The confidence of Colorado business leaders has surged going into the second quarter of 2013, according to the most recent Leeds Business Confidence Index, or LBCI, recently released by the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. With waning uncertainty giving way to a stabilizing economy, the second quarter LBCI posted a reading of 58.1, a sharp increase from last quarter’s 51.3 reading. Expectations measured positive—at 50 or higher—for all of the metrics measured by the index. They include hiring and capital expenditures, the state and national economies, and industry sales and profits.For the first time, index participants were
Nonfarm payroll jobs in Colorado increased 10,800 from January to February to 2,352,900 jobs, according to a recent survey of business establishments by the Colorado Dept. of Labor and Employment. Private-sector payroll jobs increased 10,100 and government increased 700. According to the survey of households, the unemployment rate decreased one tenth of one percentage point over the month to 7.2%. The decrease in the unemployment rate was caused by a larger increase in the number of people reporting their status as employed than in the number of people actively participating in the labor force. The last time the Colorado unemployment
Construction spending rebounded in February with gains from depressed January levels in residential, private nonresidential and public investment, according to a recent analysis of new Census Bureau data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned that the rise in public investment was likely to be short lived and urged policy makers in Washington to make infrastructure investment a priority. “It is encouraging to see growth in both monthly and year-over-year totals in private residential and nonresidential construction spending,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “There are increasing signs that 2013 will be a good year for
Effective in March, the Insurance Services Office (ISO) revised its forms and endorsements for commercial general liability. This latest round of CGL changes is the largest the industry has seen in years. Major and minor modifications, along with new endorsements, could significantly impact, and in some cases, narrow the scope of CGL coverage moving forward. While insurance companies are obligated to notify insureds about changes that affect policy coverage, as always, the burden of due diligence ultimately falls on contractors to understand their coverage and its possible exposures. “ISO forms are not used by everyone, but a lot of the
A leading national MRO commodity management and procurement services company, supplyFORCE, has named Utah's Industrial Supply Co. the 2012 Owner-Member of the Year, Industrial Supply Division, at the firm’s annual Commitment to Excellence Awards ceremony. John Eggleton, president and CEO of supplyFORCE, presented the award to Industrial Supply Co. on February 6 in Phoenix at the 2012 Commitment to Excellence Awards Ceremony held in conjunction with the 2013 supplyFORCE national meeting. The Commitment to Excellence Awards recognize industry leadership, extraordinary contributions to the success of supplyFORCE agreements and excellent overall performance across their membership. Three specific categories were presented: Excellence in
Kilgore Cos., a division of Summit Materials has acquired Westroc Inc., one of the premiere aggregate and ready-mix concrete companies in Utah. Westroc, based in Pleasant Grove, operates two aggregates sites and seven ready-mix concrete plants along the Wasatch Front. Westroc was established in 1987 and serves Utah, Salt Lake, Juab, Sanpete and Sevier counties with consistently high-quality ready-mix concrete and aggregate products. Westroc’s existing management team will remain in place and continue to grow the business as part of the Kilgore group.Summit CEO Tom Hill said, “We are delighted to welcome Westroc and its employees to Summit. The addition
Ritchie Bros., the world’s largest seller of used industrial equipment, has launched Ritchie Bros. EquipmentOne, with new features and functionality for both buyers and sellers. EquipmentOne is a secure online marketplace for the private sale of equipment and materials, where buyers and sellers can negotiate, complete and settle their transactions in a single transparent environment.Qualified members from anywhere in the world can buy on Ritchie Bros. EquipmentOne. Membership is free. Members can create personal equipment watchlists, save searches and access the Ritchie Bros.’ “Orange Book,” a market reference tool that shows recent pricing for equipment of a similar type, age
The new 5th Street Parking Structure project on the Auraria Higher Education Campus in Denver involves a 350,000-sq-ft garage that will hold more than 1,200 stalls, plus retail space on the ground level. Construction on the $17-million parking structure is expected to start in mid-May, with work continuing for about 12 months until July 2014. The garage, at 5th and Walnut streets, will be built north of the AHEC administration building and sited near the existing Elm Lot. Rendering by Pahl Architecture pc The five-story, 1,200-stall garage is one of the campus first projects planned for the 5th Street corridor.
The Colorado Dept. of Transportation and the High-Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE) selected Plenary Roads Denver in early April as the concessionaire for the second phase of the U.S. 36 Express Lanes/Bus Rapid Transit project between 88th Street and Table Mesa Drive. It will complete improvements to the entire U.S. 36 corridor between Denver and Boulder. Corridor map courtesy of CDOT The second phase of the U.S. 36 Express Lanes project is expected to begin construction late this year. The project is CDOT’s first public-private partnership, where the public and private sectors team to provide transportation improvements and services to the
Construction companies are increasingly allocating more money for labor-saving items that reduce man hours in the field while limiting liability risks. Handheld tools and devices can enhance worker performance and reduce owner overhead costs for increased market competitiveness. Greater productivity can be achieved through safer, ergonomic devices that increase efficiency while reducing health insurance-related claims. Photo by Southwest Photography Manually tying rebar involves rapid, repetitive and forceful body movements that limit the amount of time workers can do the task safely. Innovation, in part, has been driven by companies forced to do more with less during a deep recession. The
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