In one way or another everyone has felt an impact from our country’s recent economic woes. While some people have been affected much more than others, that holds true in many business sectors as well. Some industries have had to use cunning whilst venturing into new areas for revenue.
The allure of the stimulus package has proven tempting enough for public government contracts, or Requests For Proposals (RFPs), to become an integral and steady revenue stream for the construction industry in particular. Over the past two years many private construction projects have had to be either shelved completely or in a few cases put on hold for the time being. When that time for restarting these projects will be announced is anyone’s guess.
The lagging Subcontract Definition sector has a wide ranging impact on not only the prime contractors but also on the various sub-contractors as well. They comprise of a very large segment of construction companies that were least prepared for this downturn. It has also been quite taxing on peripheral construction industries such as architecture design firms, whose lifeblood is almost symbiotic with the highs and lows of the construction sector. It was not too long ago that many industry leading architectural firms were in high demand and even backlogged. The high demand that architectural firms had been feeling is now replaced with confusion bordering on despair as they, too, scramble to stay afloat and keep a steady project pipeline. In addition, the sales and leasing of tractors and construction equipment have experienced a drastic downturn in the private markets, as well as construction management and inspection.
Facing Draconian short term forecasts has coincided nicely with the growth for architectural and construction needs within the public sector. While most of these companies have done some public work in the past it was usually just another division in their internal infrastructure. When this spate of stimulus money finally hit the ground there appears to be many more public opportunities for these companies to chase and obtain. Now we are seeing them go after government contract work with gusto. These are RFPs that had previously been passed over due to the amount of steady work within the private sector.
The trickle down affect has been a massive boost for the bottom lines of both the Construction Business Owners companies and the architectural firms. In addition, products like tractors, cranes, and dredging equipment have seen support in various RFPs and bids released as part of the stimulus. In a twist of irony it could be argued that there are so many new public construction RFPs coming in daily that some feel the need exists for even more quality and seasoned companies to at least submit bids lest they are faced with an unfortunate quagmire.
The good news is that one of our nation’s bedrock industries has been given a new lease on life. With the need for renovations to certain areas of an aging infrastructure thrown into the mix it bodes well for future contraction and architectural firms of all sizes. In government contracts they are able to find steady and continual work that simply did not exist prior to the release of the stimulus package. This has created a rare win-win situation that shows no signs of abating anytime soon.
Construction