Specialty contractors, along with the rest of the construction industry, had enjoyed a nearly unprecedented boom market for the last eight years. Then, at the beginning of the year, the market started showing signs of softening. Specialty contractors began assessing their positions and preparing for a flattening of the market. The terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the economic upheaval that followed threw all of these carefully crafted plans and assessments into confusion. It still is unclear where the industry goes from here.
Just how big a boom the market enjoyed at its peak can be seen by the 2000 revenue figures for ENR's Top 600 Specialty Contractors. The Top 600 posted revenue of $54.26 billion in 2000, a 24.2% jump over 1999's previous record of $43.68 billion. While much of this increase can be attributed to big jumps in revenue from acquisitions by the largest firms, the overall numbers speak of the widespread prosperity enjoyed by the industry