Free Whitepapers
Filter discussions by keyword and category. More criteria coming soon!
Keyword
Category All Categories Commercial Education Energy General Green Construction Humor Industrial Insurance Jobs News Residential Safety
I would like to start a dialogue about the current construction slowdown which started in the residential market and has now spread to the commercial, industrial and public works markets. I am going to ask a few questions to get the discussion started. What does your company do? How has the current slowdown in construction affected you and your company? What steps have you taken to weather this construction slowdown both personally and for your company? How long do you see this slowdown lasting?
by Dan K. 3 months, 4 days ago
We are in the tile flooring business. We have seen a slowdown, but have managed to still do well. I think it's because we have maintained relationships with our customers (general contractors)
by Bryan B. 1 year ago, 67 days ago
Josh, GREAT discussion. I recently sent a note to another member here and thought it would be appropriate for this discussion: I / We specialize in High-End (custom) Residential. I was in LA and now am in Lake Tahoe and both markets are dependent upon the wealthy to build luxury homes. There are a few planned communities up here like LaHontan, Martis Camp & Grey's Crossing which have proven to be very popular and also a solid place to build custom's. However, during this past year, although the lot sales have continued, the construction has not. I believe they are all waiting. Tahoe hasn't completely stalled, but it seems to be idling steadily. We have experienced a slow-down in construction and some clients have halted progress on their projects or put them on hold. This may pose a problem for us in the foreseeable future as well as for many other builders in the area. Numerous carpenters are looking for work and some builders are taking the winter off, hoping for better times in the Spring. The housing market has also seen a staggering slow-down although prices in this resort community are still holding fairly well. This also plays a role similar to the rest of the country. My outlook however is positive. I have high hopes that with the strong opening of the market today (the first day of trading in 2009) and with the inaguration coming in a few weeks, that we will see a resurgance of construction, at least in this area. We have been slammed with holiday / seasonal tourism, many of whom have their second home here or have been coming up from the Bay Area (or wherever) for years, love Tahoe and have always wanted a second home in the area. Our clientelle is, as I mentioned, on the wealthy end of the spectrum and I am betting that they fall in love with Tahoe all over again. Many will take advantage of the drop in long overpriced properties which will stimulate our housing market in general. I believe we will have a strong tourism season this Winter as well. This, combined with a strong buying (housing) market, low interest rates, loosening loans (I hope), an increasingly stronger stock market and the incoming Presidency should all work together to give this area the kick-start it needs. Mr. Obama will do well if this proves to be true around the country. I sincerely hope these issues, as well as others, play a part in bringing our industry back into full swing by the middle of Summer. Thanks, Bryan Bertsch
by John I. 1 year ago, 71 days ago
We are in the construction equipment supply business, and we feel the pinch that our clients do. I'm in the Sacramento market and the pinch is a little less than it is in the San Joaquin area, however, I'm sure that I can relate with most of you GC's when it comes to the bidding process. There's much more involvement from competition due to availability of work. Some smaller operations will lower the costing threshold just to get the work, and unfortunately, it will make them exposed to more debt and lose money just to do the job. So for us, we just look to expand our client base and branch out to other operations besides construction for our product. So we've been looking towards retailers and the Mom & Pop shops. I'm looking forward to the ingenuity of those who are the innovators to step into the light and generate the activity that seems to come out of slow times to spark the public. I think of computers, websites, etc that were developed out garages and basements. The future is always bright in the eyes of the creative. I always keep a positive outlook in all aspects in life, because success breeds more success and you can't win if you don't play the game. I know that sounds corny, but that's the way it is. Get ready for the next wave -- it's coming!
by Burt O. 1 year ago, 71 days ago
Josh, I poled my contacts in the industrial coatings market and interestingly they are not currently feeling the pinch and in fact are incredibly busy right now. However, to a man and women they are anticipating a slow down and attempting to make adjustments. Burt Olhiser, Principal Vantage Point Consulting
by Milton G. 1 year ago, 74 days ago
What does your company do? I am an architect in Connecticut designing residential, commercial and institutional projects and providing optional construction management/general contracting services. How has the current slowdown in construction affected you and your company? Revenues are down in '08. Laid off one person in the office. Did some reduction in hours for others. What steps have you taken to weather this construction slowdown both personally and for your company? We do not specialize in only one sector of the market. So we continue to get some jobs scattered in residential and commercial. We also derive additional work and revenue from some projects by provide CM or GC services. How long do you see this slowdown lasting? As long as lenders are tight and clients do not perceive an investment opportunity or advantage in spending money on planning or construction. Perhaps at least another 6 months.
by Jamie M H. 1 year ago, 71 days ago
Milton, I just wanted t touch base with you in regards to our products. I just read your post and my husband and I are looking to link in with others that may benefits from adding some additional services or value added items to their current clients. If you feel that any of our products would be a "value added" to any of your clients/contractors feel free to forward our information and website to them and we would be happy to assist. Our goal is to link up with other companys - large or small - to help them add money to their bottom line. We know that no matter where anyone lives here in the US, the economy is no laughing matter, so if we can help even in a small way - we would like to! Our website is www.ecoquestintl.com/puregenesis or they can call directly a 517-375-5399. They may also network with me through Contruction Exchange as well. Have an awesome new year and if there is anything for us to do to assist you in 2009 we would be pleased to do so!
by Carlos C. 1 year ago, 74 days ago
I've been a building designer for more than 30 years, a substantial amount of which has been in residential work (single family production housing, high-end custom, multi-family, high-rise construction, etc.) Last month I was laid off because there simply wasn't enough work to keep me on staff. Two weeks later I was called back to work part-time with no benefits to finish a project I had been working on. I gratefully returned because there's nothing else "out there". I've been in the industry long enough to see several of these down cycles come and go, but this one is both very deep and very wide. We've seen a lot of both our domestic and foreign projects disappear, so it's not a matter of moving to greener pastures anymore. The scary part is the "ripple effect". Since being laid off I canceled a number of non-essential personal services; my wife is cutting my hair, I clean the pool and yard myself, cable tv without premium channels, less travel, fewer and cheaper gifts this Christmas, home improvement projects postponed, no dry cleaning, iron my own shirts, less eating out, etc.) as a result those vendors who have nothing to do with the construction industry will make less money from me and thousands of other consumers like me and their industries will be equally affected. Lay-offs will continue to escalate, things will get worse. My solution? As I said; spend less, work harder, be more adaptable, more flexible, hunker down and wait for things to normalize. Oh, and keep a positive attitude!
