The contractor prides itself on giving back to first responders, veterans and skilled tradespeople. Bill French Jr., W.L. French’s chief executive and president, and his sister, Jessica L. French, chief operating office, business operations, talked to ENR about adaptation and investments in people, equipment and technology. This Q&A has been edited and condensed.

 

How have you adapted to slowing markets?

French Jr: We started to bid and work on our pre-qualification by doing smaller public jobs and building up the resume with the thought process that at some point we’re going to be doing more public work than private work, which held true for a while. … Through diversification and really looking at what we thought was a little bit more recession-proof than the private work that we’re used to, those are some of the things that we did to try and keep the wheels turning. There are certain things that I’ve been doing for a long time in my career, and snow removal really comes to mind, whereas you get worn out of it, and you’re tired of it … you’re up all hours of the night and whatnot. As I was getting older, I thought it would be nice to start to kind of stop doing certain things, and we didn’t do that. We held true to where we started and kept doing the things that helped us get here. When you look at our portfolio of work, snow removal is extremely small, but in a slow economy in February, it’s extremely important.

French: We are always planning for the peaks and valleys of this industry. We have been through several economic downturns in our careers and we have learned from them. We have practiced financial discipline, working to eliminate debt and strengthen the balance sheet so that when things slow down, the company can weather whatever comes next. After COVID, we knew there would be a downturn. I think we expected it to be sooner than 2025, but as we saw the private sector slow down, we did recalibrate a bit. Having multiple revenue streams is something we’ve always done, but continuing to expand on that for security is helpful. Being in a position of not taking work that we can’t be successful or profitable has helped.

 

How do you invest in people?

French Jr: Most people in our industry have a tough facade, including myself. It’s an easy business to get yourself run over, figuratively, if you allow it to happen … a lot of the people in this industry, if you ask them how they’re doing, you will get the same answer no matter what; ‘Oh, I'm good.’ When you really start to dig in a little bit more, it doesn’t take much digging, no pun intended, to get people to open up a little bit, and then you can really start to see, well, maybe there is some other things going on and what we’re trying to say to them is, ‘If you're having issues, let us know.’ … As an industry, we can all do better. I’ve been doing this since I could walk. For the first 20 years, I don’t think I was really worried about how anybody was feeling as much as I should have been. And now as I’m getting older … it’s asking people ‘How they are’ and meaning what you’re saying to them.

French: We’re trying to train people in mental aid along with first aid, to recognize when people start to withdraw or what people’s different signs are. But most importantly, getting people to feel comfortable to speak up when we otherwise wouldn’t know.

 

Did the market slowdown prompt your technology and equipment audit?

French: Yes, when the market slows down, it’s a good time to polish and clean up and get things ready for when things start to pick up again. The other thing is there’s rapid changes. There’s AI. There's software coming at us at 100 different angles. What we need to home in on what we have and maximize the utilization; make sure there’s no redundancies. We made a major investment in the whole technology stack to say ‘Okay, where are we going to be in a year, two years, five years?’ The changes are coming faster now, and we want to be prepared, and we want our people to be prepared.

French Jr: We have a lot of equipment, and we were really struggling with how to document where everything is. We’ve been using technology now so that we know how many pumps, saws or compressors, generators we have. We probably have 40 generators out there. And these generators now, they range from $20,000 to $75,000, and if you don’t know where they are and if they’re being utilized, you’re just wasting money. We embrace it more and more because we’re finding we can send out an email to the field staff and say, ‘We’re looking for tool number X and last time we saw it was here and we think that was left on this job.’ And then we’ll have an email come back 20 minutes later, ‘Oh, we’ve recovered that. It has a QR code. It’s on this job.’ And, again, it’s just the time. It's the fact that we can track things. It’s the fact that we’re just more efficient and we’re utilizing the equipment as best we can and not renting.

 

Why is it so important to give back to first responders, veterans and skilled tradespeople?

French Jr.: Without our veterans, this country does not exist. Without our first responders, we do not live in an environment that we all can appreciate. We strive a little bit harder to show our patriotism and our respect for law enforcement and first responders and veterans alike. It’s something that my father and my mother instilled in the three of us, and we’ve done with our children.

French: When we established our foundation [in 2020], it was to focus on the core of our community. It’s first responders, veterans, and the trades. Focusing on developing the workforce and the next generation is a huge push.

 

What was it like to be on the National Convoy route for Wreaths Across America to Arlington National Cemetery?

French: We started the location in Billerica for Wreaths Across America so to have this stop here with the founders of the program, there was Gold Star families and wives, it was a special day for the company, for the town, for our family. It was a huge honor and speaks directly towards everything that we stand for, thanking veterans, honoring them, the holidays. It was a mesh of the business, our town, our family, and our values, all in one day.

 

You legally took over the business from your father in 2014, what is your succession plan for the third generation?

French: We are constantly planning, reviewing, and planning again for the future. It was a complicated process in that it was hard for our father to step aside from something he had built; it was hard for everyone. But ultimately when you have the business' best interest at the forefront, you can get through it. Having difficult conversations early and often is necessary in a family business, and ensuring its continuation is something that is part of it. As we look to the future, we are optimistic that one of the seven children from generation three will have the drive to be at the helm–we had the opportunity of learning at a much smaller scale. But we are watching, waiting, and seeing what drives them and where they want to be. The future looks bright.

French Jr.: It’s a tough business. We’re trying to guide them the right way, and at the same time, let them know that there’s a legacy that we’re building here for them and hopefully for them and the future of the company. There's a tremendous opportunity for them all. I just want them to really want to be here. I just don’t want them to feel like it’s something they have to do. … I think that to some, in some aspect, I’ll always keep doing this. At some level, I’ll always be involved.

French: We know all the things that we can improve on and be better at. And that opportunity is what continues to drive us and motivate us that we’re not done being good.