Even as problems with the global supply chain persist, resulting in a shortage of needed materials for both contractors and manufacturers, a prominent business leader is forecasting an easing of the situation by next year.
Speaking before the Institute of International Finance, Jamie Dimon remarked: “This will not be an issue next year at all.” While acknowledging that the problem is currently at its worst, Dimon, chief executive officer for JP Morgan Chase added: “I think the great market systems will adjust for it like companies have.” Dimon’s supply chain predictions come as a number of news sources are reporting on the severity of current supply issues, with the Wall Street Journal observing that current “supply shocks are already showing signs of choking off the recovery in some regions.” Notes the Los Angeles Times: “Industrial and construction companies are expected to warn about supply chain troubles as they begin reporting third-quarter results later this month. Supermarkets, consumer staple makers and e-commerce companies are dealing with a shortage of truck drivers in parts of the world.” Adding to all of that, continues the Times: “Shippers still face a lack of cargo containers at the right place for the right price.” By Garry Boulard
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A builders’ professional group in Colorado has announced it is taking the City of Denver to court due to its vaccine mandates.
The Colorado Contractors Association says that the mandate is too restrictive and violates the contracts clause of the U.S. Constitution by impinging on the right of a company to do work with a public entity. In filing in the federal U.S. District Court for Colorado, which is based in Denver, the lawsuit aims to block the vaccine mandate for construction contractors who do work for the city. The brief also states both that the mandate itself is unconstitutional and, as framed, does not apply to contractors. “Denver cannot legally or practically conscript the private sector” to enforce the mandate, reads the brief. Joined by several other contractors’ associations, the Colorado Contractors Association additionally argues that the mandate will have the effect of depleting the available contractor workforce, resulting in the delay of any number of city construction projects. In an interview with the Construction Dive, Tony Milo, executive director of the Colorado Contractors Association, said his group had earlier met with Denver officials and suggested that they adopt President Biden’s more flexible executive order requiring companies with 100 or more employees to either mandate the vaccine or have employees undergo regular testing. “But they flatly rejected all of our requests,” Milo says of those meetings. Denver issued a vaccine mandate on August 2, which contained a compliance date for all city workers and contractors of September 30. The lawsuit further agues that “up to half of the employees in the construction industry are vaccine hesitant, not because, as may be argued, they have some political opposition, but because the construction industry is largely made up of communities of color who are vaccine hesitant due to mistrust of the government.” In submitting the filing, the Colorado Contractors Association is seeking to nullify the city order only as it applies to contractors. By Garry Boulard ![]() Construction could begin two years from now on a new solar power plant in northern Arizona that will be capable of delivering up to 400 megawatts of renewable energy to area residents, providing energy for some 80,000 homes. The utility company Salt River Project, based in Tempe, is partnering with the solar developer Clenera, of Boise, Idaho, to build the project on a 2,400-acre site in Coconino County. In a statement, Mike Hummel, Salt River Project chief executive officer, said the new plant will prove to be “an incredible clean energy resource that will support SRP customers and help us take a significant step toward decarbonization goals.” As planned, the plant, officially called CO Bar Solar, will likely take around 18 months to build, with a completion date anticipated for late 2024. The new facility will go up on what is known as the Babbitt Ranch property, which encompasses some 750,000 acres of both private and public lands. The Salt River Project operates around a dozen power generating stations throughout Arizona. The company has earlier stated that nearly 50% of the energy it delivers will come from carbon free resources within the next four years. By Garry Boulard ![]() For the second month in a row, the number of actual new jobs nationally has come in below what many experts predicted. According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report, around 194,000 new jobs were created in September, significantly less than the anticipated 400,000 for the month. Across the board, most sectors saw a somewhat lethargic gain in jobs, with hospitality and leisure employment up by only 74,000, compared to its average monthly gain earlier this year of 197,000. The construction industry posted 22,000 new jobs in September, with nonresidential construction firms adding new employees for the first time since the spring of this year. Residential construction, meanwhile, saw