AGC: Jobs Report Shows Nonresidential Work Still Hot

Nonresidential construction is still a potent job creator, the Associated General Contractors of America said in assessing a payroll employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Seasonally adjusted total construction employment was flat in May and down by 21,000 or 0.4 percent compared to May 2006, Simonson remarked. But that masks divergent trends in nonresidential and residential construction.

Over the past 12 months, employment in the three nonresidential categories—nonresidential building, specialty trades and heavy and civil engineering—climbed 2.4%, considerably faster than the 1.4% gain in overall nonfarm payroll employment, said Ken Simonson, AGC economist.

That nearly offsets the 3.9% drop in residential building and specialty trades employment, he added.

“The actual difference is most likely even starker,” Simonson added. “I’ve been hearing that many subcontractors that formerly concentrated on residential work are now doing commercial construction, but their companies are probably still counted as being in the residential specialty trade industry.”

The report contains more good news for nonresidential construction in because architectural and engineering services firms are hiring workers at an even more rapid clip. Their employment rose 3.8% in the past 12 months. Their output will turn into construction jobs in the next several months.

Despite the layoffs in homebuilding, many nonresidential contractors are having difficulty finding workers with the right skill mix. That is one reason hourly earnings in construction went up 5.1 percent in the past 12 months, much faster than the 3.8 percent increase in hourly earnings for all private-sector production and nonsupervisory workers.

Molecular Lab Planned for NU

A laboratory is planned at Northwestern University in Evanston called the Richard and Barbara Silverman Hall for Molecular Therapeutics and Diagnostics.

The 147,000-sq-ft, five-story Silverman Hall will feature a biological imaging center and other core facilities, including therapeutics and diagnostics, proteomics and genomics and computational bioinformatics.

Silverman Hall will house 16 research groups in chemistry, biology and engineering for 245 facility, staff and research assistants. The building will also house the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute. The project is expected to be completed in June 2009.

The building will feature a variety of meeting rooms and gathering spaces to encourage interaction and collaboration. Silverman Hall has been designed as a green building and will seek approval from the United States Green Building Council for a LEED Silver Certification.

Turner Construction Co. was awarded a $59 million contract to serve as the general contractor.

$52 Million High School To Rise in Plainfield

Ground has broken for the $52 million Plainfield East High School in southwest suburban Plainfield, Ill.

The 100-acre Plainfield East High School will be located on 119th Street near Plainfield-Naperville Road. The school will be approximately 270,000 sq ft and include a new stadium, competition ball fields and tennis courts.

Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 is planning to open nine new schools in the next five years.

Hickory Hills-based Henry Bros. Co. will be serving as general contractor on the two-year project. Architects are Naperville, Ill.-based Healy Bender & Associates Inc.

Neuroscience Center Taking Shape in Menasha

Ground was recently broken in Menasha, Wis., for The Neuroscience Center.
The 38,920-sq-ft building is scheduled for completion in January 2008. It will be a community-oriented, physician-directed, clinically integrated, health care center focused on neuroscience services.

Areas of expertise include conservative and surgical care of back pain, neck pain and other conditions of the spine, brain tumors, stroke and cerebrovascular disease, Alzheimer’s and memory disorders, chronic pain, comprehensive headache care, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, and peripheral neuropathy.

Neenah-based Miron Construction Co. Inc. was named as the contractor on the project.

A facility is being developed that will encompass the differentiation, relevance and uniqueness needed to provide ideal patient experiences.

Turner Honored for Minority Assistance

Turner Construction Co. was recently honored with the 2007 Corporate Leadership Award by the New York-based National Minority Supplier Development Council for its significant support of minority business development.

Turner is receiving this honor for hiring minority business enterprises and education programs.

Turner awarded 2,800 contracts totaling more than $1 billion to minority and women owned business enterprises during 2006. This is the second year in a row that the company has surpassed the milestone of awarding in excess of $1 billion of contracts to M/WBE firms.

The NMSDC provides a direct link between its 3,500 member corporations and minority-owned businesses, assists corporate members develop minority business development programs and certifies and offers support to minority-owned businesses. The organization was chartered in 1972 to provide increased procurement and business opportunities for minority businesses of all sizes.

“In 2007, we plan to increase our efforts to further develop partnerships with minority and women-owned businesses and expand our Turner School of Construction Management training program to five additional cities across the country,” says Peter Davoren, president and CEO

The Turner School of Construction Management was founded in 1969 to provide minority, women and other small business owners with a formal training on topics such as developing a business plan, financial planning, estimating, construction law, bonding and insurance. Many of the 20,000 graduates of the program have since worked with Turner and have been crucial in helping Turner achieve the success in awarding 40,000 contracts with a value of $14 billion to M/WBEs.

Main Distribution Facility for 3M Under Way in DeKalb

Construction has started in DeKalb, Ill., on a 410,400-sq-ft distribution center for 3M, which will serve as the firm’s main Midwest distribution center.

The building is located in the Park 88 development. It is scheduled for completion in August.

St. Louis-based Clayco is the contractor, and Itasca-based Heitman Arechitects is the designer.