he was told to do.

Then, “the older I got, the more I learned about the business,” he said.

He kept working alongside his father over the years. Around 2004, Overley Electric was renamed S&W Electrical, short for Sammy and Woody.

Owned by women, S&W Electrical became a certified minority-owned business a year later, which allows it to enter into contracts with the government at the federal, state and local levels.

Overley’s wife, Debbie, owns the business. She previously owned it alongside Overley’s mother, Shirley Overley, before Shirley died in 2017.

After his father died in 2015, Sammy Overley took control of S&W Electrical’s operations.

The business has averaged between 30 to 35 employees in the field and has about 10 trucks, Overley said. The Greenwoodbased office has three employees.

“We have a good relationship with most of the general contractors that we work with,” Overley said.

In recent years, S&W Electrical has handled a variety of projects in the Greenwood area and elsewhere, receiving accolades for its efforts.

In 2018, S&W Electrical placed third overall in state for the Mississippi Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Merit Award for its work installing the electrical wiring for the Greenwood Police Department headquarters along Main Street. S&W Electrical also won a first-place ABA Merit Award in 2015 for its work on the Mississippi Highway Patrol office in Greenwood.

Outside Greenwood, S&W has done electrical work for various buildings on Mississippi State University’s campus in Starkville, including the approximately $1.4 million project on the animal dairy building and the $1 million project on the meat sciences building.

S&W Electrical has also recently finished installing electric wiring on five-story and two-story dormitories on Mississippi Valley State University’s campus in Itta Bena.

Overley said he has enjoyed working with his family over the years. “It means a lot to me, and my father was always there for me when I needed him” as well as his mother, Overley said.

The operation and management of S&W Electrical now fall on him and his wife.

Overley said his four adult children — Ashlea Galey of Greenwood; Brad Overley of Jonesboro, Arkansas; Eric Overley of Memphis; and Neal Mitchell of Asheville, North Carolina — have chosen careers outside the family business. But

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he said he wanted them to explore other options anyway.

“I think I did them justice by having them work summers and holidays and stuff like I did,” he

said. “They worked every summer; they worked hard. I wanted them to get a good education and maybe not have to work as hard as I did.”

That being said, Overley would like to “keep the business going on as long as possible.”

“He’ll never retire,” his wife joked. n

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