Reshaping the Construction Industry

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) proudly announces that three Harris County craft workers won medals at the 29th annual National Craft Championships. Lindsey Irvine won the gold medal in the pipe welding competition while Michael Noschese and Jose Morua won the gold medal and silver medals respectively in the structural welding competition.  

The following article was authored by Mark L. Johnson and originally published in AWCI's Construction Dimensions magazine.Some want to complete the fence along the United States–Mexico border. Others cry for higher quotas of H-1B visas. The debate goes on and on. Regardless of the immigration politics and law at stake, I sought the answer to an economic question: Does the United States benefit from immigrant workers?The data point to one conclusion: Immigrants add to gross domestic product. Drywall and ceiling contractors could build more profitably and contribute to building a better country if they could put undocumented foreigners to work.   

Marek Dallas Division President John Hinson wrote the following President’s Message for AWCI's Construction Dimension magazine. Hinson is the 2015-2016 President of AWCI.Brothers John, Bill (the AWCI’s president in 1984) and Ralph Marek founded Marek Brothers Company in 1938. While John and Bill have passed on to be with our Lord, Ralph, 90, is still with us. At a recent managers’ meeting we were honored when Ralph stopped in to say hello and express his gratitude for all of the team’s hard work at Marek.Ralph is a special man, and it was an inspiring moment. He remembers the smallest details about each one of us. He asks about our wives, our kids, our progress and concerns. He makes each one of us feel important to him.Do you make people feel important? Do you make it easy for people to work with you? When you express your ideas, do you do it in a respectful way?   

PPIs for construction inputs fall in February but steel vendors post imminent price hikesEditor’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.The producer price index (PPI) for final demand in February, not seasonally adjusted, was unchanged from January and year-over-year (y/y) from February 2015, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Tuesday. AGC posted tables and an explanation focusing on construction prices and costs. Final demand includes goods, services and five types of nonresidential buildings that BLS says make up 34% of total construction. The PPI for final demand construction, not seasonally adjusted, decreased 0.1% for the month and increased 1.0% y/y. The PPI for new nonresidential building construction—a measure of the price that contractors say they would charge to build a fixed set of five categories of buildings—rose 1.0% y/y. Changes ranged from -0.1% y/y for healthcare construction to 1.0% for industrial buildings, 1.1% for offices, and 1.4% for warehouses and schools. PPIs for new, repair and maintenance work on nonresidential buildings fell 2.1% y/y for plumbing contractors and rose 1.2% for roofing contractors, 3.5% for concrete contractors and 5.4% for electrical contractors. The index for inputs to construction—excluding capital investment, labor and imports—comprises a mix of 59% goods (including 5% for energy) and 41% services (including trade services, 26%; transportation and warehousing, 4%; and other services, 10%).