Page 57 - BusinessWest February 21, 2022

By Mark Morris
A
Construction
A Big Supply of Challenges
Prices, Product Availability, Workforce Issues Test Area Contractors
How do you plan a construction project when you don’t know if all the supplies will be available, and even if all the workers will be ready to go — and stay healthy? Very carefully, said contractors who spoke with BusinessWest about the uncertainties of the construction trade these days. Demand and workflow are solid, they say — but the supply-chain and workforce challenges of the pandemic era continue to inject an element of frustration into many projects.
s the national economy continues to improve, local construc- tion managers are telling BusinessWest they have plenty of work and a solid pipeline of projects for the immediate future.
That’s the good news.
The bad news, and there’s a good amount of it, comes in the form of a growing number of challenges, but especially supply-chain issues, inflation, and workforce matters, all of which are seeing varying degrees of improvement but nothing that is dramatic in nature.
Together, these factors make it difficult to make intelligent bids and do what every contractor wants to do — bring in a project on time and on budget.
“Everyone is tired of hearing about issues with the supply chain, but it’s a real thing,” said Christopher Burger, president of Inglewood Development in Longmeadow, noting that these issues stem from a variety of factors, every- thing from production challenges to problems getting materials shipped and then distributed to suppliers, to growing demand as the economy rebounds from the pandemic.
Christoper Burger, president of Inglewood Development, on site at a 12-unit apartment- complex project for the Holyoke Housing Authority.
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