Concrete Products

JAN 2015

Concrete Products covers the issues that attract producers of ready mixed and manufactured concrete focusing on equipment and material technology, market development and management topics.

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www.concreteproducts.com January 2015 • 61 Scan the QR Code to email Jef Bishop, Precast Division Manager, and set up a product demonstration at your location! Be sure to include: Competing Product www. nox-crete .com Let us show you what our products can do! Nox-Crete Form Release Agent ◆ ◆ Name ◆ ◆ Location ◆ ◆ Phone Number ◆ ◆ Products produced ◆ ◆ Any issues jbishop@nox-crete.com FEATURE FORECAST Energy and commercial sectors spur mid-sized contractors' 2015 optimism Surveying construction executives of firms ranging from $10 mil- lion–$1 billion in annual revenue, equipment finance giant GE Capital, Americas finds 75 percent of respondents "extremely" or "somewhat" confident in their local economies, and 65 percent indicating the same for the United States. Respondents see ener- gy-related construction as the strongest sector in the next 12 months, followed by office, transportation and residential. Half of the executives surveyed have increased headcount over the past 12 months, as the industry experienced 5.4 percent, year- over-year growth in mean total employment—up two points from trends GE Capital gauged in March 2014. Nearing 2015, capital expenditures are top-of-mind for mid-sized contractors, with 41 percent of executives surveyed confirming year-over-year equip- ment investment increases, and about one-third weighing financ- ing for additional purchases. Healthcare costs are a top concern at middle-market construc- tion firms, along with uncertainty of government actions—partic- ularly as it relates to public construction project spending. With more than one-third of firms GE Capital surveyed expecting an increasing cost structure in 2015 operations, the ability to main- tain or grow margins is a looming challenge. From 2014 to 2015, the more optimistic survey respondents see margin growth averag- ing 3.7 percent. The average revenue and headcount of the 59 survey respon- dents was $144 million and 642, respectively. In partnership with the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business, GE Capi- tal maintains the National Center for the Middle Market, whose quarterly updates of contractors are part of the U.S. CXO Industry Economic Outlook Survey, covering construction plus seven other business or consumer sectors. — www.gecapital.com/construction; www.middlemarketcenter.org AGC ECONOMIST: CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYMENT ROBUST, VULNERABLE TO SKILLS SHORTAGES In a recent release, The Associated General Contractors of Ameri- ca Chief Economist Ken Simonson cited a report from the Depart- ment of Labor that confirmed 38 states and the District of Columbia added jobs between November 2013 and November 2014, while construction employment increased in 26 states and D.C. between October and November. "These year-over-year and one-month changes show that con- struction is doing well in most of the country," Simonson notes. "Yet, the list of states that have added construction jobs var- ies from month to month, showing that the industry's recovery remains vulnerable to worker shortages and unfavorable govern- mental actions. "Although more than three-quarters of states have added con- struction jobs from year-earlier levels throughout 2014, the list of states with gains keeps changing. Only North Dakota, Louisiana and Oklahoma exceeded their pre-recession peaks for construction employment last year, while most states were still at least 10 per- cent below previous highs."

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