Page 23 - BusinessWest March 31, 2021

Laurie and John Raymaakers say there’s plenty of infrastructure work available — and that trend should continue in the coming years.
The past year has been an unusual time for the construction industry — one marked by project postponements, soaring prices for materials, and the establishment of strict COVID safety protocols on job sites. But for most builders, it wasn’t a devastating year, and, in many cases, it led to a surprisingly promising 2021. After all, the need for projects to be completed hasn’t gone away, and the backlog is actually creating a surplus of projects to bid on. The aforementioned challenges still remain, contractors say, but the work rolls on.
FBy Mark Morris
or Dan Bradbury, 2020 was “a year of piv- oting and finding new ways to get the job done.”
As director of sales and marketing for Associated Builders, Bradbury saw a slow-
down at this time last year as several projects that were scheduled to break ground were instead post- poned indefinitely.
By including construction as an essential industry, Gov. Charlie Baker allowed job sites to stay open and keep workers employed while following pandemic protocols. While Bradbury appreciated the ability to keep projects moving, other slowdowns were out of his control.
“There are a lot of hurdles to get over in a large industrial or commercial project, and COVID hit the brakes on all of them,” he said, noting in particular the new challenges surrounding what in the past had been routine business with municipal governments.
“Because municipalities had to move to fully remote meetings, they occurred less often, which made it difficult to get building permits, zoning-board
“We already
had some projects scheduled to start this spring, but, more importantly, we’re starting to fill our pipeline again with projects that will take us well into the fall of this year and potentially into 2022 as well.”
Construction
Building Momentum
Construction Sector Looks Ahead with Optimism
CONSTRUCTION
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