Alabama AGC

This year’s tournament will be held on Lake Eufaula on Friday, April 13, 2012 .  Pick your own partner – only two (2) fishermen per boat.  There must be an AGC member in each boat. Plenty of prizes will be given out on the basis of the total catch per boat and prizes for the individual largest bass caught, as well as random drawings at dinner on April 13^th.  There will be a boat prize given out to some boat that did not weigh in any fish.   The AGC Bass Tournament Committee for 2012:  George Edwards (Chairman), Harold Harris, John Faught, Jimmy Pettis, Ricky Smitherman, Mike Collins, Johnny Rouse, Josh West and Jim Davies

More detailed information regarding this year’s tournament and the registration forms  login to the member’s only section – home page under members benifits.  These should be returned to the AGC Office as soon as possible.  Members who do not have their login information will need to contact Anna Brown. annab@alagc.org

The outlook for the construction industry is mixed for 2012, as firms must balance growing demand for certain private sector market segments with continued weakness in key sectors, the near end of the stimulus and declining overall demand for public sector construction.  Indeed, according to an analysis of survey responses from more than 1,300 construction firms conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America and Computer Guidance, the industry is not likely to experience a recovery until at least 2013 despite some growing positive trends.

With the power, hospital and higher education sectors leading the way, demand for construction should continue to stabilize during 2012.  Indeed, a clear majority of firms expect the dollar volume of projects they compete for to either grow or remain stable in every market segment identified in the survey.  However, the stability masks two divergent trends – growing demand for private sector construction activity offset by declining public sector demand.

Significantly more firms (32 percent) plan to add staff this year than plan to lay off staff (9 percent).  This is a marked improvement from 2011 when 37 percent of firms reported cutting staff while only 34 percent added employees.  Despite the fact more firms plan to hire staff this year, those additions are likely to be modest at best. 

Tight credit conditions do not appear to be affecting most firms’ ability to attract new credit.  Yet cautious lending practices are having what appears to be a significant impact on the construction market. 

As the commercial construction industry remains mired in a downturn that began in earnest in 2008, they continue to evolve their equipment strategies.  Instead of purchasing new equipment, many firms report leasing.

Construction firms continue to be squeezed between rising materials costs and stagnant earnings for work provided in 2011, a trend that is likely to continue this year.

To see the complete report, including in-depth analysis and graphics, go to the “Members Only” area of the Alabama AGC website under the resource tab.