by Vincent P. 1 year ago, 84 days ago
I am a construction law attorney in Long Island. We do most of our work on Long Island in the metropolitan New York City area and even with the slow economy construction has been booming. Of course some of the smaller firms have been taking huge hits because they have cash flow problems when a particular large job does not pay and that prevents them from being able to market or take on new jobs. From our end we have been counseling clients to pay more particular attention to two areas: 1) insurance coverage - making sure that they are in compliance with their policy requirements and making sure that claims are properly and timely submitted to carriers. When cash flow is low, having to pay an attorney to defend even a meritless claim against you can be fatal; and 2) paying more attention to the default and payment provisions of contracts to make sure that in the event an owner or GC goes out of business, you still have some type of security (to the extent possible) in protecting you. My pitch to clients has been its better to pay me for a few hours to revise your standard contracts now than to pay me thousands to fix a problem down the line. I have also seen a huge increase in non-payment litigation, especially the smaller matters that may have been ignored if the ecomony was strong.
by Michael A. 1 year ago, 89 days ago
We are having the same the downturn here in the uk' But my business is booming with new business taking advertising out wuth me. The reason being i think is our low cost, and the reach with have. More and more people are looking for trusted tradesmen to carry out their works, I'm sure things will pick up soon they always do. Mick www.yourtrustedtradesmen.com
by Curtis R. 1 year ago, 91 days ago
I am a residential construction General Contractor located in San Antonio. Although, San Antonio had a tremendous decrease in construction permits this year, their is still enough work to support efficiently operated companies. With the current industry climate you have to think and act differently in order to win the job. This slowdown has actually been a blessin for our company. We are able to shine through the competition offering a client a professional experience and a great value. Ultimately, this allows me to slowly gain more of the market. We should see an increase in permits registered by mid 2009 with 2010 being a very strong year.
by Jason P. 1 year ago, 96 days ago
Pitts Engineering Works, LLC manufactures the Concrete Titan Heavy Duty Concrete Mixing Trailer and the Titan Belt Loader. Our Concrete Mixing Trailer has a 1.25 cubic yard capacity, onboard water washout system, and a GVWR of 9800 lbs. This machine is the most technologically advanced, most robustly engineered, designed, and manufactured mobile concrete mixing trailer build anywhere in the world today. We continue to be blessed. With the short load fees forcing contractors and public work departments to cut costs, our business continues to expand. In the international marketplace our equipment continues to revolutionize the way that concrete is mixed, especially in 3rd world countries. The weak U.S. Dollar and working with the U.S. Department of Commerce on Exports has resulted in 2008 being very successful, and 2009 is expected to be a banner year. Even in the slow economy, work continues. We have found people actually spending money in order to acheive these goals. Our equipment is relatively inexpensive, as far as equipment goes, with the price of the mixing trailer being only $18,500 currently. We have partnered with two different lenders and find it very easy to get funding for persons/organizations wanting to keep their cash in the bank. One of our sources has a no payment for 6 months plan, which really helps those on very limited capital, as they make their first payment with profits from using the equipment, even with a 45-60 day lead time. The economy is not what it used to be. Certainly assisting people in cutting costs on labor, wait times, and materials is something that people who fully intend to weather the storm, and capitalize on current conditions has proven fruitful to our organization. I expect that the length of current economic conditions will turn around 1/2 way through 2009, as the new president will have a chance to attempt his promises, the auto industry is more certain, and when consumer confidence is restored. I am hopeful that the construction industry will not be delayed until after this happens, however we should not be surprised if economic conditions do not appear better and construction starts follow 2-3 months beyond.
by Edward A. 1 year ago, 98 days ago
Eli, Tough times call for change. Your members might be interested in changing back to the good ole days of Henry Ford. Henry is often referred to as the Father of Lean Manufacturing. In studying Henry's methods, which the Toyota Automobile folks have been practicing for nigh onto 60 years, I have discovered, with a lot of help from the Lean Construction Institute, that Lean Manufacturing methodologies can be used one-for-one by our industry. For those interested in learning more, they can contact me at eanderson@paladin.us.com. I'll send along a few of my favorite readings as a start. Happy Holidays! Ed
by Karen W. 1 year ago, 98 days ago
I have worked as a Process Improvement Manager for a residential homebuilder for the past 5 years. Now is the time to be Lean and eliminating the waste in the many areas of your business. For more information, I can be contacted at karenawarren22@yahoo.com.