an addition of 3,600 jobs in September. Overall, total construction employment is now at 7.4 million, around 201,000 less than where the industry stood in February of 2020, the month before the Covid-19 outbreak. In an interview with the Associated Press, Nick Bunker, economic research director at the Indeed Hiring Lab, remarked: “One optimistic interpretation is that Covid-19 case counts are receding, so future months should be stronger. But the reality is that we are still in a pandemic.” The larger trend lines look more positive. The nation’s unemployment rate in September stood at 4.8%. In April of 2020, when the full brunt of the Covid-19 outbreak and national economic shutdown was being felt, that number stood at 14.8%. By Garry Boulard Large El Paso School District Could See a Variety of Facility Construction and Upgrade Work10/11/2021 ![]() Voters in the Canutillo Independent School District, headquartered in El Paso, will face a $187.5 million bond issue that has been long in the talking and planning stage. Members of the district’s board of education in August approved putting the bond on this year’s ballot after months of meetings designed to prioritize the most needed projects. A district with more than 6,000 students, the Canutillo ISD stretches from El Paso to the east, taking in the towns of Canutillo, Prado, and Vinton. According to district officials, bond funds will particularly be focused on the creation of safe learning environments, which includes creating secured entryways at every one of the nearly dozen schools making up the Canutillo ISD. In a statement, Superintendent Pedro Galaviz remarked: “We are living in different times than in the past and our schools need to be mindfully constructed to reflect the threats and challenges posed to modern society.” The bond will also be used to replace the deteriorated roofs of several schools, and generally upgrade plumbing and HVAC systems. Additional plans call for the construction of a new campus for the district’s Northwest Early College High School, as well as a new Career and Technology Education facility to be built at the site of the current Canutillo High School at 6675 S. Desert Boulevard in El Paso. Also planned: a new middle school, set to be built in the northwest part of the district near the intersection of Interstate I-10 and Loop 375. Voters have generally been supportive of bond proposals in the district, approving a $12.3 million bond in 2003 for new construction and renovation projects, as well as a $39 million bond in 2006 for the construction of two new elementary schools. The growing district currently includes two high schools, two middle schools and six elementary schools. By Garry Boulard New Mexico Senator Heinrich Calls for Increased Federal Funding to Clean Up Hard Rock Mining Sites10/8/2021 ![]() Up to $3 billion in federal funds could be available for a program that would see the cleanup of hard rock mining sites in states of the West. There are currently up to 140,000 abandoned hard rock mines, with perhaps as many as 22,500 of those mines posing an environmental hazard. New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich is calling for a program that will clean up those sites, which can be found on tribal lands, as well as lands owned by the federal government and the states. Heinrich, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has included cleanup funding in the $1.2 trillion infrastructure legislation currently being reviewed in both the Senate and House. If ultimately approved, Heinrich’s legislation would see up to $1.5 billion targeting cleanup projects conducted by the federal government, with the second $1.5 billion going to the states and tribal governments for that same purpose. In hearings designed to explore and update the process of future mining projects securing the approval of the U.S. Forest Service, Heinrich remarked: “As we consider these reforms—royalties, reclamation fees, claim fees—we also need to include the voices of the communities that live daily with the consequences of mine pollution.” Heinrich is additionally participating in hearings exploring whether the nation’s hard rock laws, first approved by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, should be updated. Hard rock mining entails the excavation of such metals as ore containing gold, silver, copper, zinc, and lead. According to the Environmental Protection Agency at least 40% of all watersheds in the West have been contaminated by pollution from hard rock mines. The General Accounting Office has additionally estimated that there may actually be as many as 390,000 hard rock mines on federal lands that have yet to be documented. Between 2008 and 2017 it is estimated that various federal agencies, including the EPA and the Bureau of Land Management, spent around $287 million annual cleaning up the remains of the known mines. Experts have noted that besides the threat that such mines pose to the environment, they also present physical dangers for explorers due to their potential of collapsing without warning. By Garry Boulard The City of Santa Fe has issued a Request for Proposals for a project that will see the extension of a trail located within the Agua Fria Traditional Historic Community.
