.jpeg?itok=6uFZXEBH)
On April 8th, Construction Citizen had the privilege to attend Texas Construction Career Initiative (TCCI) and Build Your Future’s (BYF) 2015 High School Construction Career Day at the Freeman Coliseum Expo Hall in San Antonio, Texas. Over 1,100 students and chaperones from the San Antonio area and West Texas had the chance to meet with over 50 exhibitors and construction professionals. Exhibitors included craft companies specializing in plumbing, heavy equipment, glass, drywall, and roofing; institutes offering programs in construction such as Texas A&M, Texas State Technical College, and Construction Careers Academy; power tool producers DeWalt and Hilti; and non-profit construction associations such as Hispanic Contractors Association, National Association of Women in Construction, and Air Conditioning Contractors of America San Antonio.
Reshaping the Construction Industry
.jpeg?itok=4Vi_1nJG)
The following article originally appeared in the April 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.Stronger signals of the slowdown in Houston are increasingly prevalent. As the oil price bounces around the $50 mark, the effect of the lower cash flow in the oil and gas companies is rippling through the city.The Architecture Billings Index, a national leading indicator for construction, is flat – which is indicative of the mentality of the market today. Pause. Wait and See. Everyone knows the tidal-wave impact of the oil and gas prices is coming, but no one can tell how damaging it will truly be. And while 2015 still looks to be a relatively strong year, 2016 has much less optimism.
April 14, 2015
When I was younger, I saw an older man sort of just standing there. Staring. Not at me. Not seemingly at anything. But he looked as if he was very deep in thought. Curious, I asked him what he was thinking about. His answer was very simple and straightforward and has stuck with me forever. Five words, and it applies to literally everything. “What I'm about to do.” I would credit him for the quote, but I don't know this guy. I didn't know him then, and I was a preteen kid. My parents were there, I wasn't afraid to talk to him, but I also didn't want to bother him. So that was our whole conversation. I just said, “Well, okay,” and left him alone. I don't know what it was he was about to do. For all I know, he could have robbed the store as soon as we left. I don't know. That answer though, that answer stayed.
April 13, 2015
Construction employment dips in March but wages move up; reports vary on cost trendsEditor’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.Click here to register for a free 4/30 webcast "Will Construction Pick Up the Pace or the Pieces?" presented by AGC/AIA/CMD.Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 126,000 in March, seasonally adjusted, and by 3,128,000 (2.3%) over 12 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday. Construction employment dipped by 1,000 for the month but increased by 282,000 (4.7%) over the year to 6,344,000. Residential construction employment (residential building and specialty trade contractors) dropped by 2,800 for the month but rose 136,300 (6.0%) over 12 months. Nonresidential employment (building, specialty trades, and heavy and civil engineering construction) increased by 1,100 in March and 145,000 (3.8%) year-over-year.
April 10, 2015
With the skills gap widening and projecting to increase, Construction and Maintenance Education Foundation (CMEF) will open up a new doorway for veterans to enter a career in construction, providing training for free.CMEF will be offering a free jumpstart training course for veterans at Camp Hope in the beginning of summer 2015. This course will provide a Heavy Equipment Operators (HEO) certification. Director of Education Glen O’Mary said the demand for an equipment operator will make the certification more valuable, making it easier for veterans to begin their career in the construction industry. O’Mary, a veteran himself, said training in the military is very similar for training on the jobsite. There are parallels, he described, in the continuation of education and training, safety, procedures, hours and overall work.
April 09, 2015
Worker misclassification undercuts ethical employers, allows deadbeat dads to avoid child support, at times provides wages for illegal immigrants, and often contributes to hardworking laborors going underpaid, yet TX lawmakers are largely doing nothing about it.
April 08, 2015
I know you are like me. You see climbing cranes on a high-rise building under construction and the cranes are lifting everything that goes into the building from structural steel to glass, studs, drywall, flooring, fixtures and furnishings. Somewhere in the back of your mind is the nagging question - “Okay, the building is topped out and generally finished; how are they going to get the cranes down?” If you are an architect like me, you still are amazed that the contractors and those fearless ironworkers can even get them up there, much less get them down.
April 07, 2015
The following article was authored by Matthew Waller.Tracy Kyzer’s company gave him a ride back home. He had been given a company vehicle, and that was going away. His employers had given him time to clean out his desk.In early March, Kyzer, 51, was let go from oil and gas company Schlumberger in Midland, joining thousands who have lost jobs in the Texas energy sector.His wife is still working with an oil company.“After I hang up the phone with you, she may not be,” Kyzer said on a call.Across the state capital investments are being cut, as the price of oil has plummeted more than 50 percent from its $100 highs last summer.
April 06, 2015
When architectural designs hit Popular Mechanics Magazine, I know that they must be amazing. Robin would certainly have said Holy Smokes or some equally pithy comment to Batman about the Shanghai Tower and its massive, and I mean massive, “Tuned Mass Damper” or “Harmonic Absorber.”The stats about the building are as large as the building itself. Designed by the Gensler team and built by the Shanghai Construction Group, the finished building stands 632 meters into the air over Shanghai. For those of you not into metrics, that is 2,073 feet five and 57/64 inches tall, second only to the Burj Khalifa tower. The point that attracted Popular Mechanics to the building was the 5 story tall 1,000 plus ton Tuned Mass Damper designed to reduce the sway of the tower for its occupants.
April 03, 2015
Construction spending flattens in February; employment rises in most states, metrosEditor’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 February totaled $967 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, down less than 0.1% from the rate in January, but up 2.1% from February 2014, the Census Bureau reported on Wednesday. Because unseasonably mild or severe weather can distort monthly comparisons in winter, it is more revealing to compare year-to-date figures for January and February combined. On that basis, total spending increased 2.0% from the same months of 2014, private residential spending slipped 1.0%, private nonresidential spending increased 4.3% and public construction spending gained 2.6%.
April 03, 2015
