There was a time when steel erectors worried about the price of materials, when utility contractors debated the virtues of directional drilling versus cut-and-cover trenching and when demolition contractors complained about the costs and availability of disposal sites. But with a market downturn, economic uncertainty and talk of war, specialty contractors now are sounding like business school grads coming back for a refresher course in the art of management.
For ENR's Top 600 Specialty Contractors, 2001 marked the last gasp of the industry's nine-year bull market. The Top 600 generated revenue of $53.94 billion, down 0.6% from the $54.26 billion reported in 2000. However, the 2001 revenue figure does not take into account the absence of Bracknell Corp., which reported $1.26 billion in revenue in 2000 but whose financial problems resulted in bankruptcy last year. The firm appears no longer to be functioning as a unified entity. "It appears that the rolled-up subsidiaries are being sold back to the original owners or investors," says one competitor. The Top 600 also is missing numbers from RailWorks Corp., which filed for bankruptcy protection in September 2001. The firm emerged from Chapter 11 Sept. 24, with a Baltimore court's approval of its reorganization plan. Ab Rees now is charman and CEO. However, Bracknell and RailWorks both have failed to participate in this year's survey.