KINGSTON, N.Y. — Saugerties-based architecture firm Jay Mullen & Sons has received the 2022 Ulster County Business of the Year Award.
Eight businesses, business leaders and organizations will be honored at the Ulster County Area Chamber of Commerce Business Recognition Awards Gala Dinner on Thursday, October 10 at the Wiltwyck Golf Club at 404 Steward Lane in Kingston. Starts at 5:30 pm on the 27th
Other winners include Peekamoose Restaurant and Tap Room Small Business of the Year; CB Developers and Hotel Kinsley’s Charles Blaichman named Business Person of the Year; Rail Explorers named Tourism Business of the Year; Orange County, Sullivan County and Ulster County’s Catholic Charities Award for Commitment to Community. Legacy Award to Scanlon Dry Cleaners; Ulster County Archivist Tyler Brook named Emerging Youth Leader, Ulster County’s Len Cane Heart Award to Tom Struzzieri of HITS.
“It’s very humbling and I feel very lucky,” owner John Mullen said.
Mullen recalls that when he started his business in 1982, he started out doing small things like chimneys, chopping wood and part-time union bricklayers when business was down.
Now the company has grown to employ about 110 people, including 20 to 30 unionized carpenters and laborers, and five to six mechanics, with a fleet of 140 to 150 trucks, he said.
He said he has worked on construction projects with Vassar College, BOCES, the Culinary Institute of America, and Marist College, where his firm has been completing projects for the past 25 to 30 years, again from doing small things like pavers and refinishing work. At the beginning, and later to undertake major projects.
Mullen said the company is working with Central Hudson on a five-year project to replace the company’s natural gas mains in Hudson Valley communities, while doing more and more field work for the utility’s power division. The company is now working on a similar replacement with utility National Grid as far west as Syracuse, he added.
Still, 90 percent of the company’s employees live in Ulster County, many of whom have been with the company for 20 to 30 years, he said.
Other projects include the construction of Home Depot and Lowe’s stores in the area, as well as masonry restoration projects in historic homes, including Mills Mansion and Glasco Ponds in Saugerties, he said.
Mullen’s wife Peggy Mullen is a third grade teacher at Riccardi Primary School in Saugerties. The couple has six children. Mullen’s two sons, Johnny Jr. Sean works as a foreman in the company.
His 14-year-old grandson, Jack Mullen, is also learning to trade under close supervision, he said.
Mullen said he is not afraid of failure. “I failed so many times without realizing I didn’t want to make that mistake again,” he said. “You just have to keep going.”
A press release said: “The award recognizes Ulster County businesses that are leaders in their industry, achieve outstanding results, or demonstrate dedication to advancing Ulster County’s business and quality of life. and promises.”
For more information or tickets, visit https://www.ulsterchamber.org/business-recognition-awards-dinner/.
