MidAtlantic City Scoop: Construction Starts in Baltimore
Before the COVID-19 crisis, value of new contracts was expected to climb 2.8%
The non-building sector, including public works, was expected to rise slightly, along with institutional work.
City Grill
David Wissmann
Vice President, Construction Management and Inspection Services
Development Facilitators Inc.
While COVID-19’s initial impact on his firm has been “minimal,” Wissman says that “one would be foolish to not expect a trickle-down effect of the loss of revenue streams.” He adds, “State budgets have been frozen, causing some future impact and potential project delays or cancellation.”
Wissman sees more highway maintenance due to reduced traffic volume during the outbreak and says utility infrastructure work is steady. He adds, “I am encouraged to see that regions in the area have been able to get legislation passed to increase fees to fund ongoing [work] and improvements to severely aged pipe systems.”
As facility maintenance and construction and public safety work advance, Wissman says a full recovery could be as many as five years away. “I strongly believe that a stimulus package to aid infrastructure will go a long way toward expediting any recovery,” he says. “We need to develop a cure, implement it and return to some sort of normalcy before recovery would really begin.”
