We know the ways the pandemic continues to rear its ugly head in Maine: Students are struggling to make up for learning losses, restaurants are giving way to insurmountable debt and nursing homes lacking staff are forced to shut down wings.

There are also the frustrations that hinder our personal lives. Mainers in need of mental health services can’t find counselors taking new clients. Families looking to buy houses can’t afford anything in the areas where they live and work. And those who do own homes had better be prepared to wait if they want their kitchen remodeled or need to fix a set of stairs.

But on the other side of those problems are Mainers, too — ones whose services have stayed in high demand since COVID-19 upturned our lives five years ago. Are those who have benefited financially from the chaos created by a global crisis sitting back and enjoying their success? Or are they dealing with more complicated feelings, in the form of survivor’s guilt?

While we might imagine therapists, real estate agents and construction companies all relishing in their busy schedules and raking in cash, in reality, it’s not that simple. The demand on their businesses has come with its own challenges and required hard work to keep up.

Although people in these industries say they aren’t walking around in shame, they’re not taking victory laps either. And with the Trump administration shaking up the way our economy operates, some are bracing for the effects of new forces beyond their control.

CONSTRUCTION COMPLEXITIES

The Maine construction industry benefited from the influx of new residents during the pandemic and subsequent need for more housing, as well as the state’s continued support of infrastructure repairs and federal clean energy initiatives, said Kelly Flagg, executive director of Associated General Contractors of Maine.

But keeping up with the work hasn’t been a cake walk.

There were the supply-chain issues, like with electrical switchgear and transformers holding up projects, Flagg said, and the need for more labor, which got harder to come by as people grew accustomed to working remotely.

In response, the association started the Maine Construction Academy in 2023, a four-week workforce-development program that gives people the basics and introduces them to potential employers. The number of participants has multiplied every year, with more than 300 expected to go through the program this year, Flagg said.

Now, the industry is watching for next potential challenges: tariffs leading to a rise in material costs and other shifts in federal policy that could affect the amount of work, including wind and hydroelectric power projects, coming down the pike.

For now, Flagg said, most companies have a backlog of projects, but the prudent ones are always preparing for that to change.

“You have to do the work when the work exists,” she said.

AGENTS OF CHANGE

The demand for housing has also been a boon for established real estate agents who are selling homes for far above their asking prices.

Although that has attracted more people to the field — along with the perception that the job allows for a flexible work schedule — it’s not like anyone who gets a real estate license is immediately benefiting from the hot market, said Shannon Richards, founder of Portland-based firm Hay Runner, which provides a range of real estate-related services, from home building to plant design.

Richards, who is also president of the Maine Real Estate & Development Association, said about 90% of the state’s real estate transactions are done by about 10% of the brokers.

“Most people’s wealth is tied directly to real estate,” she said. “Do you think these people are handing over their money to (just) anyone?”

Newer brokers tend to work mostly with home buyers, said Tom Landry of Benchmark Real Estate in Portland, and with the dearth of inventory, that side of the business has been difficult.

“If I was brand-new right now, I would be very, very discouraged,” he said.

But as Portland’s top Realtor in number of sales and sales volume, Landry was well-positioned to take advantage of the market’s upturn.

He recognizes the role of luck in being an established broker as Portland’s desirability has risen, but it’s hard work that got him there and he’s not about to sit back now.

Landry tries to stand out from the increasingly competitive field with his knowledge of the community and continuously works at deepening that, as evidenced by the weekly coffee chats he’s been holding at businesses around town this month, with the purpose of simply connecting with people.

He’s also stayed involved in local politics and even wrote a book, called “Priced Out of Portland,” about the path to increasing development to meet the city’s housing needs.

“We’re really trying to do a good job for the community as a whole,” he said.

THERAPIST BURNOUT

Helping people is at the heart of what mental health professionals do. If psychologist Joel Guarna has heard any comments about the post-pandemic demand being good for business, it only would have been in a dark humor sort of way: No one’s celebrating the fact that the need has increased and the industry can’t fulfill it, he said.

Seeing the burnout among heath care professionals and educators led Guarna to join Portland- and Brunswick-based Psychology Specialists of Maine and pivot his practice toward “helping the helpers,” including running peer support groups for therapists.

“I suppose the silver lining is that people are reaching out for help,” he said about the increased demand post-pandemic, but with few professionals able to take on more clients, more people are turning to online services, “which vary widely in quality.”

Jeri Stevens, co-president of the Maine Mental Health Counselors Association, said the issue isn’t just the increase in need but also the way that insurance companies have responded to it, making it more difficult for people to get coverage and for providers to prove their clients need it.

The difficulty of navigating the MaineCare system, in particular, has led some practitioners to stop accepting that insurance because it doesn’t make financial sense for them and, as a result, many of the people who need the most help are having the hardest time accessing it, she said.

The greater demand for mental health services means that counselors can be picky about their clients, if they want to be, accepting only people who can pay out of pocket and whose needs best align with their expertise. Some are choosing that option for their own self-preservation because of the toll their jobs have taken on them in recent years, but it’s hard to feel good about it.

“I see a lot of (mental health professionals) posting, ‘Looking for a therapist for myself,'” she said.

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