by Josh M. 1 year ago, 99 days ago
A few more comments that I have received: Steve: We are in the commercial market in Nashville, TN and have seen about 20% of our backlog for 2009 go away due to projects being put on hold. Our work is typically all negotiated GC and design build but we have adjusted to the market by... 1)Selectively bidding projects we would not otherwise bid, 2) establishing relationships with large CM and GC firms especially those in healthcare and seeking self perform opportunities with them, 3) looking at new and different vertical markets, 4) getting more creative and varied in our marketing approaches, and 5) using LinkedIn and Facebook to reconnect and network more. I see it being 2010 before things really start turning around but I also see this economic situation as a real opportunity to fine tune our business approach and set the table for when things start taking off. The strong will get stronger over the next year or two and much of their competition may not survive. I also see a rush for talent and higher prices coming when all the bottled up projects start releasing in a year or two. Ashley: How has the current slowdown in construction affected you and your company? Our stock plan sales have decreased significantly over the past year. We have had to rely on custom plans and heavily on our multi-family planning to flow through this situation. What steps have you taken to weather this construction slowdown both personally and for your company? Personally, I have sold my large home and moved to a smaller location. I have had to sell my SUV and opt for a more economical car, we have cut vacations and cut back on spending. As for my company, we have ceased most of our higher dollar marketing and opted for less expensive avenues, we are not publishing our catalog this year, we have had to let employees go and we moved to a smaller office. Nonetheless, I feel that we will see a return in sales and that within the next 2 years business will continue to increase. This has happened before, though not on such a large scale, and it came back. I would imagine my concern at this time is all of the foreclosed homes that will be selling for much less than new construction. However, it is my hope that the banks will offset this situation with loan perks and so on, especially for first time home buyers. What I feel would be most productive for the economy is to see the government and bankers work with those who have or are loosing their homes and assist them in keeping their homes or perhaps getting back into their homes. I have not seen a program yet that addresses the issue of those who have already suffered a loss. It would be productive to see Thank you for the inspiring questions. Chris: I am based in the northeast market around Philadelphia and I have a satellite office in Orlando, FL. I operate a medium sized commercial roofing company. In addition, we are a partner with National Roofing Partners based in Dallas, TX. Our current market has remained steady for the middle part of the year but we are facing a slow down in the final days of the fall and the winter appears that it will be difficult. My greatest concern at this point is that we are not experiencing the normal backlog of request for quotes. I do not become as concerned if we are still quoting, but clients are not even coming to the table with potential projects. If quotes do not pick up, we will see a protracted slow down of at least 3 to 6 months. It takes an extended period of time to go from conception to contract and without the steady backlog of opportunities being quoted, the ability to bring a project into contract will be compromised. But as they say "from crisis is born innovation". Those who can innovate and bring a new dynamic and value proposition to customers will survive and flourish in this new economy.
by Timothy A. 1 year ago, 99 days ago
We’re a Custom Sign shop licensed to produce and install all signage that is non-electrical. Yes, we too have felt the pinch of the current economy. We’ve felt it from our current customers who have in turn felt it and cut back on spending. What we have been doing is first to keep our “faith” as real is it gets. Secondly to realize that with respect to the effects this has had on us all to see this whole thing as a “wake up call”. Dialoging with colleagues, networking with them and keeping a more focused as well as engaging position on how we’re marketing, spending, and communicating seems to work. I think that if we all embrace this under the “wake up call” we’ll see it as maybe the time we needed to re-organize if you will and prepare for a positive future. That said I too cannot comment on “when” things will turn around. However, I too agree in part with the others in this discussion that along with the right attitude of the “wake up call” along with our leaders in Washington things will get better. But personally, I simply wanted to make note of the fact that when the elections came about it wasn’t hard to recognize by the comments posted on this Exchange who the majority was going to vote for. None the less, our current president elect is going to be our president and in light of his victory speech he noted being aware that “some of you didn’t vote for me…none the less I need your support…” If we take this position, learn to pray for him as well as congress, and then I believe real change will take place. Our president elect also commented on acknowledging how the division in congress had a big part in the mess of things at hand…the Bible says, “A house divided will not stand…”
by Concetta P. 1 year ago, 99 days ago
Josh, the firm I work for has three seperate wings: construction management, engineering, and facility managment. As their marketing coordinator, I have strived to keep us applying for as much targeted work as possible, and managing my bosses to make sure marketing the firm stays at the top of their list of things to do in a slowdown. We have shifted from most of our CM work and put our construction personnel to work in facility management tasks, facility assessment tasks, and for the qualified, additional engineering tasks. We don't want to lose any people if we don't have to. Most of our work is in the public sector so we were not hit as hard as some firms in the area. We're hoping work picks up a bit again now that Mayor Daley has the public infrastructure money from Midway Airport and the Olympic needs.
by Jeff H. 1 year ago, 100 days ago
Hi Josh, As the Business Development Director for the PCCA, I have to constantly look for ways to keep those in my industry working. Last week, the Placer County Board of Supervisors heard a request for a policy change that I submitted with the support of the NSBIA. We asked for, and received, a development fee deferral program to be implemented. Our goal was to move back to occupancy those upfront fees that really put a damper on building. This policy was requested specifically due to a need by custom home builders to get the upfront fees moved to the back end of the construction, and into the mortgage, instead of the front end that many banks are no longer rolling into construction loans. This had a very positive reception, and is being implemented on custom homes, subdivisions and commercial construction. With the economy in the condition it is in, we are constantly striving to find new ways to spur activity. It's hard on many of our builders, but we are seeing interest in some larger projects gearing up for some spring 09 activity. I encourage everyone to get to your local councils and supervisors, and encourage some aggressive policy changes along these lines. The school districts are next.
by David R. 1 year ago, 100 days ago
It is great to hear that someone is going to bat for the builders, and in turn doing the community a service by getting building back on track. This is a long overdue concept that should have been in place from the beginning. I have met resistance whenever a question is raised about the efficiency or fundamental concepts of the building department. It is a broken system as the people working the department will attest and the only way to fix it is to all work together to come up with a solution that works for everyone. I applaud your effort and hope to see this type of change in our area.
