Masonry Magazine September 2012 Page. 37
I have not seen an increase in commercial construction since 2009. The housing industry has shown some improvement, however, in the second quarter of this year, which is a good economic index with regard to future prospects for commercial construction. But, as of yet, it does not provide opportunities for commercial contractors who rely on the financing of commercial projects. Funding for horizontal public construction through the stimulus package provided a few jobs for a short time, but virtually no economic growth. Funding for vertical public construction is down, given the lack of funding with reduced business and real estate tax revenues. The construction of high-end condos has given way to condo conversions to apartments, which provide less opportunity for mason contractors.
On the bright side, the devaluation of property has provided an opportunity for developers with cash on hand to take advantage of lower land costs. As a result, we have benefitted from the development of a few new retail centers in communities that are business friendly and demonstrate a high potential for future economic growth demographically.
Keystone has chosen to weather this economic storm. Our perspective is that people will continue to have babies, will need places to live, will shop for the items and opportunities that sustain their lives, will need schools to educate their children, and will need offices and factories in which to work.
I, personally, have faith in the uncanny ability of Americans to reinvent themselves every generation or so, because of our freedom to innovate and our entrepreneurial spirit. We have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. We at Keystone have weathered four recessions in our 35 years, and expect to come out of this one a stronger, more efficient and viable company, providing design and construction alternatives to the increasing number of clients who chose to build longer-lived, more energy-efficient buildings.
Masonry: How important are electronic media and technology to your company?
McCauley: It has become almost impossible to function without it. When you bid a job, all the general contractors Google your company to check you out. Almost all drawing, RFIs, job correspondence, meeting minutes, pay applications, and contracts are done electronically. Our foremen all have smartphones, so information can be received or sent immediately regarding anything job related. Everything now operates in real time.
Painter: We are using more technology for communication and to reduce travel and manpower. We use tools like email, texting, Skype, etc.
Borman: Keytone has long had a website - www.Keystone-Masonry.biz. While our employees use Twitter, Facebook and blogs, ad nauseum, for whatever purposes they deem useful, as a company we have not used these media as marketing tools, simply because our commercial dients do not use them. We do, however, communicate with our key employees via iPads, iPhones and laptops on the jobsite. More important, we design in three-dimensional Auto Cad and have the ability to provide Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Masonry Coordination Drawings to our clients via the internet. Design assistance is an important service in our business model.
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READER SERVICE #163
September 2012
MASONRY 35