MCAA Regional Report, Region F

Words: Justin Breithaupt, Kevin Camarata, Al Slattery, Rob BarnesArkansas - Rob Barnes
Louisiana - Justin Breithaupt
Oklahoma - Al Slattery
Texas - Kevin Camarata

Workforce Development

Arkansas

No active programs at this time.

Louisiana

There is only one union contractor doing work in New Orleans.

There appears to be no formal training programs at this time.

Oklahoma

The last year in Oklahoma saw a strong but extremely competitive year. The presence of out of state contractors as in 2010 was a sign of the strength of the market. The outlook of 2012 remains positive. Private work is making a rebound even over the numbers of 30% private and 70% public of 2010.

Training is nonexistent with the Union Contractors as they are finding it very difficult to compete at this time. There are still four quality apprentice programs in the metro area at the Career Tech Centers. These programs help supply the contractors that participate in the programs with the opportunity to bring students on at an entry level position.

Texas

Workforce development remains sluggish with the need for fewer workers in the marketplace. General contractors and subcontractors are working together to develop industry standard practices for continuity across the market place in safety and general skill sets by respective trades. Concern is also generating around the fact that unemployment has remained high for a substantial period and workers are leaving the field of construction.

Economic Conditions/Forecasts

Arkansas

Some of the institutional sector projects will likely move forward to market to try to take advantage of a depressed economy and lower construction costs. While conditions appear to be improving, lending standards still remain tight and the market will likely see projects continue to move to market at a very slow pace. The lack of available funding will likely extend the recession in the construction sector until late 2012.

The Residential market has yet to recover and will likely see some signs of improvement late in the year or on into 2013. Growth will be due to the threat of rising interest rates, but could be hampered by the ability of the banks to write mortgages. Multifamily is expected to recover more expediently as people move from singe family to the multifamily market due to unemployment, age, and or lower wages.

Non Residential Building especially in the market segments of Commercial, Lodging, Office, Religious, Amusements and Recreation are all expected to remain weak in 2012. It would be very unlikely to see any significant growth in new starts before sometime midyear of 2012. Retail will likely see a continued decline until sometime in late 2012. Recovery in these South Central market segments are expected to begin in sometime mid 2012. Institutional is the only market sector potentially showing a positive growth rate in 2012. This market sector could see a slowed response to its growth pending legislative action on the federal government level.

Louisiana

Private work is very slow except along the Gulf Coast. There seems to be a fair amount of re-building after Katrina. Government work is fair to good, again, along the Gulf Coast. The work is that a lot of private projects are on hold until the election.

Oklahoma

No Report

Texas

Economic conditions remain modest at best. Home prices are stable but single family remains down with exception to a modest recovery in the high end single family, multifamily appears to be the one sector that is experiencing growth, commercial building continues to be almost nonexistent. Building remains fair in the institutional area of education, and somewhat favorable in healthcare.

Single Family: Single family is expected to continue to grow at a modest pace throughout 2012, the high end segment of the marketplace should continue to gain momentum, and 2012 should continue to see a work off in inventory of the existing homes.

Multifamily: Has seen very little new construction starts in 2011, but is predicting some life for 2012.

Commercial Building: Commercial starts are non-existent in the area of new construction. Some owners and developers are beginning to work in the area of renovation or remodel. This segment began to pick up in 2011, and is expected to continue into 2012.

Institutional: Remains fair in the K-12 segment, renovations of older schools and many of the bond packages were burned off. The public and private markets of higher education remain one of the stronger segments of the market and continue to have prospects for the coming year. Local government seems to have slowed significantly and due to escalating costs and reduced revenues are being forced to cut rather than build.

Healthcare: Healthcare remains one of the strongest segments of the building market despite Washington mandates. With the baby boomers beginning to hit retirement age the need for facilities continue to increase both in the public and private sectors.

Masonry Marketing Activities

Arkansas

There are no masonry marketing activities at this time.

Louisiana

No Report

Oklahoma

The mason contractors in the area combined with American Subcontractor Association are making a push to have all contractors registered and bonded with the State Tax Commission to help level the playing field for local contractors as well as other initiatives to ensure all contractors are following the same guidelines on job bidding. Residential construction has had some influence as those contractors with less current residential work have come after some lights commercial jobs.

Texas

No Report

Competitors/Trends

Arkansas

Arkansas remains stable though somewhat depressed. Outside competition has begun looking at some large specialized projects. Barriers to entry however are high due to licensing requirements, local competitor’s ability to be more limber, and the inability for outside labor to draw from local worker base. Cost of construction in Arkansas is very competitive. Outside competition is finding it difficult to compete; they have many costs including distance, differential construction methods, and confidence of the local general contractors. Contractors have to remain vigilant and perform well to prevent outside competition from opportunity.

Louisiana

No Report

Oklahoma

With all the issues considered the outside influences to the local market have made a positive effect on the local contractors. We as competitors have discovered many ways to become more efficient and owner friendly. This in the long run benefits masonry by offering the best value, better service and an awakening of methods to communicate with the owners and architects to the benefits of using masonry systems.

Texas

Completion remains high. Giving the extreme economic conditions throughout the country many outside competitors are trying to enter the Texas Market. As the market in Texas is a highly competitive low cost market it is difficult to penetrate. Most contractors trying to enter have realized that with the volatility in the marketplace while general contractors are not willing to gamble their own reputation on the ability of out of town competition to employ and build projects on time. General contractors are also requiring more financial information on subcontractors to try and assess their risk at using weaker competitors.

Safety Issues

Arkansas

No Report

Louisiana

No Report

Oklahoma

No Report

Texas

The contractor base in Texas has a very high focus on Safety. Due to the overall size of the state Texas remains at the top of the Federal Governments watch list. OSHA is becoming more visible and more active in pursuing fines across many of the market segments.
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