by Jon R. 1 year ago, 100 days ago
Joe and Brian, I am in the DFW market here in Texas. I am in concrete sales here so I have some dialogue with owners of small independent companies as well as conversations with large corporate business developers and market researchers as well. Joe you are correct that the commercial and industrial markets are slowing down. The forecast in this area is that we will not see a turnaround in the market for another 6 months to a year. I know the budget projections for my customers and other building material suppliers that I network with in this market are around 15%-18% lower for 2009. Like many in this market and I am sure in other areas of the US, we have made cuts and tightened our belts when it comes to spending in all areas of our business operations within reason. This hopefully will allow us to achieve good revenue for next year even in times of economic slowdown. I would suggest cuts in spending first, trimming fat in the company if possible, and researching new ways to improve your efficiencies. Not necessarily in that order. Jon Rhiddlehoover Territory Manager Redi-Mix Concrete a division of US Concrete
by Richard C. 1 year ago, 100 days ago
Josh, my company is a construction/engineering firm that was recently bought out by KBR. I figured with the slowdown that I may have to move with-in the company; I found that was not the case. The client that I work for said they wanted all contractors to cut staff by 50% unfortunate for me I was one of the 50%. I have applied to positions with-in the company but have heard nothing; I do have a couple of bites but am waiting to hear. Until I find a job I will do whatever I have to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. The last time I was unemployed was 19 years ago and then it was not so bad only had me now I have a family. As far as how long this will last it will really depend on the decisions Washington makes over the next couple of months. We could be looking at months or years. The biggest problem is the corporations still want to sell their products for ridiculous amounts when they continue to take good paying jobs out of the country and people are stuck making Mc Donald wages working 2 or 3 jobs to try and make ends meet. You can call it whatever you like but this is a recession and if corporate America and Washington do not get their heads out of their rears then this could be a really long battle and in the end may lead us to being ruled instead of a super power.
by Dr. Paul D G. 1 year ago, 100 days ago
Hi Josh, As our primary business is project management training and consulting, and we are based in Jakarta, Indonesia, with offices in Singapore, we have yet to feel any significant impact. If anything, our work has picked up a bit, as companies are trying to replace relatively expensive expatriate management staff with local indigenous professionals. However, we too are positioning ourselves for the inevitable impact and are expecting public works projects to increase, which we hope to be a part of. We are also aggressively seeking Job Order Contracts (JOC) or Indefinite Quantity/Indefinite Time (IQIT) type maintenance contracts. BR, Dr. PDG, Jakarta
by Susan S. 1 year ago, 100 days ago
It's interesting...I represent a couple of lines of traditional cabinety and one line of eco-friendly cabinetry which is quite innovative in its design, materials, and construction. Clients for my traditional lines of cabinetry have largely vanished...for now. My eco-friendly line of cabinetry regularly attracts new business. I think there is a message there. I find this very interesting. While business is slower overall, I am doggedly optimistic about the product I am introducing into the marketplace. I know it will be well received, and it is. So, I'd say it has definitely not affected my outlook for the future. I have patience, yet look to cut costs where I can. Nothing positive can happen with a negative outlook. It is more important than ever to be optimistic. I would not be surprised if this slowdown lasts into the first quarter of 2010. I'm an optimist with one foot on the ground. ;)
I am operating on a much smaller level than many of you but every dollar lost during this time comes directly out of my pocket. I build high end residential homes in Sonoma County and right now things are looking real bad. I am the owner, contractor, and bank on these projects and I am stopped in my tracks because my liquidity is gone and it doesn't appear to be coming back. The completed project I currently have on the market continues to collect dust. People are not spending at all. Of 275 properties in the bay area in this price range, 1 is pending and 7 are contingent. I do not see things coming back any time soon and think it will take years to get back to a steady balance. My guess is that is has not even come close to the catastrophic end for the real estate market. In the residential sector, at least, simple math shows that the peak of the irresponsible lending practices by bankers who thought a person making $200 per day could afford a $675,000 house, peaked in 2005 and 2006. These loans were given to everyone from what I understand and are set to adjust after 5 years. Therefore I believe it will big a much bigger problem a couple of years from now. Everyone will need to work together to get through this and we all will need to make concessions. I have heard some of my sub-contractors say it is bad business practice to cut prices to get jobs because it drives down the value of what they do. That is an arrogant stance and how things ever got this far out of hand is beyond me. Those who do not realize that things have changed are going to go away because those willing to see this downturn for what it is will survive doing whatever it takes while those proud union types will end up sitting at home complaining about lack of work. The city, county, and state need to back off as well. They keep raising fees as a means to get out of this. This is a very bad idea since it will only drive away those who make things happen by making projects cost the developer money.
by Chase _. 1 year ago, 100 days ago
Being in the news paper business we are seeing a bit of an increase in the number of companie slooking to advertise, have new coverage and also doing advertiser supported features. The advertiser supported features are increasing because it is a great way for companies to market themselves and attract new business, companies who were hesitated in the past because they were to busy are now interested in having them done. Of course more companies are turning down the oportuniy to place ads, it is a toss up low volume of features high sales now is higher volumes of features lower sales. Ironically we are also looking to find new Associate Publishers across the US and Canada who can line up features, news articles and advertising.
by Marty R. 1 year ago, 100 days ago
I'm a lawyer in L.A. I'm advising companies/individuals to [b] position themselves for the coming public works projects [/b], even if that's not what they've historically done. Two ways to do this are to joint venture with existing companies to take advantage of specific projects or hire someone with expertise and contacts to make it happen. Also use the slowdown to network to be in a position to benefit from the new business that will surely come. Build your website, acquire any skills you'll need. Its all about positioning yourself for the future.
by Paul G. 1 year ago, 100 days ago
I am (was) a commercial construction PM in Tulsa, OK. The company I worked for had 100 million $ of work postponed because of economy and some of us had to be laid off. That happened on Oct 10th. I have literally sent out 100's of resumes and there is NOTHING going on in or around Tulsa for me. Looks pretty grim to me. I may have to change occupations after 35 years at age 56!
