Seeing the silver linings
For as much as the pandemic has forced contractors to pull back on spending , it has also helped them focus in on the fundamentals of their business . Take Marker , who said she ’ s increased her focus to diversifying into a number of different construction sectors , so she ’ s not prone to the fallout of hard-hit verticals like hospitality , where her firm has done a lot of business in the past . Now , she ’ s been able to pivot to car dealerships , condos and multifamily .
“ We ’ re trying to focus on who we ’ re doing business with , instead of just project type ,” Marker said . “ We ’ ve done a lot of hotel work in the past , but fortunately , because we are a relationship-based company , we ’ ve got these other sectors that do continue to build .”
For Napper and Rockford , the pandemic has redirected the company back to its roots .
“ Sometimes , when things are humming along , you get to taking a shotgun approach , and maybe you want to go into this other vertical , or you get excited about looking at other things ,” Napper said . “ But at the end of the day , we ’ re builders . And that ’ s what we ’ re focused on . This has allowed us to get back to more of a rifle approach .”
Doing more with less
The pandemic has also forced contractors to find ways to be more efficient , even in the face of decreased productivity .
Lesser said . “ Maybe they ’ re taking on more contract workers as opposed to employees where they have to provide health insurance and everything else . Maybe they ’ re better off taking on less overhead , and then supplementing it if they need .”
It ’ s also accelerated technology adoption .
“ As bad as this situation is , it ’ s also pushing the industry forward into a better place ,” said William Sankey , CEO of New York-based data analytics solutions provider Northspyre , which helps predict and manage the impact of unplanned changes on project costs and construction timelines . “ Maybe where it would have taken seven to 10 years to catch up to where the finance industry is in leveraging data , I think that transition will now be underway in the next two to three years .”
Goodrich , who opened a 60,000-squarefoot manufacturing plant to prefabricate electrical components for his jobs , has been able to focus in on improving his firm ’ s efficiency while keeping everyone safe .
As fall 2020 begins just as spring and summer did — in the midst of COVID-19 ’ s many challenges — contractors are doing what they can to ensure they ’ ll continue doing business over the long haul .
“ The silver lining is we will be more productive ,” said Goodrich . “ We ’ re going to be safer . We ’ re going to communicate better with our people and use technology more wisely .”
“ Contractors are figuring out how to get by with much less , and a leaner workforce ,”
SEPTEMBER 2020 • DITCHMEN 17