The surveyor: W.M. “Mearl” Meekins Jr.
we wanted to understand not only how many jobs were involved in the construction of a house, but how the current economic slowdown has affected those workers.
One of the steps includes the surveyor. So we visited W.M. “Mearl” Meekins Jr., owner of W.M. Meekins Jr. & Associates Inc.
Meekins opened his surveying business in 1976, operating from his home in Manteo. In 1980 he bought a small office building to house his operation, sharing it with his brother’s insurance business. For 27 years he worked from this office, until he “sensed a tailspin” in the local economy.
By 2007, he had sold his share of the office building to his brother and rented space from him. By 2009 he was back to operating out of his home office, “right back where I started 34 years ago.”
Meekins estimates he has surveyed more than 19,000 lots over the past 34 years. He weathered local real estate downturns in the 1980s and the early 90s. This one is different, Meekins said.
“In the prior downturns, I didn’t have a backlog of work, but I had enough work to do every day and more waiting the next day.” Now, he says he is blessed to get one survey a week, and two jobs a week is “fortunate.” Recently he said he had three jobs in one week for the first time since last August.
During the boom years of the 80s, his job load was as high as four to seven lots a day. In the most recent boom from 2000 to 2005, he was still averaging three to four surveys each day. Backlogs were common.
Unlike many of his competitors “who scaled up to 50 employees and then had to lay off 75 percent of them,” Meekins kept his company small, restricting it to about seven employees.
“There was myself, an office worker, a draftsman or computer operator, and two or three field surveyors,” he said.
Keeping it small is what allowed Meekins to survive previous down cycles. For this recession, even seven was too many. His company now consists of himself and one “field man” who works part time. His computer person has gone back to college, and Meekins scans information to him via the Internet, and the student sends the computer generated surveys back to him — another part-time job. In fact, Meekins says, “I’m a part timer myself.”
When will things get better? “We operate in this county on confidence. Even if times are good, if the public lacks confidence, they won’t spend the money” required to buy and build new homes.
It is startling to look at a company that has operated for 34 years in our economy finding itself in the same place in 2010 as it was in 1976 when it began. It is a sign that even conservatively run companies with a long history have been taken by surprise in the current economy.