Jim Kollaer's blog

A recent blog in the New York Times is only one indicator that the last five years have been totally devastating on the skilled workforce in this country. The unwritten, but widely known, 20% plus unemployment in the construction sector is only the preface to what is to come.

Many construction companies were not able to retain their skilled workers when the recession hit and construction stopped on a dime. Many of those workers moved from the east coast to more active markets in order to survive. A number of them took oil field jobs from Montana down to Texas where they could make a living for themselves and their families.

Now that both the residential and commercial construction sectors are recovering, many firms are finding that their skilled workers have disappeared. The article in the New York Times also points out that even though construction has begun to recover, salaries are stuck at recession levels, further contributing to recruiting and hiring difficulties in their markets. [node:read-more:link]

In an emotional and technically challenging effort, the American-flag-draped spire that will sit atop New York’s One World Trade Center was lifted up the side of the building. One World Trade Center was built near the site of the original World Trade Center buildings that were destroyed by terrorists on September 11, 2001.

The spire, an antenna tower for the area, helps make the building the tallest in the United States at 1,776 feet. Hardened steelworkers in brown hard hats waited on the 104th floor for the crane operator to lift the spire so that it could be fitted onto its collar on top of the building. On the ground, construction workers, New Yorkers and the press watched the spire move slowly up the side of the building. The spire was built in Montreal and shipped 1,500-miles by barge. [node:read-more:link]

On a commercial renovation job in Panama City, Florida, a Hispanic drywall construction worker was electrocuted when he came in contact with electrical wires projecting from a terminal box at the site where he was working.

According to an article published in the Durability + Design Journal, “A Florida contractor must answer federal citations involving the electrocution of a Hispanic drywall worker, although the worker was paid in cash and the contractor denied knowing him.”

In her statements to police at the scene, Nathalie Monroe, President of Monroe Drywall Construction, Inc. (MDC), denied hiring, or even knowing, the deceased worker. However, in subsequent testimony from other “drywallers” on the site, it was learned that MDC had hired the four men to hang, tape and finish the 338 boards on the remodel job and was paying them in cash. Monroe later admitted that she knew the deceased and had worked with him on other jobs.

This is a classic case where even though the workers were employees, they were paid in cash by the subcontractor in order to avoid workers' compensation claims and taxes.   [node:read-more:link]

Recently, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized the six current class action suits to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for further adjudication.

According to the panel of Judges, “On the basis of the papers filed and the hearing session held, we find that these actions involve common questions of fact, and that centralization under Section 1407 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of this litigation.”

The suits arose after the defendants, USG Corporation; United States Gypsum Company; L&W Supply Corporation; New NGC. Inc.; Spangler Companies, Inc.; CertainTeed Corporation; Georgia-Pacific LLC;  American GypsumCompany LLC; LaFargeNorthAmerica, Inc.; TIN, Inc. d/b/a Temple Inland, Inc.; and PABCO Building Products LLC. [node:read-more:link]

The Houston/Gulf Coast Chapter of the Society of Office and Industrial Realtors (SIOR) held its 30th Annual Expo in Houston recently. Almost 500 brokers, developers, contractors, vendors and suppliers attended the Expo and the developer panel titled, Developing Houston 2013.

I was honored to moderate this panel of major developers and to ask them questions about their current and planned projects as well as the current market conditions in the other cities where they have projects underway.

The panel was comprised of four panelists: [node:read-more:link]

The team at Software Advice in Austin has just released its 2013 Construction Project Management Software Benchmark Report. The report turned up some interesting information that you should consider when you are looking at your construction management software needs.

The report looks at four categories of users in the sample –  

• Specialized: Project management software designed specifically for the construction industry.
• Generic: Software designed to handle general project management needs.
• Homegrown: Custom software built from the ground up for the survey participant.
• Manual: No software; projects are managed using email, fax, phone or other manual means.

According to the team, “Our report – based on a survey of 230 construction professionals – surfaces important findings about the role technology plays in construction project management.  For instance, we found that individuals who use construction-specific project management software were 5 times more likely than custom software users to deliver their projects under budget.” [node:read-more:link]

The Houston/Texas Gulf Coast Chapter of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) hosted its 30th Annual Commercial Expo at the Westin Galleria Hotel in Houston on April 2.  Construction Citizen had a booth at the event, and I was the moderator of the panel of featured developers.  During the keynote session, I announced that Construction Citizen was holding a drawing for an iPad Mini, and that the winner would be announced the following Thursday with the release of the weekly Construction Citizen email newsletter.

The winner of the iPad mini that we gave away is Karen Gregory, Regional Manager of Economic Development with CenterPoint Energy.  She won a
16 GB black & slate iPad Mini with Wi-Fi.

CenterPoint Energy is the electric power delivery company (commonly known as the “wires and poles” company in our deregulated power world) for the Houston region.  They are deeply involved in the economic development efforts that have led to the highest job growth figures in the nation this year. [node:read-more:link]

According to MSN Careerbuilder, skilled workforce shortages are impacting employers across the globe as the world economy improves.

The latest Career Builder Survey was taken by employers in the ten largest economies in the world and the results are clear: “When asked which positions were the hardest to fill, employers cited technical fields -- information technology and engineering -- as being some of the most difficult. Other areas included sales, customer service, research and development, production, creative/design and marketing.”

This infographic illustrates the findings of the survey and points to the issue that we have been blogging about for the last two years. There is a skill set mismatch in our industry [node:read-more:link]

In December, Elizabeth McPherson toured the build-out of a new bank and office space in Williams Tower, located in the Uptown District of Houston, Texas right behind the Houston Galleria, and interviewed the owner’s representative.

As a follow-up to that posting, I interviewed the design team to see how they approached this project and to gather some tips that complete the story of how this project came together successfully.

The designer for the project was Slovack-Bass, a partnership of Marjorie Slovack, RID, ASID and John Bass.  They have worked together for over 20 years in both the residential and the commercial markets and in the process, they have developed a team of skilled project professionals and designers, several of whom worked on this project. [node:read-more:link]

If you could ask four of the top developers in the United States any question about their business, what would you ask? That is what I get to do on Tuesday, April 2, 2013.

The Houston/Texas Gulf Coast Chapter of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) is hosting its 30th Annual Commercial Expo at the Westin Galleria Hotel in Houston. I will be moderating the keynote session themed around “Developing Houston 2013” featuring a panel of outstanding developers. [node:read-more:link]