by Josh M. 1 year ago, 100 days ago
I would like to share some interesting feedback to the questions I posed for this discussion. I am a member of a few other construction related groups where I started the same dialogue. I am only going to use the first name of the people whose comments I am repeating for this discussion, many of these folks may already be Construction Exchange members. I was captivated by the honesty and sincerity of their feedback. Carlos: I've been a building designer for more than 30 years, a substantial amount of which has been in residential work (single family production housing, high-end custom, multi-family, high-rise construction, etc.) Last month I was laid off because there simply wasn't enough work to keep me on staff. Two weeks later I was called back to work part-time with no benefits to finish a project I had been working on. I gratefully returned because there's nothing else "out there". I've been in the industry long enough to see several of these down cycles come and go, but this one is both very deep and very wide. We've seen a lot of both our domestic and foreign projects disappear, so it's not a matter of moving to greener pastures anymore. The scary part is the "ripple effect". Since being laid off I canceled a number of non-essential personal services; my wife is cutting my hair, I clean the pool and yard myself, cable TV without premium channels, less travel, fewer and cheaper gifts this Christmas, home improvement projects postponed, no dry cleaning, iron my own shirts, less eating out, etc.) as a result those vendors who have nothing to do with the construction industry will make less money from me and thousands of other consumers like me and their industries will be equally affected. Lay-offs will continue to escalate, things will get worse. My solution? As I said; spend less, work harder, be more adaptable, more flexible, hunker down and wait for things to normalize. Oh, and keep a positive attitude! Peter: In business - and as it is in life - our greatest successes and triumphs - do not depend upon on the current market condition - or circumstance of life - in which chance has placed us. And success in ones trade - and the amount of work one might have - merely is a factor of the type of work one does and how good one is in doing it. Specialists - as you can imagine - typically tend to do better. And work no matter what. Also of course - I understand that when the financial climate gets tight, a large demographic of consumers - shutter in - job competitiveness stiffens etc... However, this is a market condition - with which a good manager will adapt - to market then to the appropriate client base, then of course to plan, and execute. Understandably there are several approaches - and many niches - of the building industry - I cannot fathom to think each exactly the same - however. I would say merely The best clients are always buying And in turn, the best contractors always have work. Dick: National Paving Company Inc., asphalt and concrete paving for new construction and maintenance/rehabilitation projects. We have seen steady growth during these times. My innovative team, we are very well adapted with technology and social media collaboration. We continue to green our practices and we have become more active in our community than ever before. We just finished a project with the National Forest Services-- Our activities have generated interest from the press and industry trade outlets. Articles really help with meeting new business partners and customers inquiring after reading a story. In these times, it really is about finding a separation that genuinely benefits our customers and community. We also have great employee programs to get our team more involved as one unit--incentives, etc. Thank you for letting me share! Richard: We are an Industrial/Commercial Open Shop Electrical Contractor in the Northern Illinois region. It is very union heavy up here which makes things difficult in the good times but a little easier in the bad times. Since we are a financial relief compared to some union contractors, we find ourselves picking up some additional clients to our base but overall, things are slowing down dramatically. Companies are just not willing to spend the money on large capital projects so we are actively trying to secure many "smaller" projects to keep our workforce where they want to be...at work. I think the key here is to focus your attention on sectors of the industry that are least affected by the markets (food consumables would be an example) and try to build your business from there. I see this lasting until 1st quarter of 2010 quite honestly. This meltdown has been a wake-up call not only for the consumers but big business as well. Ben: CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation) does heavy transportation construction as well as overlays and maintenance projects across the state. The current slowdown has limited construction projects because of the Federal Highway Trust Fund is nearly broke as well as legislative cuts in our budget. CDOT is currently keeping 140 openings unfilled to stave off layoffs. Cross training is being pushed at CDOT at this time as well as additional workloads for those covering empty positions. I see the slowdown lasting until a stimulus package is pushed through congress, the credit starts flowing again and the residential market improves. One impact we see here at CDOT is a massive increase in bidders for the limited projects we are advertising for bid. Christopher: I am a construction law attorney. Fortunately, my practice seems to be counter cyclical. However, the industry wide slowdown has caused issues. While many of my present and potential clients may need my services more, they have issues with collection from companies that have simply run out of resources. I am weathering the storm by trying to help clients be proactive in protecting themselves and being careful to advise them on collectibility as well as whether they have the right to the money Michael: Company's primary market is residential remodeling with 20% of business multifamily construction. Our family market is essentially dead at this point. Our remodeling division is weathering the storm fairly well. We specialize as an historic restoration and "green" remodeler. The energy efficiency improvement market has increased by 25% over last year, largely as a result of our improved ability to show the value add in making certain improvements. Our historic restoration work is slower, but we still have steady volume to carry us for another 3-4 months. On a business level, we have laid off two field workers and one office staffer. We are looking at ways to reduce our overhead without any other layoffs. Our margins are definitely much thinner. We are finding that our specialty services are keeping our volume higher than others in our market that offer general remodeling/ GC services. We have a niche market that we directly market towards and thus maintain a decent flow of work. We have also expanded the markets (geographic) that we are working in. In terms of duration of this slow down, I don't foresee it having the length of the great depression, which was essentially 9 years, but I do foresee another 2 or so years of very slow or no real economic growth. The job losses and fallout from the financial sector is just starting to trickle into the market place. Next year will be a long year. Hopefully people have kept cash on hand for the "rainy" day. Jon: I am in the DFW market here in Texas. I am in concrete sales here so I have some dialogue with owners of small independent companies as well as conversations with large corporate business developers and market researchers as well. Joe you are correct that the commercial and industrial markets are slowing down. The forecast in this area is that we will not see a turnaround in the market for another 6 months to a year. I know the budget projections for my customers and other building material suppliers that I network with in this market are around 15%-18% lower for 2009. Like