KINGSTON, NY – Saugerties-based construction company Jay Mullen & Sons is the 2022 Ulster County Business of the Year Award winner.
It is among eight businesses, business leaders and organizations honored during the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Business Recognition Awards Celebration Dinner at Wiltwick Golf Club, 404 Steward Lane, Kingston, on Thursday, October 27, from 5 p.m. 30 pm
Other honorees include Pecamoz Restaurant and Tap Room as Small Business of the Year; CB Developers Charles Blechman and Hotel Kinsley Business Person of the Year; Rail Explorers as Tourism Business of the Year; Catholic Charities of Orange, Sullivan and Ulster Counties Commitment to Community Award. Heritage Award goes to Scanlon Dry Cleaners; Ulster County Archivist Taylor Brooke was named an Emerging Young Leader and the Len Cane Heart of Ulster County Award will be presented by HITS’ Tom Struzzieri.
“It’s very humbling and I feel very blessed,” said owner John Mullen.
He recalled that when he started his career in 1982, he worked as a chimney sweep, chopping firewood and working as a union mason on the side when business was slow.
The business now employs about 110 people, including 20-30 union carpenters and five to six mechanics, who keep 140-150 trucks on the road, he said.
He said the organization has worked on construction projects with Vassar College, BOCES, the Culinary Institute of America and Marst College, where it has been doing projects for the past 25 to 30 years. Taking on major projects.
Mullen said the company is working with Central Hudson on a five-year project to replace the company’s natural gas in communities in the Hudson Valley, as well as an increasing number of sites for the utility’s electric 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, and many have been with the company for 20 to 30 years, he said.
He said they include building Home Depot and Lowe’s stores in the region, and masonry restoration projects on historic homes, including the Mills Mansion and Glasco Ponds in Saugertys.
Mullen’s wife, Peggy Mullen, is a third-grade teacher at Riccardi Elementary School in Saugerties. The couple has six children. Two of Mullen’s sons, Johnny Jr. and Sean, work as foremen at the company.
He said his 14-year-old grandson, Jack Mullen, is also learning the trade under close supervision.
Mullen is not afraid of failure. “I’ve failed so many times and realized I don’t want to make that mistake again,” he said. “You must go on now.”
A press release said: “The awards recognize Ulster County businesses that are leaders in their sector, achieve excellence, or demonstrate dedication and commitment to improving the quality of business and life in Ulster County.
For more information or tickets visit https://www.ulsterchamber.org/business-recognition-awards-dinner/.
