Going to market

The construction industry bleeds buildings.

Builders, given the right motivation, will build anything anywhere. They'll build a bridge so they can haul materials to an island to build a resort. If they have to, they'll build the island to hold the resort before they build the bridge so they can carry the materials to the island to build the resort. And they'll do it with local labor. They'll hit their deadline. They'll come in under budget. And they'll paste that project to their Web site and carve themselves out a new island resort construction niche.

It's how builders survive. It's also how they earn the respect of their peers. Wisconsin Builder saw that firsthand on April 20 when it honored 20 jobs from 2004 at the Daily Reporter Publishing Co.'s Top Projects Awards Banquet. There was a spire replacement, historical restoration, a rebuild following an explosion and a resort (although not on an island).

It was a celebration of diversity. There were a lot of different companies represented, and although each has its own specialties, most, if not all, could claim willingness to take on new challenges.

There were about 250 construction people at the event, and many of them most likely took their first step toward the award by saying, "Sure, we can do that." They said it even if they had never considered doing a job like that before. They said it because they knew, deep down, that the survival of their companies might depend on it.

Is that an exaggeration? Maybe. Or maybe it's just basic business principles in action. The more diversified a business is, the better it can handle the blow when a market takes a nosedive. How many contractors and architects were thinking the same thing when they lost their shirts as school construction tanked?

And school construction is definitely in the tank. School districts are watching in horror as backlogs for maintenance work — not even new construction — grow to the point where funding can only come from referendums. And referendums sport only a 50 percent chance of approval.

And it can get worse than that. The Florence School District is in such dire straits that it's considering permanently closing its doors. If Florence shuts down, the construction industry loses a client. With each failed referendum, the industry loses a job.

Those in construction who shift focus in the face of shrinking markets survive to build another day. Those that don't need to worry more about winning a project then winning a Top Project Award.

- Chris Thompson