many in this market and I am sure in other areas of the US, we have made cuts and tightened our belts when it comes to spending in all areas of our business operations within reason. This hopefully will allow us to achieve good revenue for next year even in times of economic slowdown. I would suggest cuts in spending first, trimming fat in the company if possible, and researching new ways to improve your efficiencies. Not necessarily in that order. Brian: I am a rep for a construction support company (Tradesmen International –Buffalo). We provide skilled craftsmen on a need to basis. Me personally I am starting to pick-up, but to maintain that, I am constantly prospecting new customers and keeping track of current ones. Most of the people I have been talking to are hoping it doesn't go past the 1st quarter of next year. Patrick: What does your company do? FCS manufactures chemicals for the concrete and asphalt industries How has the current slowdown in construction affected you and your company? With the slowdown I have lost clients (out of business), and clients are purchasing far fewer chemicals What steps have you taken to weather this construction slowdown both personally and for your company? I have spun our products into the contactor/retail markets along with building a distribution line outside of Florida How long do you see this slowdown lasting? At least two more years Gio: My company provides CAD, BIM and 3D Visualization support to Architects, Engineers, Contractors and Property Developers by helping them with their drawings and 3D imaging work. Basically the more tedious work. The current slowdown had given my company both positive and not so positive effect in terms of the work. Not so positive in a sense that more current projects are being put on hold hence production of drawing are also being put on hold. Positive in a sense because a lot of companies are realizing that outsourcing the work to my company greatly helped decrease their production and operating cost by as much as 40% and 25% respectively. By getting savings and cost cuts on certain areas of the operation (like drawings production, imaging and graphic visualization - marketing) without sacrificing work quality and having people do more value-added work (like contributing to marketing, sales, client/customer relationship management, customer service) companies can re-allocate the savings to other areas that may need it. For the slowdown, we have put in place a more competitive pricing structure as well as more comprehensive bundle of services to help our existing and potential clients/partners realize more savings and get more work done. We believe that by doing these our clients have a better chance of staying on top of the financial crunch which in turn would be beneficial to our company. We foresee the slowdown to last at least a year-and-a-half. Anyway, I hope my response was helpful. Feel free to contact me for more insights on this area. Christopher: My company builds custom staircases for mostly new residential construction. This is the most significant slowdown in the housing market my company has seen in its 24 years. Local market is Connecticut / New England. It's a test of our company's business skills and personally it's a test of one's perseverance. Personally we've tried to stay positive, and keep up a good mentality to perform at the highest level possible; you have to in a time like this. Discussions I'm listening to are saying we're almost at the end of this, these are optimistic discussions. It's the housing market that has gotten us into this and it's the housing market that will need to get us out. The rest of the economy will follow. I think this will happen at different rates in different regions. Those regions that have a higher level of housing inventory will take longer and vice versa. I support more govt. action aimed at the housing industry. Jack: Working for a contractor it seems we ride behind the wave. I´ve seen companies fire a lot of mid-section management but it’s almost as if the credit crunch is being used as an excuse to refresh certain companies. On the other hand I’ve heard that architecture firms do feel the pain very well. Though as the firm I’m employed is rather big we see right now only small livings not getting released on the market due shortage of sales. Big projects as they are already ongoing keep going on. I do see though that with big projects the developer sits more on his money and seems to be more stalling/checking what´s going on. Especially since the biggest developer is also a bank with problems that does give some troubles on the market. That said, I wonder where we stand next year. Market prices being released for next year don´t seem to show any massive increases as predicted earlier this year which should result also in less steep building costs which should keep the sales prices moderate. Petri: We are producing prefabricated houses. Of course it has because first vanish customers then we just got reduced costs..... like it usually does. We have spread our market, created new contacts to expand, negotiated new price levels, created new concept, outsourced next professional team, launch new strategy and ..... and created new "platform" to expand more rapidly to next level. We assume that this downfall can last two-three years, but we must be ready instantly... If these steps can work effectively we gain more market share than in steady growth period. Fred: We manufacture high quality cabinets, furniture pieces, and decorative cabinet hardware in PRC and export to outside markets. We witnessed the 'meltdown' at the front end with a large project having its 2nd round financing pulled, forcing a shut down. To minimize the impact we have tried to increase our visibility to a larger market, within N. America and abroad. We are adjusting our product mix to attract a different customer profile. We have always had the capability, so we have made the move further upscale with some product offerings. You may read a more direct discussion of this on our blog, www.eXprzit.com in the front page article (editorial), "THE NEW ECONOMY, A Perspective On North America Today' and a section article, 'GREEN CABINETS,in how many ways'. If you read on the blog and have an opinion, all opinions are welcome, but please bring them back to this discussion for the benefit of the group overall. I wish I had an accurate theory regarding the duration of this market sector adjustment. I don't, so I will not practice politics here by guessing. I do believe what we will watch is a shift in business practices, which is something larger than a 'recovery'. With this in mind, we chose to take action where we can, look for opportunities and advantages where we can find them, and not wait to see what others are going to do. This is not a time to follow. Kevin: I work in the Construction & Engineering market in recruitment and I weathered the last depression very well, this slow down is affecting all markets currently but the upside is that the strong & professional will survive and be stronger for it. I have just had an email from a Construction friend currently working in Dubai and he is looking to come back as the market in the UAE is being hit very hard as well. Possibly gloomy times for the next year but everybody has just got to buckle down and do their best. I do think however with the help of the media we do tend to talk ourselves into a depression !! Saransh: I am a student pursuing MS in Construction Management. In this recession period it’s hard to find jobs for newly graduates because there are many other experienced personnel in market which have been layoff. So, what should newly graduates do for job. It's truly bad market and finding very hard for the new comers in corporate world. Peter: “Poverty wants much; but avarice, everything”... Publilius Syrus - 1st century B.C. Stephanie: That is network all about by finding way to survive. You might be considering marketing team in any possible network. It is tough everywhere and only people knew the Tips would survive longer.
