Optimistic Outlook

Construction Firms See High Demand Amidst Labor Shortages

“Together, they can get creative about ways to reduce costs in order to salvage as much of the intended scope of work as possible,” Vetter noted.

He also emphasized the critical nature of incorporating contractors into project planning ASAP.

“Labor, right now and for the foreseeable future, is an even larger issue,” JE Dunn Superintendent Joe Hansen added. “The construction industry is currently experiencing a ‘perfect storm’ of sorts. The industry is growing at a rate of up to 10% in the next 10 years, and it’s estimated that as much as 40% of the building trades workforce will retire in the same timeframe. In short: the industry is growing but our labor pool is shrinking.”

The firm saw this coming and has invested in promoting building trades as a viable career path; for example, Hansen said a team educates K-12 students on the trades and, to support up-and-coming women- and minority-owned businesses, the Nebraska team launched a Minority Contractor Development Program earlier this year.

Health Care and Education

McCarthy Building Companies leadership noted the Omaha team has completed $1 billion-plus in construction work over the past 20 years and now employs upwards of 100 people locally. Recent, prominent project work includes health care, education, and research/manufacturing. VP of Operations Ryan Felton spotlighted UNO’s Durham Science Center renovation, the STEM-focused Bluestem Middle School construction, UNMC’s new administrative tower, and the renovation and addition of American Laboratories’ pharma testing and manufacturing space.

“With renovations taking place while the building is occupied, work has been carefully phased in and student and faculty safety is top of mind,” said Felton of the nearly $28 million renovation to be complete this year.

Pivoting to the $50 million, 180,000-square-foot Bluestem: “The middle school is the last of five new schools built from the Omaha Public Schools’ $409 million bond issue passed in 2018, which focused on the need for new classroom space in South Omaha, where four of the five new schools are located.”

Regarding health care and lab/manufacturing projects, Felton referred to how the UNMC tower will anchor the campus as a component of a new innovation hub, and to how the American Laboratories’ project presented a highly-specialized environment, tight project site and aggressive schedule.