Construction Economy - Lamson Dugan & Murray LLP

15 Apr, 2020

Construction Work—Is it an Essential Activity in your Jurisdiction?

Craig Martin2020-04-11T08:15:10-05:00April 15th, 2020|Construction Activity, Construction Contractor Advisor, Construction Economy, COVID Construction, COVID-19|

Shelter in place orders abound throughout the country, yet construction continues to march on. As we continue to deal with the impact of COVID-19, it’s important that you know whether your construction work is considered essential. Your local government, state, county and city, may have established guidelines which will impact your operations. For example, Nebraska has “requested” that everyone stay at home and social distance at work. Construction projects are [...]

17 Jun, 2015

Are We Headed for a Worker Shortage?

Craig Martin2018-04-23T23:55:10-05:00June 17th, 2015|Construction Contractor Advisor, Construction Economy|

A recent Wall Street Journal article, Worker Shortage Hammers Builders, noted that construction industry employers are facing a tight labor market. U.S. builders shed more than 2 million jobs during and after the housing bust. Now they say they can’t find enough carpenters, electricians, plumbers and other craftsmen for a growing pipeline of work. That is certainly consistent with everything that I’ve heard and read about construction companies in the [...]

19 Jan, 2015

The Future Looks Bright for Construction in 2015

Craig Martin2018-04-23T23:55:12-05:00January 19th, 2015|Construction Contractor Advisor, Construction Economy|

Associated Builders and Contractors’ Construction Executive has painted a rosy outlook for the upcoming year. ABC’s Chief Economist predicts a 7.4 percent increase in total nonresidential spending for 2015. This is great news for a construction industry that has climbing out of the recession through fits and starts over the last several months. Perhaps the most telling statistic was ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator, which reached an all time high in [...]

31 Aug, 2014

Happy Labor Day—But where is the labor?

Craig Martin2018-04-23T23:55:13-05:00August 31st, 2014|Construction Contractor Advisor, Construction Economy|

Associated General Contractors recently reported that employment expanded in 65% of the metro areas it surveyed. While this is great news for the construction industry, of great concern is that 25% of the companies responding to the survey noted that they were turning down jobs because of labor shortages. The survey revealed that construction management employees, including project managers, supervisors, and superintendents, are in the shortest supply, followed closely by [...]

27 Jul, 2014

Profiting from the Labor Shortage?

Craig Martin2018-04-23T23:55:13-05:00July 27th, 2014|Construction Contractor Advisor, Construction Economy|

Fellow blogger Chris Cheatham posted an interesting article on his The Electronic Claim blog about ways a contractor may profit from the labor shortage. The blog is based on an article, 5 Ways to Profit from the 2014 Labor Shortage, published by McGraw Hill-Dodge. An important takeaway deals with how subcontractors are responding to the greater need for their services and whether they are profiting from this change in the [...]

10 Sep, 2013

Skilled Construction Workers Are Hard to Find

Craig Martin2018-04-23T23:55:17-05:00September 10th, 2013|Construction Contractor Advisor, Construction Economy|

A recent poll from the Associated General Contractors (AGC) reported that construction companies are having trouble finding skilled workers. This could create big problems for construction companies as the construction economy continues to improve. AGC’s chief economist, Ken Simonson, noted an interesting trend with construction workers. The number of unemployed, experienced construction workers has dropped in half over the past three years and only 1/3 of those workers have been [...]

19 Mar, 2013

How Are the Sequester’s Spending Cuts Impacting Construction?

Craig Martin2018-04-23T23:55:18-05:00March 19th, 2013|Construction Contractor Advisor, Construction Economy|

It appears that the sequester cuts are going to impact the construction industry pretty dramatically. There will be mandatory cuts to defense and non-defense categories that could add up to more than $4 billion dollars. According to the Engineering News Records article, Sequester Construction Spending Cuts Total More Than $4 Billion, the programs suffering the largest cutbacks will be military construction, the Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup programs at former [...]

8 Jan, 2013

What’s the Economic Outlook for Construction in 2013?

Craig Martin2013-01-08T08:00:33-06:00January 8th, 2013|Construction Economy|

Since we avoided the fiscal cliff, for now, are we in for a big year in 2013? Or, will we have another year like 2012? Associated Builders and Contractors’ chief economist Anirban Basu provided his insight in the latest edition of ABC's Construction Executive. Not surprisingly, the outlook is not rosy. First, a recap of 2012. This past year we saw slight growth, probably in the 2% range. This was [...]

16 Aug, 2012

Are You Prepared to Emerge from the Recession?

Craig Martin2012-08-16T08:00:54-05:00August 16th, 2012|Construction Economy, Nebraska Construction|

A recent Engineering News Record had an interesting article discussing recovery risks after surviving the recession. The article, by Richard Korman, raised an interesting point of contractors taking on too much work at the backend of a recession without the necessary infrastructures in place. Not surprisingly, one of the main difficulties in emerging from a recession is that contractors are short on cash and qualified personnel. So, when a contractor [...]