“If you build it, they will come” isn’t just a version of a famous film line. For ENR Top 400 listed contractors navigating markets bogged down by supply shortages and delays, it’s strategy. Whether “they” refers to more craft workers, better material lead times or decreased cost risk depends on a firm’s most pressing problems, but contractors overwhelmingly agree that relationship building is a way forward despite the industry’s steadily strained supply chain.
As firms enter a busy construction year, abuzz with preconstruction planning and anticipation for projects funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Top 400 contractors report that their biggest challenges stem from trying to control what seemingly is uncontrollable.