If enacted, President Biden’s infrastructure bill would also result “in continued investment in the hard assets so critical to keeping Rhode Island competitive while helping to create more jobs,” he says, but also noting that in the construction sector, “workforce levels are hampering subcontractors’ ability to meet demand.”

Dimeo acknowledges that demand for retail, hospitality and office work have “experienced significant changes” due to the impact the pandemic has had on the ways people shop for goods and how they travel and the advent of working remotely. 

He does not think the COVID-19 Delta variant will impact projects too badly this winter, expecting “continued improvement in construction conditions involving managing the virus—daily surveys, PPE, social distancing, training, etc. We continue to work diligently in employing processes and precautions to help assure worker safety at all levels.”