When Mark Baker started his small Albuquerque, New Mexico, firm, Baker Architecture + Design, in 2002, he focused on small-scale projects: home additions, kitchen remodels, garages, and the like. In more recent years, Baker’s work has grown to include restaurants, spas, high-end custom homes, and elementary schools for Albuquerque’s public school system. Then the recession hit. “We had three big projects canceled at the same time,” Baker says. “February was horrible. We didn’t have any jobs that month.”
Baker and his two full-time employees went to a four-day work week, and when projects started trickling back in, they were the kinds of jobs Baker thought he had moved away from: mostly home additions and garages. “We’re doing jobs we’re overqualified for,” Baker says. “But it’s nice to have a job of any kind.”
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