Coming Off Strong Year, Contractors Eye More of the Same in 2026
This piece was written by George O’Brien of BusinessWest and published on Feb. 2, 2026.
Bill Laplante says it wasn’t that long ago when a whole-house renovation with a price tag of $400,000, $500,000, or more was extremely rare.
“Now, it’s commonplace,” said Laplante, owner of East Longmeadow-based Laplante Construction, which specializes in high-end homes, remodeling, and some light commercial work. “People are staying where they are and just putting the money into the house.”
Still, somewhat high interest rates have something to do with this surge in large-scale remodeling, he said, adding that many people bought their current homes at roughly 3% and are now looking at something just north of 6% (and it’s been higher the past few years) if they want to buy something new. So, in many respects, it makes sense to invest in the current home and stay in it, he went on.
This thinking helps explain why 2025 was one of the best the company has recorded, said Laplante, and also why 2026 is lining up to be another very solid year. “It was probably the largest-volume year in our history. We had a very, very, very good year — we had a lot of projects.”
Bob Provost, co-owner of Greenfield-based general contractor Mowry & Schmidt, agreed, noting that 2025 was a good year for the company, with a diverse mix of projects, including the new hockey rink at Northfield Mount Hermon School and renovation of the former Greenfield Public Library into part of what could now be called the Greenfield Savings Bank campus in the heart of the city’s downtown.
“This past year was a very good for us, and it’s looking very promising for 2026 as well for both commercial work as well as residential,” he told BusinessWest. “There were a lot of questions early last year regarding interest rates and whether they would go down or go up. I think people are feeling a little more comfortable with what they’re seeing recently, and mortgage rates are lower than they have been. All this bodes well for builders.”
Mark Sullivan, president of Northampton-based D.A. Sullivan & Sons, which specializes in commercial and institutional work, agreed. He said the firm handled a lot of work for colleges during the summer break — he calls them “summer slams” — as well as municipal projects in Chicopee and other communities and has a good amount of similar work on the books for 2026.
There are some issues and headwinds confronting builders — finding enough help remains difficult, scheduling becomes more of a challenge as the volume of work increases, and Dave Fontaine Jr., president of Fontaine Brothers Construction in Springfield, noted that a slowdown in private sector work in the eastern part of the state is creating more competition for public projects, such as a new middle school in East Bridgewater that the firm bid on.
“Because the firms that generally focus on private work in Eastern Mass. are slow, we’re seeing a lot more competition for work throughout the rest of the state,” he explained. “We just interviewed for the project in East Bridgewater; generally, there would be anywhere between three and four other firms competing, but on that project, I think there were a total of nine firms that submitted bids.”
Still, for the most part, these are good times for construction firms, which are taking full advantage of somewhat greater stability on the national and global fronts (as of mid-January, anyway) and accompanying confidence among business owners and residents alike to move forward with projects.
Meanwhile, there is a solid amount of public work taking place and on the drawing board, which is good news for firms that specialize in that kind of work, including Fontaine.
Indeed, the firm is moving toward the conclusion of one major school project locally (East Longmeadow High School), in the middle stages of another (Agawam High School), and getting ready to start a third (the new Longmeadow Middle School). And there are projects in other corners of the state as well.
And if all goes well, the company will have to balance all that with construction of a new courthouse in Springfield, one that will likely have a price tag approaching or exceeding $500 million — Fontaine is one of the lead players in a proposal (one of 11 now being considered by the state’s Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance) to build a 15-story courthouse roughly across State Street from the current facility.
When asked if the firm could handle all that, Fontaine laughed and said, “I hope that’s a question we have to answer; we’ll manage somehow.”
Right now, most construction firms are managing quite well, and while all those we spoke with cautioned that the scene (globally and nationally) could change quickly, the outlook for 2026 is generally positive.
Going Up
Laplante told BusinessWest that, while there was a solid mix of work in 2025, with residential and light commercial contributing to that solid bottom-line performance, it was the high-end renovations that stood out and gave the year some definition.
As he noted, there were more of them, and they signify a trend that likely has some staying power until interest rates come down significantly.
And when he talks about whole house renovations, he means whole house.
“They want a new kitchen, they want new appliances, they want all the bathrooms done over, they want to change out the windows, the siding … everything,” he said, adding that, depending on the size of the house — and most of these are quite large — the final price tag can exceed $400,000, $500,000, or even $600,000.
As noted, Laplante’s firm did several of those in 2025, most in Longmeadow, East Longmeadow, and Wilbraham. In addition to these renovations, the firm built roughly a dozen high-end new homes — in Western Mass. and also on the Cape, where the company opened a satellite office a few years ago to better serve customers looking to build there or renovate existing homes.
There were also several commercial projects of various sizes and in different stages of completion, including a dental office in East Longmeadow, a warehouse building for Revitalize CDC in Springfield, and another warehouse for GoGraphix in East Longmeadow.