by Stephanie W. 1 year ago, 103 days ago
Well, I have talked to few contractors that most of them are focusing in residential and they got hit pretty hard. Some of them have tried to seek else where for the new marketing. I believe most impact in construction is for chain relation. I have suggested them to take time to analyze the data in their company and how they can save from cutting and create new marketing at the same time. It is like going to Dr. office for a physical exam and you can DIY yourself, but you still need to have Dr. to exam you for certainty. Each case is different. Somehow I find one thing is helping for survival is to network and the wilder network your survival rate is higher. Good luck to you all. Please feel free to network with me in LinkedIn. http://www.linkedin.com/in/cnmgconsultant
by David D. 1 year ago, 104 days ago
1. We are a national luxury home builder. Our company is considered a bellweather for the residential construction industry. 2. It has had a major impact on our company as we have had to cut 2/3rds of our personnel, walk away from projects and cut costs wherever we can find an opportunity. It has affected us all personally as we have had to live in fear of losing our jobs as well as had the difficult task of letting our valued employees go. 3.We have been very determined to survive the downturn by cutting costs and building up our cash reserves to weather this storm. By building up our liquidity we stand poised to leap at opportunities when they arise again. I truly believe that our company will come out stronger in the end and those of us who survive will be better leaders for it. Personally, we have not been on a family vacation in two years and have cut back wherever we can. We have been paying down our equity line of credit at an advanced rate so we can start saving more. We don't make any large purchases anymore and we go out to dinner less than ever. Fortunately, I have a very frugal wife who values being able to stay home with the children and will make evrey effort to keep that from changing. 4. I see this lasting through 09. We hope to see some recovery in the summer as some of the new changes take affect, but we have been down that path before.
by William D. 1 year ago, 105 days ago
As a manufacturer of indoor and outdoor sports surfaces, components and accessories, the economy has helped portions of our business and hurt other portions. Our residential sales remain relatively stable but our commercial portion is still growing, due in part to a need for companies to make their resorts or athletic facilities more attractive than their competitors to help them retain customers without drastically reducing prices. Overall, we expect not to be hurt by the economic slowdown, and have seen increased sales in certain portions of the country and overseas.
by Bobby D. 1 year ago, 105 days ago
Great post with some great input. I am curious; does everyone (company represented) have a formal finder's fee program in place? I am a big believer in that EVERYONE in any company is in sales. I remember working for a client (GC) when one of the accounting people came to me and said, "Do you know if I would get anything if I brought the company a contract?" This was just my second day so I had no idea. The client (Owner) did not want to institute a finder's fee program. He said it would take an employee’s focus off what they were hired to do. Needless to say, that was five years ago and that company is no longer in business. Also, the accounting staffer had a great lead with a neighbor, I believe it was a doctor, who wanted to build their own building but she would not tell me who it was unless she got a bonus. If anyone is interested, email me and I will send you template that I use to breakdown the different levels of a finder's fee program. Bobby
by Maria L. 1 year ago, 104 days ago
Bobby, I disagree but only on principal. Reality is that loyalty to a company is at an all time low as is company loyalty to employees. However, I am only a Project Coordinator (secretary) but I attend city & county planning meetings and do whatever else I can to bring business in to my company with out expectation of a finders fee. I expect all my co-workers to do the same. I believe the refusal by the staffer you mentioned was disloyal, short sighted and foolish in the extreme. I think her attitude towards her company was nearly traitorous. When you see the lay-offs happening all around you to good people, you do every thing you can to increase your personal value to your company. The reward is earned raises, job security, advancement, and yes even bonuses. Like you said every employee is in sales but that doesn't mean a formal finder's fee should be given out. Any one have any pride?
by RICHARD Z. 1 year ago, 100 days ago
I Just read your reply about job loyalty and had to say thank you. I am old school and believe as you do. You should be loyal to who ever signs your check. Keep up the strong convictions.
by Bobby D. 1 year ago, 104 days ago
Maria, Oh I totally agree about that person's loyalty to that company. Traitorous is a kind way of putting it. I would prefer an owner foster a sense of loyalty to their employees so that that kind of attitude would not exist and that loyalty was a two-way street within the organization. Arol Wolford, the founder and CEO of Construction Market Data, and my former boss, was that kind of guy. We would all walk through Hell in a 'gasoline suit' for him. Yet he knew and understood the importance of taking care of his people. One item I find that a lot of companies have a challenge with getting their arms around is the actual cost of marketing for each project that comes in the door. If you ask them what that number is, they are often pressed to find an accurate answer. If the cost is $2,000 for marketing and an accounting employee does bring in some new business, then nothing cultivates loyalty like a tangible ‘thank you’. Great input and you should be commended for all you are doing to help your company and for your obvious loyalty. Bobby
by Steven S. 1 year ago, 105 days ago
It's hard to predict a slowdown with so many variables which change from state to state; I can speak for the Northern California/Sacramento Metropolitan Area construction slowdown: Our slowdown began about 14 months ago when the developers were building a glut of new homes in gigantic tracts and no was buying them. The slowdown here has two main facets: 1. Between the credit freeze and the self-inflicted, inflated housing market construction has dropped off in our area 40%-50%. 2. Over the last five years there has been a sharp rise in unlicensed contractors in our area, undercutting contractors' bids by 1/3-1/2, coupled with a glut of now-unemployed construction workers looking for work. My company does remodels, TIs, commercial & residential maintenance and rental turn-overs. My company has been impacted with a loss of about 30% of my business, over the last year. I've taken about as many steps as I can to avoid the edge, but the barrel is going over Niagra falls. Some companies will make it, but I expect most will not. This waterfall has already taken out about 15%-20% of the local contractors in my region; even the larger companies have had to lay off 50%-60% of their workforce or file for bankruptcy. Frankly I do not know if there is a magic pill to resolve this, as every trade is different, even within the industry. Electricians and Plumbers for instance are still working right now, but many general contractors are hurting. Steps I've taken are specifically advertising more inexpensively, utilizing primarily the internet, also in shoring up my credit, frugal spending during the winter and hoping for a good Spring season. If there is good news at the end of this tunnel I think we will know by February or March, which is where I see the market bottoming out. However, I think 2009 will be mild in growth, more recovering than anything else... but I see 2010 being red-hot for construction-related industries, here in California. On a side note, my impression is that most consumers take contractors for granted; the fact is that no one would have a roof over their head if it were not for the construction industry, nor would we have places to eat at, gather or go to work, nor roads to drive on. The construction industry is one of the main reasons that over the last two hundred years that our country is one of the greatest on earth, and was the leading industry to bring our country out of the Great Depression with the building of the Hoover Dam, the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate bridge, etc. Without these hard working professionals, their skills and experience we'd enter into a third world state as a nation... and that cannot be said about many other industries. It is an industry which produces something you can see, touch, inhabit and utilize.
