I attended the Bisnow – Office of the Future breakfast on Tuesday, April 3rd, and was once again impressed with the overall quality of the event and the information.  I was part of a fairly large Marek contingent, as we were partnering with Office Furniture Innovations (OFI) and Modular Architectural Interiors (MAI).  We had an exhibit highlighting our Novawall and Mecho Shade systems for the design and brokerage communities.  This was not my first Bisnow experience as I had attended several previously.  The crowd at this event was a little different due to the “Office of the Future” theme, and consisted of a significant number of design professionals, as well as those brokers who were interested in the office of the future theme.  The Marek exhibit drew considerable interest and several quality leads were generated.  In addition, we held a drawing for an iPAD based on business cards dropped in our box.  Read more » about Bisnow Breakfast Brings Specialty Contractors in Contact With Clients

Each year about this time over 400 species of birds that migrated south for the winter begin their Spring journey northward across the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf Coast flyways.  Those of us in the Houston Region get the pleasure of watching them arrive just in time for the blooming of our trees and azaleas.

Early bird watchers have reported that this year they have seen one of the rarest bird species to visit the region since the last business cycle, the German Climbing Crane.  They are magnificent and are easily recognizable to anyone who is lucky enough to see them on their migration northward.  They are tall and move with incredible grace as they peer over the landscape.

They usually are fairly short when they land, but they grow to towering heights in a short span of time.  Read more » about Giant Climbing Crane Migration Underway

This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to listen in on approximately 4½  hours of testimony on workforce training programs in Texas.  The hearing was held by the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce who have been charged to study whether such workforce training programs currently meet business and worker needs in Texas.  On the whole, the discussion was positive because there was a definite recognition by all presenters, as well as by the members of the committee, of the need to focus more on “career ready” as opposed to only “college ready” students.  It seems there is a wide variety of career opportunities available to high school graduates with the proper skills training.   Read more » about Texas Senate Committee Hears of Need for Skilled Workforce

According to an article in today’s Denver Post, “The Denver-Aurora-Broomfield metropolitan area added 6,300 construction jobs from February 2011 to February of this year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Associated General Contractors of America.”

That puts the Denver Metro area on top of the list of areas that created new construction jobs in February.  That is good news for skilled construction workers in the Denver area who have had a long cold winter – and I am not talking about the weather.  Several new large projects are creating the need for project superintendents and foreman.   Read more » about A Real Rocky Mountain High

Succession planning for family-owned construction firms is fast becoming the elephant in the room as owners age and the chances of successfully addressing the issue diminish with each generation.

According to the business law firm Jordan Ramis PC, 95% of all construction companies are family owned or closely held.  Many of those owners are 60 and above and that is where the issue lives.  Many owners have no idea how to address the issue.  Their families are dysfunctional, their kids don’t want to be involved in the business, and many of them have done little or nothing to create a succession plan for the possible leaders in their firms who might take over and continue the company into the future.  The chances for success are against them.   Read more » about The Elephant in the Room

An article by Matt Warman in the United Kingdom’s newspaper The Daily Telegraph last month reported that Intel, the giant chip maker, has announced a $100 million fund to support the development of the chips and technology necessary to make it a reality.

“Next Gen” kids are already more tech savvy than most of us and even one year olds, according to the blog post are expecting every device including their parent’s cars and trucks to be “iPad ready.”  On the online forum Big Think, Orion Jones quotes Intel representative Staci Palmer:

“In the US, the average driver spends the equivalent of two months of every year in car; it’s impractical for us to give up connectivity inside of the vehicle.  The car is the mobile device of the future.”

Just last weekend I caught a glimpse of the future when a 2½ year old was able to turn on the Mac, two TV sets, and the dvds at his parent’s house without any help from the adults around.   Read more » about Cars: The Next Electronic Device

Kerrick Whisenant, the president of the American Subcontractors Association, in his February newsletter to the membership, told of a meeting recently held in his offices with a group of ASA leaders who were asked to take a look into the future of the industry.  This is his account of that meeting and the findings.

“The ASA Rap Council – ASA ‘s ‘think tank’ that develops innovative ideas for consideration by the association – took up the difficult but fascinating challenge of ‘peering into the future’ last month while meeting at my company’s offices in Alabama.  Here is what members of the council foresee for the next 10 years: Read more » about ASA “Think Tank” Group Peers Into Future of the Industry

This month, the Engineering News Record Technology column (subscription required) featured a Q & A with Shawn Pressley VP of IT at Hill International, an engineering firm headquartered in New Jersey.

Pressley, a 13 year veteran civil engineer makes the case that the next technology to be used on the jobsite will be the tablet in what ever form it takes, iPad, iPhone, tablet pc or other iteration.  He makes a cogent case that one of the major issues to overcome as these tools enter the construction process is the change that its use will require.

The demographics on the site where most Project Managers and supervisors are in their 50s and 60s will be a factor.  The older generation is reluctant to make the change while the younger workers use the technology everyday.  Read more » about Technology on the Jobsite

The overall employment picture was flat, according to the latest employment figures released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  The Bureau reported:

“Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 227,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.3 percent.  Employment rose in professional and businesses services, health care and social assistance, leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, and mining.”

The good news for the construction sector is that a year ago, the unemployment rate in our sector was 21.8% and last month it was down to 17.1%.  Year over year, we are seeing improvement, Read more » about BLS Releases February Employment Figures

The latest article from Robert Charles Lesser & Co (RCLCO) shows an interesting chart of the demographic changes in the housing market and could be viewed as a predictor of the next phase of housing starts around the country.

Written by Gregg Logan, the Managing Director of the firm, the article is part two of a series that looks at the current housing market as analyzed by demographic.  The categories are the Eisenhowers and Great Generation, the Baby Boomers, Generation X and Gen Y.  This one focuses on the impact of Generation Y as they enter the home buying marketplace.

The economy is having a major impact on how fast this generation of 30 and under moves from the multifamily market into the home buying market.  Logan writes:

“The rate at which Generation Y is forming new households is currently lower than Generation X before them, as young people in their early 20’s today have found themselves in a tougher job market, Read more » about Demographics Still Drive the Housing Market