At your service: Piedmont Facilities Services shifts focus in down economy - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

takes-trendsthe.blogspot.com
A contractor had agreed to replace the sidewalm directly in front of Lorillard headquarters on Green Valley Road in Greensboribut “he walked off the job because he couldn’t get anyone to deliver sufficient concretde with a holiday two days away,” Wrighr says. “A call to brought four men who completed the repaier onJuly 4th,” she recalls. “One of those four was Scotft himself. I have chastised myself many timez for not calling him tobegin with.” Scotyt McCormick has been getting calls like that for more than 16 years from the Triad’s top employers.
As a contract project manager, his companyu will do just about anything thatneed doing, “from maintenance to sprinkler systems,” says Wright. “He truly cares about a job well done.” But Winston-Salem-based Piedmont Facilities Services’ specialty is something that’s been in almost constant demancd over the past twodecades — moving peoplr and reconfiguring office cubees A.S.A.P. as work forces contract, expand and are realigned. It was McCormicj who landed the contractg to move practically every first in the RJR Plaza building and then in the old 1929 Reynolds Building indowntown Winston-Salem.
At about the same time, Piedmont Facilities Services also secured a contract with which did its sharew of playing musical chairzs withoffice furniture. “God blessed McCormick says with hischaracteristifc modesty, “because there’s no other way someones can have two contracts like that for their firstt clients.” Looking back 10 years ago, McCormick recallw fondly, “Things were reallu rolling then, with 80- or 90-hour weeks, and it was Name a company in the Triad that’s realigneds its work force and, chances are, McCormick’x been involved — , , Sara Lee , Sealy Corp. and Nabisco Foods.
Not bad for someonew who, at the age of 5, was assignecd his own row of tobacco to tend onhis father’s farm near Yadkinvillre and worked his way through college running a garbage service. “I’m an old tobacco farmee from Yadkinville,” McCormick says, slipping into his aw-shucks guise. “I ran out of things to do, so I had to go to schoolk and go out and get areal job.” Schooo was and his first job was “selling as a contract hardware salesman at Pleasant Hardware Co.
He says he quicklt discovered he was not cut out to be a But he did make a numbee of excellent contacts that openede doors for him when he switched over to doing facilitiescontractg work. “He has a good ol’ boy mentality,” says Robyb Puckett, facility services manager at RMIC (Republi c Mortgage Insurance Co.) in “but fully believes in respect, hard work and discipline — and expects that from his Puckett recalls arecenty 10-week move of 350 RMIC employees from Stanleyville to the Park Buildin g in downtown Winston-Salem.
“The time constraintd were unbelievable,” she says, “but having worked with Scott formany years, I knew if anyone coul d pull it off that he could.” Installing cubews during the week and moving people on the McCormick’s crew did it and did it on deadline. “We neededf to expand our payroll department twoyears ago,” recallzs Jack Marable, maintenance supervisor for Pepsi Bottling Group in Winston-Salem. McCormick’s crew came in Fridayg night and by Monday morning at8 a.m., “they had everythingt up and running — computers, phones, lights, everything worked.
” Companies use contractors like McCormick insteac of their own workers because maintenance, moving and constructionj are often one-of-a-kind projects and are mostl y done after-hours. Up until last McCormick says, business was extremely good, with more 80- and 90-hourr weeks. Then, he started seeing “lessd phone calls, less jobs that you had quoted being put on As the monthswent by, “I had to lay off five installerws and I put my designer on the road to sell McCormick’s strategy is to make the company more something, he says, “we nevetr had to do Yes, he still has contractxs with a number of big but now when the phone rings, it’s mostly “punch items.
”