...smaller contractors. Until all contractors join in this concern, we’ll still see suffering," he says. "I wish we could tie the individual tradesperson to accountability for his or her own safety."

Many of the industry’s most experienced and well-trained tradespeople could soon be leaving jobsites in droves. "We are still a few years away from when most baby boomers retire, but people in the trades tend to retire early, especially the ones in unions," says Goemaat of Shawmut. "They get in their 30 years and leave."

Barnhart is not optimistic about the campaigns to attract and train new workers. "All the talk about training new people for the trades doesn’t seem to be doing much. It looks to me like we’re just treading water at this point," he says. Barnhart claims that "it’s gotten to the point" where his firm has begun to subcontract out some work it usually self-performs. "If we’ve got 80 people available and we need 120, we’ve got no choice," he says.

Even design decisions increasingly are being made based on craft availability, says Halverson. "Designers might reconsider using masonry in areas where there is a shortage of masons," he explains.

But jobsite pressures won’t be easing any time soon. "Technology is driving us faster and faster," says Jim Gray, CEO of James N. Gray Co. "Practically all of our managers are now addicted to their Blackberrys," he says.

Some contractors worry that the pressures of business may discourage recruitment efforts. "I can’t remember when the business was as fast-paced and complex as it is now," says McCoole. "And much of the burden falls on the project managers who must face these complexities." With 24/7 communications, problems that project managers once referred back to the office for analysis and decision now must be handled right on the spot. "These kinds of pressures may have a long-term impact on the industry’s ability to recruit and retain people in these jobs," McCoole says.

More contractors are responding to short-term personnel shortages by turning to labor brokers and temporary management services. "You’re seeing more trained craftspeople coming out of these agencies," Gray says. "I saw one job where 70% of the electricians came from a broker." Halverson says some temporary labor agencies are following more sophisticated business models and are investing in more training. "It’s not really there...yet," he says.

Douglas E. Barnhart Inc. uses labor brokers occasionally but doesn’t see them as a major source of skilled labor now. "We’ll use a labor broker only for simple tasks like cleanup jobs so we can use our own more trained people on the higher skilled jobs," Barnhart says.

Rudolph/Libbe President Tim Alter says his firm’s decision to self-perform is a real competitive advantage. The company does its own surveying, site work, excavation, foundation work, concrete flats, steel erection and masonry, among other things. "It improves production, safety and scheduling because we work together as a team to get the job in the dry quicker," he says.

As firms struggle to recruit and retain, some also struggle for market share, particularly in the tough commercial building sector. The corporate general building market "is lackluster in the Boston area," says Goemaat of Shawmut. "There’s not enough activity to generate a decent absorption rate. We’re holding our own, but that’s about it."

But some firms have been finding success in the market. "Our office building group has been surprisingly strong despite the poor market statistics," says C.J. ‘Chuck’ Cianciaruso, senior vice president of J.E. Dunn Group. He cites recent projects, including a new headquarters building for tax consultant H&R Block and a new Federal Reserve Bank Building, both in Kansas City. There’s been so much activity in the Kansas City area that some projects are scrambling to find enough bidders. "There’s been a 10% increase in construction costs in Kansas City, which is higher than most of the other major markets," Cianciaruso says.

Turner Construction also has found surprising strength in the commercial office market. "We are finding that the market seems to exceed a lot of the projections we’ve seen," says Nick Makes, Turner’s senior vice president and portfolio director. "And, for the first time in a while, we are seeing high-rise offices being built where lenders are not insisting on a 60 to 75% rental commitment before issuing the loan. Some projects we’ve seen have even been less than 50% committed before getting the go-ahead," he says.

More acquisition activity in the retail banking market also is generating a great surge in local construction projects for both new and renovated bank branch facilities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, Goemaat says.

‘Leeding’ Edge

The growing interest in environmentally friendly building and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification is starting to show. "There’s tremendous interest in sustainable design, particularly in the higher education and health care markets," says Boldt. However, not everyone wants to go the LEED-certified route. "It depends on the client," he says. "We’ve had clients in higher education that wanted environmentally friendly building but they decided not to go the full certification route." Boldt says LEED may not be for everyone. "After all, for many, money is a resource to be conserved," he says.

But for The Boldt Co., LEED is the way to go. "We believe that LEED certification is not just something that’s a good idea for someone else," Boldt says. The firm recently completed a new office for itself in Wisconsin that is pursuing silver LEED certification, and currently is building another Boldt office in Oklahoma City to the same standards. "Once it is certified, we believe it may be the first private office building to gain LEED-certification status in Oklahoma," Boldt contends.

The opening of Alberici’s new headquarters facility in St. Louis, a building built to platinum LEED standards, could take the campaign to a new level. "It will probably be one of the first dozen or so platinum LEED buildings," says McCoole. He believes that as more environmentally friendly buildings become available, they will become more attractive to potential employees and tenants.

As for problems with costs and paperwork, McCoole says that interest in LEED could lead to cheaper and more readily available environmentally friendly products and equipment.

This will lead to greater demand among tenants and employees for environmentally friendly building, forcing clients to bear the cost, says McCoole. "Even now, there are some things that you have to spend more money on rather than taking the cheaper way out," he contends. "After all, gravel parking lots are cheap, but tenants wouldn’t put up with them." He says the paperwork costs to gain certification on the Alberici headquarters was about $50,000 out of a $23-million budget. "That’s less than we will save each year on utility costs," he notes.

McCoole says Alberici now is working on five projects seeking LEED certification, including ones for Anhaeuser Busch and General Motors Corp.

Firms also are anticipating opportunities in the still-hot education market at all levels. "We expected the K-12 market to lose a little oomph based on demographics, but it still seems to be going strong," says Cianciaruso.

Demographics are driving part of the boom in higher education. "There’s a bubble of students who are the children of the baby boomers who are coming through the system whose needs must be answered," Boldt says. "It is also aging infrastructure. Students come to colleges with expectations that facilities will be compatible with the current generation of technology."

Many agree that the drive for universities to adapt to a more research-oriented approach is pushing construction. "There’s a lot of activity in science centers," says Boldt. "There’s a need for science facilities to be flexible and easily adaptable that many schools don’t have."

The flourishing health care market has been well-documented. But critical- access facilities are one niche that seems to be taking off. "These are smaller health care facilities in small communities that may not have local access to emergency medical care," says Cianciaruso. He notes that expiration of federal legislation that...