In recent years, Sweeney says, the companies have enjoyed 15 to 20 percent annual growth, which he describes as slow and steady. This has been due to their bonding capability on projects such as landfills, road and earth work. “We’ve been pretty competitive in those kinds of fields,” he states.

Recent projects for the companies have included the reconstruction of Interchange 17 for NYSTA in Newburgh, N.Y. When completed, Sweeney says, the interchange will tie together the New York State Thruway and U.S. Route 84.

The project, which started construction in March 2007, has a budget exceeding $66 million and includes the construction of six bridges, earthwork embankment construction, precast concrete retaining walls, concrete and asphalt pavement, and wetlands construction. Sweeney notes that the project is expected to be completed in September 2009.

B. Anthony and A. Servidone are preparing for a landfill project in East Brunswick, N.J., for the Middlesex County Utilities Authority. The project has a budget of $74 million and will see the construction of three new cells. At the moment, “They’re waiting for some permits [from] the EPA,” Sweeney says.

As they wait, both companies have started stockpiling and organizing their materials. “We’ve been trying to take advantage of this lull and get things done,” Sweeney says.

A past project he highlights is the Palisades Center mall in Nanuet, N.Y. A. Servidone and B. Anthony completed site preparation work on the project in 1998, which included excavation for the building and its parking lots, landfill remediation, as well as rock removal along the NYSTA Thruway, and all the road widening work and bridges along state right-of-ways for its entrances. “We did probably $40 million-plus of private work up there,” he says.
 
Being There
Like so many construction firms, Sweeney says A. Servidone and B. Anthony are feeling the effects of the labor shortage. He notes that the companies’ core groups of employees have more than 20 years of tenure, and carry an average age range of 40 to 50. “We’re trying to bring in new blood,” Sweeney explains. He adds that both companies have strived to recruit younger workers by attending seminars and job fairs.

However, Sweeney does not anticipate a shortage of work in A. Servidone and B. Anthony’s futures. Instead, “We’re in a business industry that everybody’s talking about in the news – ‘the crumbling infrastructure,’” he says.

Despite difficulties with state funding, “The work’s always going to be there,” Sweeney concludes. “Something always has to happen.”