Sewer Improvement Project in Framingham
Reconstructing a sewer system is not simple but necessary in an area like Framingham that has seen explosive population growth over the last few years.

For P. Gioioso & Sons, the stimulus-funded project represents work for a 50 year old three generation company that was struggling to survive this most recent recession.

"Last year was one of our worst years," says Gino Gioioso, one of the owners of the company, which is the general contractor on the Framingham sewer improvement project. The company is now doing work on four stimulus-funded projects, for which, says Gioioso, it is employing over 30 people.

"Stimulus projects are a big part of our business right now," says Gioioso.

The company is certainly doing a lot in Framingham, where the three-year project

Worker on Sewer Improvement Project in Framingham
involves reconstructing a three-mile stretch of the sewer system, which will allow for the elimination of three existing pumping stations and the development of a larger one. "Everything will be fed to that and then will be pumped to the MWRA," says Chris Eastman, the field officer for the project with Green International.

Eastman explains that the sewer improvements are necessary because as the town grew, the original sewer was too high to use and the town had to maintain several pumping stations.

A year ago, Eastman says he was delivering pizzas because he couldn't find work in his field. He had graduated college the year before into a job market that had imploded with the recession. His ARRA-funded job put him back on his

Jeffrey Simon and Chris Eastman
career track.

According to Gioioso, nearly 18 people are employed on the Framingham project. Among the company's other stimulus funded projects are a sewer system extension project in Wareham; the Wachusett reservoir sewer project in Worcester; and, water system improvements in Spencer.

"If we didn't have these stimulus-funded jobs, we wouldn't be doing too much," he says.