The impact of the economic downturn is easing for specialty contractors in Texas and Louisiana as the region experiences the beginnings of a comeback. The changing marketplace in this transition year is shifting how these companies are doing business.
"Since 2009, when the world got turned upside down and shaken out, the market has changed in the way our customers look at the end-users," says Pete Wallace, chief operating officer at Team Industrial. "They're putting a lot more emphasis on labor buildups and cost buildups than they have in the past. Even though margins are back for our customers, they still put a lot of pressure on the contractors. As times get better, those pressures will come off, but [clients are]still fresh from the procedures and processes they put in place ... to hold back costs on contractors."