...infrastructure. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration will see $4.7 billion for the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, which could include grants for broadband service infrastructure.

Travers says Black & Veatch, which also is heavily involved in power-distribution and transmission projects, expects to see money from the stimulus to fund telecommunications technology that supports the two-way communications capability of smart grid projects.

While signs of recovery are on the horizon for telecommunications, the manufacturing sector is still waiting to find the bottom. Plant production has dropped steadily since early 2008 and this spring reached historic lows. The capacity utilization rate sank to 69.1% in April, the lowest level since the Federal Reserve began keeping records in 1967. Canada also saw its capacity rate hit 69.3% in the first quarter of 2008, the lowest in that country since 1987.

“The thing that keeps me up at night is the issue of industrial capacity and how long it will take for demand to catch up with that extra capacity,” says Randy Smith, president of the industrial and advanced technology business group for Englewood, Colo.-based CH2M-Hill. “When my bosses ask me what we will be able to do in 2010, [capacity] is what I’m focused on. It could be a few years before it’s back.”

Smith says he expects the pharmaceutical industry to be among the first to snap back, driven by the demand of aging baby boomers. However, biotechnology companies, which rely on private venture capital, will continue to struggle, he believes. Renewable energy products, such as solar panels, also could begin to rebound as government incentives continue to push for sustainable solutions.

For now, Smith says, existing clients want cost-cutting solutions from its engineering partners, such as low-cost energy savings plans. “Everyone is working to reduce costs,” he adds.

Sustainability continues to be a focus for manufacturing. Cincinnati-based Proctor & Gamble, for instance, has set a goal to reduce water and energy consumption, carbon-dioxide emissions and waste disposal by an additional 10% by 2012, on top of a 40% reduction achieved over the last decade. P&G plans to build 19 new plants around the world over the next few years and has developed its 77 Point Plan to help project teams build facilities sustainably, says company spokewoman Rotha Penn.

The plan, developed through collaboration with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design experts and several leading archictects, outlines 77 key elements for design and project teams to consider in designing facilities, including their potential impact on carbon-dioxide emissions, water, energy and environmental quality. The plan helps ensure that “sound sustainable and economic choices are made from the onset and throughout the scope of every project,” Penn says.

Overall, prospects in the manufacturing sector remain weak, and some industry executives believe the number of design firms working in the manufacturing sector could thin out in the coming months and years. “We’re taking a serious look at where we’re going with our manufacturing practice,” says a representative of one top firm. “We’re not sure what the future holds for that division.