A business forecast by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) says that for 2014, the national outlook for construction is more optimistic than it was last year.
Last year was described by the AGC as a mild recovery that wasn’t widespread and slower than hoped. In Wisconsin this year, construction is expected to be strong in southeast Wisconsin, Madison, the Fox Valley and the Eau Claire area, where processing plants for frac sand are being built.
Bob Barker, executive vice president of Associated Contractors of Wisconsin, said he doesn’t know if the industry will return to pre-recession levels of employment.
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“The one obvious thing that happened to the commercial construction industry and the private markets was the collapse of the housing industry,” said Barker. “And the one thing that’s going to determine how fast and how far we come back, to a great extent, is the return of the housing market.”
The pace of the economy overall will impact construction in another way: Barker said if the economy rebounds too quickly, they may not be able to find workers.
“If we have a slow recovery I think we’ll be okay,” said Barker. “But, it’s going to take some recruitment and some effort by the industry to encourage young people to get into the skilled trades.”
In a Wisconsin-wide survey, 88 percent of contractors said a top legislative priority is training construction workers for the future. Funding for construction is also a concern: 44 percent said lack of bank credit has caused customer’s projects to be delayed or canceled.
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