by Steven L. 1 year ago, 105 days ago
We are in the pavement maintenance industry (off road), we service a number of retail/hospitality clients. A number of them are holding off to see what the economy is going to do, some have implemented "emergency spending only" policies, it as certainly effected our business.
by Olga V. 1 year ago, 105 days ago
I'm in 3D visualization company with American and European architects and desingers as our clients. First, the US orders went down, European ones are slowing down and will become minimal in 2009. That's why we've put more emphasis on other areas of our business, like advertisment animation, serious gaming and simulation.
by Dennis W. 1 year ago, 147 days ago
We do surety bonding and insurance for the construction industry. During the slowdown in construction we issue fewer bonds and the insurance premiums are down due to lower than estimated gross revenue reported by our insureds. While there is relatively no new residential construction, there continues to be remodels. There is also a significant amount of public works construction which is more limited in certain geographical settings. Seems some cities have more funds than others and some school districts still have bond money to spend. To make up for the loss of income due to the downturn, we continue to market our services to the construction industry and point out that General Liabiltiy premiums continue to soften and there are opportunities to save money on insurance products by working with a broker that consistency looks for the broadest coverage at the best price, which is not necessarily the cheapist price. We also look for opportunities to provide our services to other industry groups which may not be construction related.
by Ken K. 1 year ago, 147 days ago
We supply skilled craftsmen to contractors locally on an as needed basis. As a skilled labor provider our business is to some degree the "canary in the mine". Many sectors in our industry have been hit hard; remodelers, commercial sectors, ect. However, our business fairs well in economic downturns as we allow contractors to take control of their payroll expenses because they only utilize our workers just when they need them.
by Brad T. 1 year ago, 147 days ago
One area where I have, as a project manager, observed the affect of the market slowdown is employee morale. I along with the management team I work with have prided ourselves in keeping the moral of our crews at the highest level possible. High moral and high expectations equal high quantity and high quality of work. In the midst of this economic downturn, employee’s minds now have to sift through a number of things throughout the day that they did not have to think about before. Most of these items are not associated with the work at hand; retirement, mortgages, kids’ college and just day to day bills. One thing that I think is important is to keep the employee/employer lines of communication open. If an employee is wondering if they are going to be on the chopping block on Friday, the work task they are performing is not at the front of their mind. This is not productive and it is not safe. The more information that is made available concerning the direction the company is taking, the probability of cutbacks and the state of the company in general the easier it is for the employee to make sound decisions to prepare for their future - good or bad. Another step is to not make small employee rewards part of the cutbacks. An occasional lunch for the guys, or leaving early on a Friday with a couple of hours paid goes a long way to let the crew know that their hard work is appreciated even when conditions do not allow for more extravagant means. Ultimately, the rank and file guys are where the money is made and moral is key in providing an environment where they can do that.
by Sergio V. 1 year ago, 147 days ago
Its certainly going to be a tough road. I'm in the Equipment Rental business. We no longer have the luxury of our customers borrowing money like they used to. We have seen projects put on hold due to banks not being able to lend them money. We have definitely seen have drop in business, but there are two ways to look at the situation. 1. We can participate in this "recession". 2. Or we can go out there and solicit new business.
by Mark S. 1 year ago, 147 days ago
We are a rock and soil supplier to the NorthBay. We have seen our business drop about 20% this year. Last year was the start of the drop. We didn't change much in 2007 because business was still fairly strong. In 2008, we have cut back to only one production shift from two, dropped personnel levels from 27 down to 19, have eliminated most of our O/T, stocked less parts, cut back on some travel and other spending. What hurts is that we have built up a business to handle a strong amount of volume. We are NOT mobile like a contractor. We don't move TO the work, it comes to us because we deal with heavy earthen materials. Also raw material costs continue to rise. We cannot seem to control some of our costs well enough. Hopefully fuel continues to stay low because we can't raise prices to offset some of our high costs of doing business. To weather this reality I have curbed spending and taken on more aspects of managing my business. I see this slowdown lasting until sometime in 2010.
by Stacey M. 1 year ago, 148 days ago
I'm the travel and events director for a general engineering contractor that does public works construction. The current economy has affected my company and my personal job. We have made an educated decision to slow down the company travel and attendance of conventions and conferences. With rising travel costs and an uncertain job market, this seems like a good way to trim costs. I look forward to the slowdown ending when the chaos of electing a new president subsides, the stock market rebounds (at least a little!) and people are ready to move forward with projects and development again.
by Matt J. 1 year ago, 148 days ago
I think my business is growing in this time of slow down. the fact that the US need to be more energy and resource saving, from years of being and having the thought of saving a few bucks now on projects. Today we see oil at $80 per barrel because they can't sell it cause we all are messes up. a few months ago we saw it hit $140. think it will ever hit that again? And I don't know about you, but I don't want to buy their oil. I like dealing with people who work don't care about us. I am in the green sector and have watched it grow for the basic needs of being more careful of how we use power, gas, energy, and water. look at marin in a need of a desalinization plant. look at many homes and busineses being installed with rain water and gray water systems. I am in the enviroment sector of buildings that uses 50% of all power use in a building and home. we find and install systems that use dratically less energy than conventional systems. Simple old technology that saves alot in a building.- Geothermal hvac systems and solar systems. This green movement has come from a feel good idea to a realization. Unless we start implementing better means to control our energy and resources, we are going to have to modify our means we live our lives.
by Jim Z. 1 year ago, 148 days ago
Josh, we are in water and wastewater treatment equipment. I believe that the public works market is residential driven and as the developers pull out, both the need for wtp & wwtp and the financing are gone. While our industry is somewhat regulatory driven, it is funded by developers. The slowdown has affected us in very few bids and reduced projects that the consultants are working on. We see this continuing through 2009, with 2010 unkown.
You must login in order to participate.
Copyright 2010 Construction Exchange. All rights reserved.