Lloyd Hutchins’ father started Hutchins Roofing and Sheet Metal in November 1946. The Barre business on West 2nd Street has been run by various family members over the years and has hit more than one rough patch.
Lloyd says at one point in 1992 his brother tossed him the keys and said, “If you can save the business, it’s yours.”
Lloyd took him up on it. He and his wife Nancy have been in charge ever since.
Lloyd Hutchins in his office at Hutchins Roofing and Sheet Metal.
Lloyd is 86 years old now. These days Hutchins Roofing and Sheet Metal focuses on high end residential work. Lloyd’s nephews run the day-to-day operations.
“I enjoy what I do. I’ve always enjoyed it,” he says.
Lloyd loves his business, his family, and Barre. Give Lloyd a chance and he’ll tell you about how he’s a 6th generation Vermonter, Governor Scott’s aunt used to work for him, he helped his friend Ken Squier build Thunder Road as a volunteer laborer, and he never saw a flash flood until Monday, July 10, 2023.
It’s like the Stevens Branch was made to flood this land. Hutchins Roofing and Sheet Metal is surrounded by the river on three sides.
Remember that viral video of a Frito Lay truck swept up by the flood, cruising down the river, and slamming into an overpass? Lloyd says it wound up here at Hutchins Roofing and Sheet Metal. They found the body of the truck in the yard and the chassis upside down nearby in the river.
The Stevens Branch on the other side of 2nd Street across from Hutchins' office.
Tropical Storm Irene sent water through here in 2011. Since then, protocol calls for the company’s fleet of five trucks and four trailers to move to Lloyd and Nancy’s home in East Barre when there is the threat of a flood. They took that step Friday, July 7. Still, they didn’t expect the devastation that followed.
Some of the fleet Hutchins moved to East Barre.
Lloyd and Nancy came to work on July 10. Monday is payroll day so they had some office work to do. They saw the water rising across the street. When it looked like it might jump the bank, they decided to leave. Lloyd says by the time they got into their truck water was across the road. They made it home safely and waited out the storm.
A picture of the office from the bank of the Stevens Branch.
The next day Lloyd said their nephews called and said, “Don’t come. The place is trashed.” He says one of them asked, “Uncle, what do you want to do? Want to close it up and walk away?”
Lloyd said he didn’t even consider that, “I plan to retire at 90, so I said guess we better clean it up. I’m a hardheaded old Vermonter.”
Summer and fall are busy times in the roofing business. Lloyd says just before the flood he ordered $196,000 in inventory. It all washed away.
Now instead of paying his crew to roof, he was paying them to rehab equipment and clean out the 13,000 square foot building and the yard. Lloyd says he probably spent $20,000 just salvaging equipment, including the machines in the metal bending room. Lloyd’s nephew Tim says the metal bending room is the most valuable room on the property.
The Metal Bending Room at Hutchins Roofing and Sheet Metal.
“We lost a lot of records and office furniture, inventory. When I figured out initial damages, it was about $450,000,” says Lloyd.
So, he started looking for help. They received an insurance payout and about $2,000 in local grants. The Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation helped him apply to the Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program (BEGAP) run by the Vermont Department of Economic Development. Hutchins Roofing and Sheet Metal received a $48,000 BEGAP grant.
“I felt it (BEGAP) covered my cleanup to get in here,” Lloyd says referring to the office building where the water reached 30 inches high. “I’ve spent $33,000 or $34,000 total. I put a new heat system in here. That’s what it meant to me.”
In January, he’s planning to install new drywall, flooring, and insulation.
Despite the extra work, Lloyd wants to remain at the helm of Hutchins Roofing and Sheet Metal. Just during this conversation, he pushed out his retirement even further. Laughing he said, “Maybe now that I’ve had to invest more money, I might have to work until 96”.