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The economy’s not just in a downturn. It’s in transition. The rules of the game are changing, industries are transforming, and many jobs don’t feel so secure anymore. This spring, WPLN’s Kim Green is collecting stories of Tennesseans who are learning to survive and adapt to an uncertain marketplace, and an economy in flux.

If you have a story of transition, tell us about it. We may post some of your experiences on our website or use them on the air. Send your emails to [email protected]

No More McMansions

Winter and Richie finish a closet

Every day Alec Winter and his brother, who’s also his partner in a small contracting business, drive almost two hours from Smithville to Nashville, because that’s where the building jobs are.

They never did the kind of work that’s been hardest hit by the housing downturn—building giant McMansions on spec. They only have one employee, they don’t sub jobs out, and they like to do things the old-fashioned way: getting creative with found materials and keeping a small base of loyal repeat customers.

Alec Winter, his brother Craig, and his employee Richie can build a house top-to-bottom, from putting in a foundation to doing detailed finish carpentry, and everything in between. During the boom he did a lot of big restoration projects that might take more than a year for a single job. Now he’s spending more time than ever bidding small jobs. “That has put a strain on us,” he says. “Trying to string together three or four jobs in one week. Definitely nobody’s spending the money that they used to.”

Winter’s drill bit box

Survival Mode

Winter’s a whiz with a #2 pencil

Winter says when he started his own business, he didn’t realize how hard it would be to make a decent profit from an honest day’s work. He says he’s worried about the future for small tradesmen like him.

“Because I would like to teach my son to be a quality woodworker,” he says. “And as long as he did right, as I did, he could carry on and do just fine and it would be up to him to work hard or not. Right now, I don’t know if I can tell you that that’s a smart thing to do.

“This winter was the hardest,” he says. The money he built up to see the business through the slower months didn’t last. When the business account dips towards red, Winter says it’s time to shut down and stop spending money.

“That’s the time when you should plant a garden and eat meat out of the deep freeze that you put up last fall,” he says. “Don’t go to the grocery store. Don’t go joy riding. Survival mode. That’s what’s got us through.”

“I’ve never been too proud to do a job.”

“I have less hair than I did last year.” -Winter.

Winter maintains a way of life that recalls simpler times and traditions. When he’s working, he computes angles and measurements on the fly, without a calculator. He says his high school math teacher taught him “older ways of doing things.”

“I’m good with a number two pencil and some graph paper, but that’s about as technical as I go,” he says. “I do not own a credit card, I’m not good on a computer, and, like, right now, you’re talking to me out in the woods and we can’t be reached by cell phone. And I’m tickled to death about it.”

Although Winter needs Nashville’s economy to keep him working, he knows if times get even leaner, he can always keep his truck parked back home, in Smithville. He and his brother know how to stake and hand tobacco, put up hay, plow fields, and tie up trees at his father-in-law’s tree nursery.

“That’s enough to put groceries on the table,” he says. “And maybe things will come around next spring. This spring was worse than last spring, and worse than the spring before, but we can still find things to do. I’ve never been too proud to do a job.

“It gets really hard sometimes,” he smiles. “But the best thing is just to not get too overexcited. Because that’s what makes you an old man fast.”

If you have a story of transition, tell us about it. We may post some of your experiences on our website or use them on the air. Send your emails to [email protected]

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