Despite some improvement in the volume of new contracts, the Southeast's construction market remains a fraction of the size it was during the pre-recession peak years. While specialty contractors working in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas are growing more optimistic about market recovery, for many, the next wave of construction can't get here soon enough.
"Things are picking up, but not at the rate we prefer after such a bad downturn," says Dean Gwin, president and COO of Jacksonville, Fla.-based concrete contractor Gate Precast Co.