By Kyle Backer | AZ Big Media
Over the past few years, construction businesses in Arizona have been busy breaking ground and cutting ribbons. But that storm of activity — along with national economic trends — has ginned up headwinds. AZRE sat down with Arizona construction industry leaders who are all members of the Arizona Builders Alliance to get a temperature check on the market.
Discussing issues and trends in the construction industry are:
• Jamie Olding, owner of Building Excellence
• Jared Kredit, president and CEO of K2 Electric
• Katie Perry, executive vice president of Haydon Building Corp
• Mike Goodwin, operations manager for Climatec
• Ed White, president of TDIndustries
The following responses have been edited for length and clarity.
AZRE: Much ink has been spilt about the effects of inflation, labor shortages and supply chain issues on the Arizona construction industry. Are those still the prevailing headwinds for the industry?
Mike Goodwin: Those are definitely still factors. From our standpoint, inflation has slowed the private sector. As far as some of the newer projects that are coming down the pipe, Arizona is a little more insulated. We still have companies moving here that need buildings built, so there’s still opportunities out there.
The labor shortage isn’t as bad as it was, but the pool is still not deep. So, you’re either home growing talent or you’re in trouble.
As we go into the supply chain, Climatec is unique because we deal with a lot more electronics type of components. We can get most things in two to three weeks, but there are a few specialty items that can be problematic. For a long time, variable frequency drives were 20 to 40 weeks out, but those have improved.
