The Great Recession proved a bitter pill for Dunmanway native Jer McCarthy. An architecture graduate from Cork Institute of Technology (now Munster Technological University), McCarthy was happily employed locally in the construction sector at the time while also enjoying a successful inter-county hurling career.
When the bust hit as of 2008, construction collapsed, he was put on a three-day week and, with no prospect of an early recovery, emigration seemed the only viable option.
“I remember an old-timer in the business who had seen this before and he told me the knock-on effects would last many years. I was a homebird then and it tore my heart out to go at the time, but I’ve not looked back since.”
While McCarthy and his then-girlfriend, now wife Linda, had planned initially to go to Australia, his New York-based brother convinced him to stop off in the Big Apple for a few months to see whether they liked it. They moved in 2011, with a job lined up that played to his AutoCAD skills at a specialist high-end scaffolding company run by fellow Cork natives.
“It was one of a handful of companies in the city working on very advanced projects. Shortly after I arrived, the firm won a $10 million contract at the United Nations headquarters, and I was getting credentials to walk on to the site as a project manager. I remember being in the General Assembly Hall looking at the gold walls and being warned that, ‘if you damage these, you are in big trouble’.”
There was tough times, but within three years we had over 100 employees and up to $30 million in revenue. It was straight in at the deep end
The work proved exciting and the city captivating, and the couple quickly decided they could make their life there.
“I got to work on some outrageous projects, and I got to see how corporate America worked from then on. I was always competitive from my GAA background, and it helped in this industry where we had to compete hard and win projects. I migrated into sales to help the company win work.”
Fewer St Patrick’s Day fairytales in New York for today’s ‘undocumented’ Irish
The business was acquired by larger entities in successive acquisitions. With the founders having exited, McCarthy said he considered moving on as he didn’t particularly enjoy being part of a large corporate entity.
In what proved perfect timing, a veteran figure from the construction industry approached him in 2018 about setting up a new project, McCarthy jumped aboard without hesitation, and Platform Solutions was formed. Initially chief operating officer, he is now chief executive of the firm.
“When we started, we didn’t have a piece of scaffold or a truck to deliver it in. We went out and sourced real estate and convinced people. We ended up recruiting a lot of people from my first company. A lot of the guys were not keen to be in that corporate world either.
“We were able to enter [the market] at a very high level. We set up Platform Solutions and scaled rapidly. There was a big appetite with the big developers and general contractors in NYC. They could see our pedigree and the financial backing that had been put in place.”
The firm proved successful and managed to navigate the challenges of Covid-19 when property investment dried up.
“There was tough times, but within three years we had over 100 employees and up to $30 million in revenue. It was straight in at the deep end. There were some days when I don’t remember eating or sleeping.”
McCarthy says now is a good time to be involved in construction in New York, with the city set for a period of unprecedented growth over the next 10 years.
“There’s a massive appetite to develop now and a lot of districts of the city that are antiquated. There’s a number of casinos planned, each the size of a small town in Ireland, that will gobble up around $25 billion of investment and an insane amount of the workforce. There’s talk now that there’s going to be a major shortage of qualified workers.”
America is a country that rewards hard work, honesty and integrity, and there’s massive respect here for the Irish. They love our work ethic and that we don’t take everything too seriously
Platform Solutions is hiring, with opportunities in the coming months for project managers and engineers. Conscious of his own journey, McCarthy says he is open to Irish people looking to establish themselves in the Big Apple.
“We are always on lookout for talent in our area. If you look at the engine room of our company, the majority would be Irish. Good levels of education, same culture, eager to work, eager to perform and get ahead, and grounded. That said, we have many other nationalities working here too, and you find common ground.”
His advice to Irish people wanting to follow his footsteps is: “Just do it. Come with the right attitude, an open mind, work hard. America is a country that rewards hard work, honesty and integrity, and there’s massive respect here for the Irish. They love our work ethic and that we don’t take everything too seriously.
“Match that with a roll-up-your-sleeves approach and you won’t go too far wrong.’
Aside from work, McCarthy still gets to indulge his love of GAA and, having played for a number of years, now manages a Cork New York GAA team.
“You would often feel you are standing on the side of a pitch in west Cork. There’s a Kerry team here as well, so the rivalry is great fun. Win or lose, you’d all go out for a few pints afterwards. There’s some switch that goes off in your head that says we’re all Irish people here now.”