CISCA Monday Newsletter
 
Industry News
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 800 points last week after the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note briefly broke below the two-year rate, a phenomenon that has been a reliable indicator of economic recessions, according to CNBC. In addition, a report last month showed construction spending slowing,despite predictions that it wouldn’t, and issues such as trade troubles, labor shortages and rising material prices have kept U.S. construction executives on their toes.
 
According to the USG Corporation + U.S. Chamber of Commerce Commercial Construction Index, the labor shortage poses major challenges to the industry, causing firms to struggle to meet deadlines (70%), increase costs for new work (63%), ask skilled workers to do more work (81%) and reject new projects (40%). In this tight labor market, the strategies outlined below can help construction companies effectively recruit qualified candidates.
 

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9Wood
Construction business owners, leaders and managers continue to be stuck in the past. They fail to realize by squeezing out the last drop of productivity, cutting their overhead to the bare bones, trying to cut job costs, working harder and continuing to do business the same way with the same old customers won’t maximize their profit margin and allow them to reach their goals.
 
Due to the significant growth of Spanish-speaking workers, construction executives should expect bilingual jobsites to be the rule, not the exception. As the rate of construction tech adoption increases throughout the industry, there is a rising demand for bilingual construction software to support the growing Spanish-speaking skilled workforce.
 
building, materials and technology science is leading the way with intentional resilience solutions. While there's always more comfort in conventional approaches, we must adopt resilience within ourselves - recover from conventional thinking and embrace sound advancements - so we can adapt to a future that does nothing short of demanding it.
 
A strong majority, 74%, of U.S. business economists appear sufficiently concerned about the risks of some of President Donald Trump’s economic policies that they expect a recession in the U.S. by the end of 2021. The economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics, in a report released Monday, mostly didn’t share Trump’s optimistic outlook for the economy, though they generally saw recession coming later than they did in a survey taken in February.
 
Safety and wellness programs are an investment in a company’s employees and ultimately about creating a caring and wellness-focused culture. As with any new program, employees will not buy in unless they feel it is important to the leadership team. If the employees see leadership is truly invested in the success of this project, most will follow suit.
 
While it might seem like there are new cases of construction fraud reported practically every week, the good news is that the construction industry is pretty far down on the list of businesses affected by fraudulent acts by employees and subcontractors. But while banking and finance and other industries are more heavily affected, the construction industry is still impacted significantly by fraud.
 
Acoustic systems that simplify the specification, sourcing, and installation process
Focal Point Lights

Focal Point, one of the newest members of CISCA is an industry leader that designs and manufactures integrated lighting and acoustic systems that simplify the specification, sourcing, and installation process while delivering a unified look with their Acoustic Solutions. Their in-house specialists can help you achieve your desired design.  

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The use of technology provides a good opportunity for construction companies that want to gain a leg-up on their competition by becoming safer, more efficient and more effective in the execution of their work. With the efficiencies gained, this could potentially lead to margin expansion on contracts and an increased job capacity over time.
 
A digital twin is a virtual model of a building that collects real-world information about the structure via sensors, drones and other wireless technology. The “twin” continuously learns from multiple sources, including advanced analytics, machine-learning algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) to gain valuable insights about the performance, operation or profitability of a project, whether built or in progress.
 
Capital projects budgets are big - and the stakes are too. The financial risks of doing work in the built environment are significant for everyone involved. A more collaborative, up-to-date approach not only reduces the risks inherent to capital projects, but it can also enhance quality of life and improve the industry as a whole.
 
Member News
With a little less than a month to go, now is the time to register for the CISCA Fall Conference if you haven't already! Set for Sept. 18-20, 2019, the conference will feature speaker Brent O'Bannon, Gallup-certified Strengths Coach, as well as a Product Showcase and our Annual Business Meeting.
 
As a founding partner of Offsite Integrated Structures Inc., Brent Horton brings 25 years of executive leadership, business ownership, and consulting experience to the Offsite Integrated Structures Team. On Thursday, Sept. 19 at CISCA's upcoming Fall Conference in Nashville, Horton will speak on "Prefabrication and Modular Construction: Trends, Outlook and Impact on CISCA Members."
 
When long-term care is needed, there are only a few options available to pay for those types of expenses. Genworth Life Insurance Company and CISCA are working together to provide members with access to long term care insurance protection.
 
 

 

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