Construction firms in state, nation bullish about this year

Construction industry professionals — in Colorado and across the nation — are bullish about what 2018 has in store for their firms. But the ability to find and hire qualified workers looms as a barrier that could hamper productivity at a time the U.S. economy is humming along.

Industry advocate the Associated General Contractors of America and business technology firm, Sage this week released their 2018 hiring and business forecast for office, transportation, residential and retail construction. Based on a survey of more than 1,000 firms across the country, that forecast is rosy.

“Construction firms appear to be very optimistic about 2018 as they expect demand for all types of construction services to continue to expand,” Stephen Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer, said in a media call this week. “This optimism is likely based on current economic conditions, an increasingly business-friendly regulatory environment and expectations the Trump ad-

ministration will boost infrastructure investments.”

The survey found that 53 percent of business owners expect to do more business on a dollar volume basis in 2018 than they did in 2017. Seventy-five percent of businesses expected to grow their employee counts in the coming year, with most — 40 percent — expecting that growth to be modest, in the one- to 10-employee range.

A breakout of responses from 39 Colorado firms produced similar numbers. Fifty-nine percent of those companies expect to do more business this year. Only 11 percent expect to do less. Eighty percent of Colorado companies expect to hire at least one additional employee in the coming year.

Though he didn’t participate in the survey, Lloyd Herrera, president of Greenwood Village-based HCL Engineering & Surveying, said the outlook for his firm matches up with the survey results. HCL, which mostly does pre-construction engineering and surveying work, will be involved in the Interstate 70 and Denver International Airport expansion projects this year.

“We will be quite busy in 2018,” Herrera said. “We do anticipate the need to hire qualified candidates to help us successfully complete these projects. The challenge for us currently is finding those qualified candidates.”

Herrera is not alone there. Worker shortages topped the list of biggest concerns for company owners in 2018, according to AGCA’s survey. Fortyone percent of respondents across the nation said that was the top concern. In Colorado, that number climbed to 56 percent.

Sandherr said the organization will lobby Congress and the Trump administration this year to take steps to address chronic worker shortages.