Plans call for upgrading a nearly 1-mile-long extension of the Acequia Trail, between Rufina Street and San Felipe Road, which is defined as a “multi-use, non-motorized, 10-foot wide paved trail.” As proposed, the trail will be updated to increase connectivity with Santa Fe’s existing trail system, providing a safe throughway for pedestrians and bicyclists, and building a shady corridor designed to reduce neighborhood heat-island effects. In total, the Acequia Trail is nearly 2 miles in length, running from downtown Santa Fe and heading in a southwest direction to the Casa Alegre neighborhood. The RFP has a submission deadline of October 14. By Garry Boulard An effort is underway to redevelop one of the most visually identifiable properties in Tempe.
City officials are actively searching for a developer to transform the 5-acre site that contains the famous Hayden Flour Mill at the intersection of Mill Avenue and Rio Salado Parkway. The mill, which is eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1918, replacing two earlier mills dating to 1895, and is adjacent to a series of silos that were constructed in 1951. A newly-issued Request for Proposals is asking for ideas for a possible multi-use redevelopment of the site which could see the building of office and commercial space, as well as a plaza and special events venue. The mill ceased operations in 1998 when then-owner, the Bay State Mill Company, moved its operations to nearby Tolleson. The city purchased the site five years later for $11.8 million and has twice granted development rights to two different private companies to create something new on the property, although nothing came of those efforts. Any new project on the site would keep intact the primary facilities that were once a crucial part of the flour mill, while also making certain not to disturb the nearby Hayden Butte natural preserve. Earlier plans have envisioned the construction of a five-story hotel that would include rooms in the silos, as well as a one-story addition to the flour mill building. The Tempe Historic Preservation Foundation, which uses a rendering of the mill and silos as part of its official logo, has called the site “ground zero for interpreting where our community began.” By Garry Boulard ![]() An increasing number of construction companies are finding it difficult to find skilled workers, a challenge that is now prompting contractors to turn down work. These are the latest findings from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Commercial Construction Index, reporting on industry activity between July and September. The report indicates that a daunting 92% of responding companies said they were encountering at least “some difficulty” in hiring skilled labor. But more troubling, 55% said it had become highly difficult to find skilled workers, a number that has jumped by 10% over the Chamber’s spring index. Also increasing: the number of contractors, at 42%, who said they have had to decline projects, up from 35% this spring, because of the worker shortage. Not surprisingly, the lack of skilled workers is also impacting project schedules, with 73% of contractors saying they’ve had problems meeting deadlines, up from 56% in the previous index. Exactly 93% of respondents, meanwhile, say they have been confronted with material shortages, with 34% saying pointing to a lack of steel, and 31% still plagued with wood shortages. Those numbers have changed somewhat from the last survey when 29% reported steel shortages and 33% reported shortages of lumber. Despite the labor and materials challenges, a strong majority at 63%, according to the index, “expect profit margins to remain about the same over the next 12 months,” says an analysis of the index numbers. “This quarter, the percentage of contractors expecting an increase in profit margin stayed the same as last quarter at 24%, while those expecting a decrease rose.” On the positive side, the July to September index also reveals that “two of the three key drivers of the index, contractor confidence in new business and backlog, improved this quarter.” By Garry Boulard If Albuquerque voters approve up to $130 million in bonds in November, the city could soon see the construction of a new and long-planned fire station, set to go up near the intersection of Juan Tabo Boulevard and Central Avenue.
The current Fire Station Number 12 at 201 Muriel Street NE is thought to be too small for today’s needs. The new station, serving the city’s growing southeast International District, is expected to cost around $7 million to build and will be funded as one of nearly $25 million in proposed public safety bond projects. Those bonds will also include $5 million for the planning, design, and construction of an additional bay at Fire Station 18, located at 61 Taylor Ranch Road NW, and $1 million for the general upgrading of Albuquerque Fire Rescue stations citywide. The bond program is part of a larger Capital Improvement Program and was the subject of several public input meetings before the Albuquerque City Council voted to place the proposal on this year’s ballot. A similar $16.3 million public safety bond presented to Albuquerque voters in the fall of 2017 won approval with just under 75%. By Garry Boulard |
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