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Hermen Valdez realized that he wasn’t going to be able to afford to get back to Texas. His oldest son, a Houston native, was set to graduate from Baylor, and Valdez needed a plane ticket.But he also needed to make payroll that month.Valdez, who had moved away in the late 1980s from the recession in Houston to New England in search of more steady construction work, was an independent contractor, responsible for the salaries and insurance payments and taxes on a crew of about 20 general and skilled laborers.He started working in the construction industry in high school. Before that, since he was 10, he had been helping his parents as a manual laborer. He grew up a few hundred miles southeast of Seattle, where his parents settled after emigrating from Mexico.
Reshaping the Construction Industry
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Nearly $1 billion in planned construction of state-owned buildings in Texas represents a “golden opportunity” for commercial builders, according to a key official who said this is being done in a conservative way that will end up saving taxpayer dollars in the long term.Harvey Hilderbran, a Republican former state representative who now serves as the Executive Director of the State Facilities Commission, recently spoke to AGC members at the Texas Building Branch Convention. According to the AGC-TBB newsletter, Hilderbran said the conservative approach "is to take care of what you own, and owning your own buildings are much less expensive than how much we are currently spending on leases.”
July 13, 2016
Spending slips in May but rises year-to-date; surveys find divergent material pricesEditor’s note: Construction Citizen is proud to partner with AGC America to bring you AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's Data DIGest. Check back each week to get Ken's expert analysis of what's happening in our industry.Construction spending in May totaled $1.143 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, down 0.8% from April but up 2.8% year-over-year, the Census Bureau reported on Friday. Monthly levels for January-April were revised up by $18-23 billion (1.6-2.0%), and levels for 2014 and 2015 were also revised. Unusually mild winter weather and extremely rainy weather in parts of the country in May might have thrown off monthly totals. Combined January-May year-to-date (YTD) spending was 8.2% higher than in the same months of 2015. Public construction dropped 2.3% for the month but climbed 3.8% YTD.
July 12, 2016
“Anyone in the construction industry in this low bid and worker shortage environment had better take a really close look at the rules in this interpretation, especially if you are using third parties for staffing on your projects.” – Kollaer
July 11, 2016
Read the second in a series of posts about what McPherson observed during the 2016 ABC NCC, an intensive competition between more than 200 craft profession trainees and students.
July 08, 2016
The following article originally appeared in the July newsletter to clients of Kiley Advisors, LLC for the purpose of providing the latest leading indicators and industry issues to those clients. Reprinted with permission.While Brexit and its implications globally are still being analyzed and debated, the United Kingdom’s decision to separate itself from the European Union is seen as a positive, and necessary, move. While it will stunt the growth of Europe in the short term, to paraphrase Dr. Bill Gilmer with the Institute for Regional Forecasting, the train wreck is unavoidable so at least they are off the train.
July 07, 2016
A new Obama Administration rule aimed at giving unions more knowledge of discussions between employers and legal counsel is on hold after a federal judge in Texas blocked it nationwide pending the outcome of litigation.The so-called “persuader rule” has long been sought by organized labor and, not surprisingly, has long been opposed by various businesses and businesses groups. What exactly would the rule do? The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog explains it this way:Examples of attorney services that would have to be reported would include: conducting union-avoidance seminars, providing materials to distribute to and persuade workers, and drafting personnel policies dealing with union issues.
July 06, 2016
Most metros add jobs through May; NAHB finds widespread craft-worker shortagesEditor’s note: Construction Citizen is proud to partner with AGC America to bring you AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's Data DIGest. Check back each week to get Ken's expert analysis of what's happening in our industry.Construction employment, not seasonally adjusted, increased from May 2015 to May 2016 in 227 (63%) of the 358 metro areas (including divisions of larger metros) for which BLS provides construction employment data, decreased in 83 (23%) and was stagnant in 48, according to an AGC release and map on Wednesday. (BLS combines mining and logging with construction in most metros.) The Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, Calif. division again added the most jobs during the past year (14,700 construction jobs, 17%), followed by Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford (9,700 construction jobs, 16%); and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (7,200 construction jobs, 7%). The largest percentage gains again occurred in Monroe, Mich. (30%, 700 combined jobs), followed by Urban Honolulu (20%, 4,900 combined jobs), Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine and the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall division (17%, 6,800 construction jobs).
July 05, 2016
What many call “ghost towns” in China, one photographer calls “unborn” cities. Chicago-based photographer Kai Caemmerer traveled to China to photograph a series of new town projects that are part of a Chinese national plan to house 250 million residents.
July 01, 2016