Commercial work comprises just 20% of the firm’s book of business, but it’s an important part of the portfolio, he noted, adding that the company has more from that sector on the books for 2026, including a 24,000-square-foot memory care facility expected to break ground in the spring.
Meanwhile, there is a steady diet of more residential work, especially those high-end renovations, slated for 2026, said Laplante, adding quickly that, as the volume of such work increases, getting on the schedule becomes more of a challenge.
“We have a dozen new home starts, the memory care facility, and more renovation work in the pipeline, to the point where we’re having to push out when it comes to scheduling them,” he explained. “One of the tough things is that we can’t start a major renovation in a month now. We’re having to space them out and schedule them well ahead of time and make sure we get everything ordered and ready to go.
“Overall, we have work on the books for 2026 that should make it as good if not better than 2025,” he went on. “We have a lot in the pipeline.”
Sullivan echoed those sentiments. He said 2025 was a solid year, joking that the firm took on maybe a few more summer slams than it should have, but it fit them all in.
“You can’t start until the students are out, and you have to finish before they get back,” he said, adding that firm handled work at Smith, Mount Holyoke, UMass Amherst, and other schools. “Everything gets squeezed in the middle, so you’re behind before you start, so those are always anxious projects, but they’re interesting.”
In addition, the firm had several anchor projects, as he called them, including renovation of the former public library in Chicopee into meeting space and ongoing renovations to City Hall there, as well as a library addition in Fitchburg, work at the Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, projects at UMass Amherst, and other initiatives.
He said colleges and municipalities have the resources and confidence to move ahead with projects after a few sluggish years following COVID.
And for 2026, the company already has a good amount of work on the books.
“We entered the year with probably 60% of our targeted year, which is where we want to be, and we have a few potential projects queued up,” he said. “They haven’t been finalized, but they’re trending in that direction, and if they happen, we’ll be over our annual volume goal.”
Firm Foundation
Provost offered similar sentiments, noting that, while the outlook is mostly positive, things can change quickly — and profoundly — and this is why diversity is so important for builders, including his firm.
“Being in this area, being in Western Mass., and especially Franklin County, for us, there’s always been a need to stay diverse,” he noted. “You never know where the market’s leaning, so we stay busy in both residential and commercial.”
The latter comprises 65% to 70% of the portfolio, he went on, adding that recent projects in that realm include the ice hockey arena at Northfield Mount Hermon, a $12 million undertaking that will be ready for the 2026-27 season, as well as the historic renovation of the former Greenfield Public Library, a project nearing its completion.
On the residential side, Mowry & Schmidt handles both new construction and renovation, with many extensive projects in that latter category.
“We do a lot of bathroom, kitchen, and addition remodels; we’ve got one going now that involves a sunroom addition, new mudroom entry, and full kitchen addition — basically a whole house renovation,” Provost said, echoing Laplante when he noted that more people are staying put and investing in their current home rather than trying to find another one, especially as prices increase and interest rates remain somewhat high.
And there is plenty potentially coming onto the books in 2026, he continued, adding that the firm is bidding on a number of projects — with many customers leaning toward the design-build model, with one firm handling both under a single contract.
By and large, there is confidence within the private sector, on both the commercial and residential sides of the ledger, to move ahead with projects.
“There was a stretch over the past six to eight months where people were a little uneasy,” Laplante said. “But I think they’re starting to relax and say, ‘the world isn’t such a bad place,’ and move forward and don’t worry about everything.”
Fontaine agreed, but said there is still a good amount of volatility to contend with, and the broad construction sector is especially vulnerable to such forces. “I think we’re seeing a market slowdown in the private sector, particularly in Eastern Mass.”
This slowdown began more than a year ago, by most accounts, he went on, adding that it has been fueled by still-high interest rates and uncertainly about if, when, and by how much they will fall, but also by tariffs and price increases on certain products.
Still, Fontaine is busy, with those school projects, in this market and elsewhere; other public sector work, such as an extensive renovation and expansion of Jones Library in Amherst (a project delayed by cost escalation and redesigns) and a public safety complex in Easton; as well as private sector work such as the $70 million initiative to expand and modernize Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington.
The firm generally handles a dozen or so projects at a time, he said, adding that it’s always working to keep a steady flow of work in the pipeline and balance out the projects that are being wrapped up with new initiatives.
And that’s the case with projects like East Longmeadow winding down (it will be ready for the new school year), and others, like Fairview Hospital and Jones Library, just getting started. And bidding never stops for new projects, such as the new middle school in East Bridgewater, Fontaine said, adding that it can be — and often is — several years between when a project first comes on the radar and when a shovel is put in the ground.
The firm is awaiting word on that project, as well as the courthouse — no word on when that verdict will be handed down — while also keeping a vigilant eye out for new opportunities.
By most accounts, there will be a good supply of them in the near future as confidence builds — and individuals, businesses, and municipalities look to build.
