Adjust to new realities, give employees a cause to fight for and focus on opportunities: Executives of three design and construction firms offered those strategies as ways for the industry to cope with the current financial crisis. The executives joined other leaders from industry, government and Wall Street at an ENR/McGraw-Hill Construction conference in New York City last month to analyze economic developments and optimize solutions. Ira Levy, president of AECOM’s DMJM Harris unit in New York City, acknowledged that his firm’s revenue will shrink, but he said profitability could still survive. He noted, “A better question to ask is, When the economy comes back, will your company be on top?” Levy urged other managers to create a vision for the future and to be prepared to “capture the upswing.”
But the industry must first weather the current storm as sources of private-sector project finance evaporate or remain sluggish at best. Levy said the new stimulus package has no “process to get the cash out.” Among the new realities is that “government may be our client more than ever,” projects will drag out, cash flow will deteriorate, and litigation will swell, he said.