(front row)
Phil Thomas
A.L. Huber Construction
Marty Hoffey
The Weitz Company
Dan Oxler
U.S. Engineering
Scott Kelly
Taylor Kelly Construction
Jim Calcara, 360 Architecture
Ernie Straub
Straub Construction (Co-Sponsor/Host)
Doug Fogel
Fogel-Anderson Construction
Tom Saul, Titan Construction
Don Greenwell
Builders' Association

(middle row)
Roger Meyer
Meyer Brothers Building Co.
Steve McDowell, BNIM
Patrick Pribyl
Lockton Companies (Insurance & Surety Sponsor)
Rita Cortes
Hoffman Cortes Contracting
Tony Privitera
Mark One Electric
Grover Simpson
Lockton Companies (Insurance & Surety Sponsor)
Tom Manning
Manning Construction
Jim Kistler
Associated Builders and Contractors

(back row)
Tom Whittaker
J.E. Dunn Construction/ Builders' Association
Randy Griffin

Burns & McDonnell
Bob Gould, Gould Evans
Mark Sherwin
RED Development
Greg Nook
J.E. Dunn Construction

Building Industry Stays Strong and Stable

On Tuesday, February 6, the warmest day in many months, twenty five of the area’s leaders in the building, construction and design industry gathered at the new offices of Straub Construction in Shawnee, Kansas.

This gathering marked the seventh annual Industry Outlook staged by Ingram’s Magazine.  When Ingram’s launched the series we were not sure how we would keep it fresh from year to year, but the changes in the economy and in the regulatory environment have made every year a new adventure.

Ably chairing the meeting was Ernie Straub, whose firm co-sponsored the event along with the Lockton Companies. The group gathered did not shy from tackling some very tough issues.

Workers

When asked what the most significant challenge each firm faces, the answer continually came back to one variable: finding qualified workers.

     “With all the growth that has taken place over the last few years,” said Greg Nook of J.E. Dunn, “it’s a challenge.” Nook sees the problem as industry wide, ranging from architects to day laborers. He identified the problem as “having enough people to get things done on time, everybody having enough of the right people to get things done on schedule and at the quality level that they want.”

     “It’s labor resources, project managers, schedulers, the whole gamut,” agreed Randy Griffin with Burns & McDonnell. Tom Manning with Manning Construction placed the crux of the problem on the skills side, with project management and superintendents. “It’s so tough to find good people these days,” he noted.

Once hired, there is an additional challenge, as Marty Hoffey with The Weitz Company observed: keeping good people motivated and in-house. “We see a lot of our managers jumping around quite a bit for an extra couple thousand dollars,” Hoffey added.