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Dennis Purinton of Purinton Builders, Inc. in East Granby, Conn., has built a successful foundation, site work and waterproofing business by taking advantage of opportunities to expand his company and implement new technologies to improve quality and efficiency on the work site. Always one to stay on the industry's cutting edge and share his knowledge and experiences with other contractors, his work and commitment haven't gone unnoticed - the Concrete Foundations Association (CFA) named him the 2007 Contractor of the Year. The honor is much appreciated by Purinton, who credits the CFA with introducing him to the technologies he has used to improve his business.

"I used to think I couldn't afford to take time off from work to attend association events, but I've learned that I can't afford to not go," Purinton says. "Because of the things you can learn, I think anyone could make more money in the long run attending one seminar at the CFA summer meeting than they could if they stayed at home and worked."

Success through expansion
Purinton started out in the construction business in 1979 as co-owner of a general contracting company. As a G.C., Purinton had trouble finding someone to do foundations for him on time at the level of quality he wanted. Realizing this need in the area, Purinton broke off from his former partner in 1984, bought a set of forms and started Purinton Builders, Inc.

A few years later, frustrated by the difficulty of getting a basement dug on time and properly, Purinton added site work to his lineup of services. Not long after that, Purinton further expanded his business by adding waterproofing services. "We were doing our own site work and foundations, and there was a little niche in the middle that I didn't control. I wanted to take control of the scheduling," Purinton says, "and there was the added money source that waterproofing offered."

Purinton says that being able to control the scheduling as the site work, foundation and waterproofing contractor, he can get a job done a couple of days quicker than if he were just the foundation contractor. This saves his customers time and money in the long run, and saves Purinton the headaches that can often accompany trying to coordinate schedules of several subcontractors. "There are a lot of times when we take on a project and have been hired to do only one aspect, but in the end we pick up the other areas too," he says.