Interview: Bob Moss, Chairman Founder, Moss & Associates

Solar surge

Broward County offers a growing opportunity for solar energy development

Bob Moss

Chairman & Founder – Moss & Associates

What project type attracted the lion’s share of demand in 2020? While Fort Lauderdale continues to have diverse opportunities in the construction industry, including multifamily as well as institutional and transportation projects, Moss saw a surge of demand in the solar energy sector in 2020. We got into the solar farm building business, which showcases significant demand. We believe that demand will continue not only for Broward but on a national scale. A large portion of it is in the state of Florida and we are building solar farms for multiple utilities based in the state. It has proven challenging because this type of project requires a lot of on-site workers. We tackle the engineering, procurement and construction portions of the project.

What would you credit as the bedrock of your company’s resilience during economic downturns? During the 2008-10 crisis, we had a $1 billion pipeline of work that went away as the money to finance them went away. The smartest thing we did was not laying off any of our A-players, those who make a difference for our company and our work. All of them are still here. We weathered that storm throughout a not-so profitable time frame. We were prepared to invest in brain power and that’s what we did. We knew the economy would come back eventually. By 2011, things turned around drastically and every year since then has been a record year for our company, up until 2020. Nothing is more important than having significant diversity, regardless of your line of business. There are cycles in almost everything that we build and as long as you have smart people who can move from one type of project to the next and execute them well, then you do well.

How has the pandemic impacted the construction industry’s tight labor pool challenge? The labor pool was tight before COVID, so I don’t think the pandemic has exacerbated it. If anything, over the past year, people became more aware of how essential construction is to the economy. The real impact stems from the fact that a considerable portion of construction industry professionals are exiting and construction companies are having a hard time attracting young people to this industry. It’s a hard-working, dangerous industry, no doubt. To some high schoolers, it’s not very attractive. Those willing to work hard, study and improve their skills can make a substantial living as a high-quality craftsman and craft supervisor. The opportunities are really good. It’s also becoming an increasingly visible subject as more schools are encouraging it. We do interface with several organizations that bring out students and introduce them to the various traits of the industry.