Jun 25, 2021 4 min read

Alex E. Paris arrived in America more than a century ago, following a tedious, mind-bending journey across the Atlantic. He was a 13-year-old from northern Italy, possessor of a ticket to the States that his older brother owned, but could not use after being drafted into the Italian army.

Despite his youth and vulnerability, Alex traveled alone and settled into Avella, where a relative resided. Vulnerability ultimately became a lifestyle for him when he got a job in the local coal mines, where the work was dirty and dangerous – and would lead to an unexpected peril.

In 1922, he was among striking union miners who marched in protest of non-union workers assuming their jobs at the mine in Cliftonville, W.Va., four miles to the west. Shots were fired and the Brooke County sheriff and 12 others died. Alex was unscathed.

Six years later, he launched a construction company from his home in the Cedar Grove section of Avella – and moved it to nearby Atlasburg about a decade after that. Alex displayed a bounty of resilience in western Washington County, and so has Alex E. Paris Contracting Co.

“This company has survived the Depression, multiple wars, down times and the pandemic, and we’ve done that by being flexible or agile,” said E. Alex Paris III, grandson of the founder and current president and CEO of the 93-year-old business along Route 18.

“We may have had luck or foresight, or a combination of a lot of things, but we’ve been really flexible. We try to be fairly diverse with the work we do and make it relative to this area.”

Diverse, indeed. Grandfather’s business was known initially for tackling Works Progress Alliance projects during the Depression, before realizing success in the coal and coal mining industries. Emanuel, he founder’s son, took over in the late 1950s and transitioned the company into primarily an underground utilities operation.

Emanuel was in charge until his death in 1989. The younger Alex and his brother, Tim, now own the contracting firm and its environmental services spinoff, EAP Industries. Both entities remain flexible and agile.

“We do various types of construction – underground utilities, energy-related work, some industrial work,” said Alex, 61. “We look long term at everything we do. My dad used to say, ‘No matter what size the contractor is, you are only a couple of bad jobs from financial trouble.'”

Financial difficulties, as many companies and businesses have found, could be only one pandemic away. “Like a lot of companies, we struggled in 2020,” he said. “Volume dropped 40%. We did everything we could to come up with work for our people. But we’re doing OK now.”

Paris said the contracting firm has a workforce of about 450, while EAP Industries has an estimated payroll of 70. These are fourth-generation businesses that include his son, project manager Emanuel Paris, and nephew Alexander, a supervisor. 

“We have a lot of multi-generational employees here, including some fathers and sons working,” Alex said. “We have no multi-generational women employees, but I’m sure we will.

“One thing I attribute our longevity to is we’ve tried to surround ourselves with the best people around. And we think we’ve always tried to treat employees very fairly.

“Another thing the company has done is stayed involved in the community,” said Paris, a member of the Washington Health System board. 

Since the early 2000s, the oil and gas industry has been one of Paris Contracting’s calling cards. Although the Marcellus and Utica shale plays have experienced downturns nationally, there are signs of a revival, which would provide a second boost to the company. The first occurred at an opportune time – during the Great Recession.

“When the Marcellus Shale was getting started,” Paris recalled, “we were doing a fair number of public works projects. That fell apart when the economy fell apart in 2008. There was not a lot of public works money, but we had already transitioned to energy services work.”

Once more, flexibility and agility carried the day.

Jeff Kotula is familiar with, and impressed by, Paris Contracting’s ability to adapt. The Washington County Chamber of Commerce president said in a statement: “You would be hard pressed to find a regional construction or infrastructure project that Alex and his company have not been involved in in some manner.

“His success in areas such as buildings, developments and the energy sector have provided both a foundation to build on the company his grandfather started, as well as a platform to seek new opportunities or growth.”

That is quite the foundation a once-innocent kid from Italy set nearly a century ago.