Texas Businesses Take a Hit from Recent Rains

Towing services seem to be one of the few types of businesses in town that have seen an upswing in their business in north Texas these past wet weeks. Many other local businesses, from lawn care services to building subcontractors, are facing slow days and backed up schedules.

Brad Willmott hasn’t been able to work for two weeks. He and his brother run C&W Construction and are about three to four weeks behind schedule.

“I’ve been working on a job in Whitt with one of the machines for two or three months on a two-week job,” Willmott said. “I’ve been rained out more in the last month than in the last three years.”

Willmott estimated the rain is costing his business from $10,000 to $15,000 a week because he still has to pay his bills while the bulldozers that ought to be bringing in around $7,000 a week aren’t making money.

Until the rain clears out, Willmott isn’t hiring, and he’s spending as little as possible.

“The rain has really hurt us,” said David Beninati who runs Beninati Building Company. His company can’t start building houses or even finish the ones they’ve started until the rain clears out.

Beninati estimates they are a month behind, as well.

“Our bills don’t stop, our contracts don’t stop,” Beninati said. He does expect to be able to make up for lost work time once the weather clears.

“We’re a stronger company in the community. A lot of the of the small building companies, a lot of the subcontractors who live paycheck to paycheck, really don’t have the room to catch up,” Beninati said. “They are trying to work between the rain, and we are trying to pay them a little ahead of the game.”

Even after the rain stops, Beninati expects it could take up to a week for the ground to dry out enough to begin working again.

Beninati said they’ve had to come up with some creative ways to keep employees working during the rainy days. He said they’ve cleaned their office twice, arranged for new displays, and even cleaned the job sites.

Magic Touch Car Wash General Manager Mark Thursgon said he’s been in the car wash business for 20 years and it’s the worst he’s ever seen it as far as numbers and days of rain.

Even the Lube center, Thursgon said, though it’s open, isn’t seeing much business because people traditionally don’t bring their cars in when it’s raining.

Some businesses are seeing an increase in customers as a result of the rain, but haven’t been able to do the work.

Teasha Dobkins of Bronco Roofing and Construction said the rain is good for the roofing business, but it’s put them in a Catch-22.

Roofers are getting new customers who’ve just discovered they need roof work. However, they can’t fix them in the rain.

Dobkins said Bronco employees have been handling the situation by going from area to area when there’s a dry interlude.

“[The rain] has put us between a rock and a hard spot,” said Connie Borgeson of First Class Pest & Termite.

The wet weather has provided breeding grounds for mosquitoes and driven the fire ants into homes, but pest control can’t do much except try to keep them out of the house. Outside treatment is ineffective during wet weather, Borgeson explained.

So for now, people may call and they’ll do what they can, but their calendar is backed up until the rain stops.