By Cathy Terwedow
What do you do when you run successful tree, trucking, landscaping, and excavation businesses, and it rains for days on end? Or two feet of snow drops in 24 hours, followed by a mud season that never seems to end? Easy! If you’re Gerry and Tyler Cormier, you start yet another business: Cormier Country Storage.
Gerry was born and bred in Becket. He attended all the local schools: Becket Washington Elementary (BWS), Nessacus Middle, and Wahconah High. Growing up on his father’s property, he learned to cut trees, operate heavy equipment, landscape, and create fishponds from a very young age.
As a young adult Gerry bought a truck and started Cormier Trucking, growing the business from one truck to seven and taking on drivers to deliver precast Unistress concrete (and other items) throughout New England.
In 2001 Gerry’s entrepreneurial spirit kicked in when he realized he could earn money doing what he loved: landscaping. Thus were Cormier Tree Service and Cormier Landscaping born. Brother Randy, who tended the books for 20 years, left a year ago. Word of mouth spread, and Gerry’s businesses grew. Now thirteen trucks strong and operating out of a renovated sawmill near BWS, Cormier businesses are growing again.
Gerry’s son, 22-year-old Tyler, has joined his father as a partner. Having majored in forestry at Smith Vocational, Tyler says he was born for this work, and dad agrees. “Tyler is more than ready to step in. I trust him to handle anything in the field. He’s bright and ambitious, my right-hand man,” said Gerry.
As for the new business, Gerry likes the stable income of storage. “So much of our business is driven by weather. Too much snow, not enough sleep. Too little snow, not enough income. Ditto for rain. We lease to the state, plowing Routes 20, 112, and 23 from Worthington to Westfield and Russell to Blandford. We excavate, mow, grade roads, build retaining walls, design patios and decks; you name it. But we’re always praying for good weather.”
The ability to sell, rent, and store a wide range of containers and dumpsters should smooth the Cormier income curve, enabling Gerry to dream of beach vacations funded by steady, non-weather-dependent rentals. The new business is pending Planning Board approval.
