Lawrence Anderson has operated his business in tandem with the ebbs and flows of the pandemic. When the city was dealing with high COVID-19 rates, lockdowns and stay at home orders coupled with cold winters, Anderson, owner of Expert Painting TBay, found himself shut out of many home improvement business opportunities. Now that the weather is starting to warm, restrictions are easing and cases are dropping, Anderson says projects for him and his staff are coming in right, left and centre.
“There’s been a lot of change of pace,” he says. “This winter was particularly bad with people being afraid to let us into our homes. Now that we’re able to work outside and it’s safer, we’ve definitely seen a demand in people wanting renos or improvements done to their homes. Everyone’s been at home and they have more disposable income, so they’re wanting to make use of that.”
Expert Painting Tbay provides a variety of interior and exterior services from hanging drywall to finishing to painting. Anderson, who started his business 12 years ago, says one of his favourite things about what he does is seeing a project go from start to finish.
“We really care about what we do in people's homes. We want them to be happy at the end of the day, so we go the extra mile to make sure everything is just the way they want it,” he says. “We work closely with our clients and we’re not stopping until they are happy.”
Anderson, who has a small handful of staff, adds that while the pandemic was difficult for stints during colder months, he tried his best to ensure that his employees weren’t out of work. Luckily, he says, he was able to find them projects through Thunder Bay Multi Trades, noting that he has collaborated with the company in the past.
Generally, given the fact that he is a smaller operation, he was able to find his staff other jobs and he didn’t have a storefront that required him to pay rent throughout the pandemic, Anderson considers himself lucky. But that doesn’t mean that he’s not looking to grow. In the future, he hopes to move beyond homes, focus on commercial projects and guarantee that those who work under the Expert Painting Tbay name have secure, full-time employment.
