By Lisa Carolin
Despite all the hardships that the pandemic has dealt the nation’s economy, some businesses are thriving.
One such company is P.C. Johnson Construction in Chelsea, which not only celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2020, it was also the busiest year owner Paul Johnson can remember.
“After we were allowed to get back to work, our phones rang off the hook,” said Johnson. “I’ve never seen the demand for our services like this since the early 2000s. We are working six days a week to keep our old customers happy, and still adding new customers as well.”
Johnson says the future is bright in the construction industry, and warns that there is a shortage of young people going into the trades.
“I really encourage kids that are not afraid of work to get involved in one of the ‘trades’,” said Johnson. “The average ‘trades’ person’s age is in the mid to late 50s, so as they retire the demand will go up, along with their wages, which are already quite attractive.”
As far as what it takes to reach 30 years in business, Johnson attributes it to believing strongly in the Golden Rule.
“My Dad was a founding pastor of a church in Ann Arbor, and we were taught that you will get back in proportion of what you give with your life,” said Johnson. “So, I treat every job as though I was working on my own house and make suggestions accordingly.”
He grew up in Ann Arbor and took the Ann Arbor Building Trades class at Pioneer High School during his senior year and helped build a home from the ground up. Right after high school, Johnson’s dad asked if he would be interested in building him a home, and Johnson jumped on the opportunity.
After that experience, he got a job with Michigan Building Company for 12 years, the last seven years as their lead carpenter.
It was in 1990 at age 30 that he started P.C. Johnson Construction.
“We specialize in historic home renovations,” said Johnson. “We personally bought the original Heim homestead on Heim Road and have totally restored it. We also bought, with my youngest son, Caleb, an abandoned ‘tear down’ home in Chelsea that we have been restoring for the last three years, whenever we get a free day, here and there. But we also do many kitchen and bath remodels, along with additions, and also many basement finishing jobs in the winter time.”
As far as working in the Chelsea area, Johnson says he loves it.
“Since we moved here 33 years ago, most of our customers have become friends, and most of our friends have become customers. It’s great to drive by homes all around town and see the work that our company has done.”
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