Georgia Builder Talks About Surviving The Downturn In Construction

(AP)

Construction accounts for under five percent of all jobs in the U.S., but 20 percent of all jobs lost during the economic downturn have been construction jobs, making it the hardest hit industry.

Dave Cyr, president and founder of Parrish Construction in Perry, Georgia says they’ve seen their business drop in half, and the competition to get a building project has increased sharply.

“Most people in our business have had to lay off, and we’ve been relatively blessed, although our volume is down. We’re keeping our people busy and we’re just trying to survive, and hopefully the economy will come back to where we can thrive again,” he told Here & Now‘s Robin Young.

Cyr says he doesn’t believe in government spending to create jobs, but if there is going to be government spending, he would like it to go to construction projects.

Guest:

Dave Cyr, President and Founder of Parrish Construction Group in Perry, Georgia.

We welcome comments from all of our listeners. Post below. Please stay on topic and be civil. Comments may be moderated by us, but you are solely responsible for the content of your comments.

J Frog

I thought that interview laid out the problem pretty well. Until the foreclosure problem and many home values being “underwater” is fixed, construction (and probably the economy) is going to be weak.
L Hake, P.E.

Could you perhaps look for an alternative person to represent the construction industry? Maybe someone without a tea party checklist on his desk? His comment regarding the hispanics in the construction industry was nothing more than hogwash. There were so many hispanics in the industry because they worked cheaper not necessarily harder. And there has never been a lack of locals willing to work construction, just locals willing to work in the conditions required by employers like Cyr.

It isn’t as if this isn’t something I don’t know about. For the last twenty years I’ve worked in engineering and construction.

Business Owner

Mr. P.E.: Your “personal attack” on the construction professional Robin chose to interview begs the question…are you an entraprenuer?…or an employee of an entraprenuer?…in the engineering and constrution industry.

Anonymous

Maybe not, but I am and PE is correct. First things first construction companies don’t hire workers unless they are awarded jobs.

As a construction professional I can tell you that I have to compete with scumbags like Robin on a daily basis. How can I win a public bid against a contractor who doesnt pay taxes, doesn’t hire Americans, and pays his workers below minimum wage so he can beat my bid and still stuff his own pockets?

I get so tired of you bunch of retired jerks that shout off on these boards and don’t really know a thing. Most likely you are a retried federal manager on my dime any way.

Anonymous

Being against government spending except when it goes to you is not the same as saying if the government is going to spend where, on principle, you believe it shouldn’t you would then like some of that to come your way. Would you expect people to just forgo their share of the government spending that they have to pay for with their taxes? Try applying that sort of premise can be applied to revenues: why don’t we just get more money for government from those who believe in higher taxes?

Robin found government-mandated “prevailing wage” requirements “interesting” but then asked about the requirement that employers have to check if employees being hired were “undocumented,” citing an example where a farmer had legal workers quit. This is exemplary of those who ignore role of market forces in determining what a job should pays and believe that government should be making the decision about what people should be paid. Why shouldn’t any job pay what the labor-market of LEGAL workers dictates? There is no such thing as a labor shortage when there are millions of people who are unemployed that could do the job. What you have is people who don’t think they should have to pay what is necessary to attract workers to do that job. And why should government mandate that taxpayer money be used so that some people get paid more than the market for legal workers would dictate?
Dthompson

Robin, I enjoy your show as well as this interview however I must tell you as an owner of a construction firm in San Diego there are several thing goverment can do to restart this economy. First have the President, every Governor and City councils tell there staffs and agency’s to begin working with and support local business not trying to take them out of business. As a business owner I can tell you dealing with some 17 agencies every year, each with some persons who’s looking soly to fine you for something, it gets very tiring. I can tell you I have never in 20 years had any person from goverment ask what they could do to help my business, nor have I ever been fined as I try to run a very clean business.

Having the President (all government) stop writing new regulations on business and begin getting rid of the crazy rules they have already put into law would help. I wish I had the time to tell you the things we do and the added cost to customers and goverment for regulations that accomplish nothing.

How about some limited tort reform. I know with a Senate and Congress full of attorneys it won”t happen but I can tell you it would go a long way in increasing hiring.

Have goverment work with American business and not againist it and you would see results in months not years.

Anonymous

Really, as a contractor one of the first things that I realized was that I don’t create jobs. If there isn’t people pushing money into the construction market there isn’t any work, period.

This is what has taken place, several years ago my dog could get a mortgage or maybe three. This generated a huge cash flow, people flipping homes right and left. They didn’t live in them they just flipped them. This created financial services demand and fueled hiring. The demand was so high that if you were in the business five years ago in San Diego your crews were at least 50% undocumented workers unless your in the licensed crafts. If you are in the drywall or paint or framing business you most likely still employ undocumented workers.

Speculation was rampant in real estate five years ago and that made work for us. In turn we hired tradesmen to accomplish task that ended up putting money in our pockets. The economy has stalled, no one is speculating the way they did so construction is down. When construction is down we lay off tradesmen, that is the life of the construction worker. We know with every hammer swing we are putting ourselves out of work.

You suggest the President do something to create construction jobs but spout rhetoric. Interest rates are at an all time low of 3.9% and still no one can get a loan. The banks are holding tight, no loans, no construction. Are you suggesting that the banks do what they did five years ago and hand out loans to anything that ask? That’s what created this cliff in the first place. Are you suggesting that if you could pay workers less you could put them to work, what hogwash, are you saying that if you only had more mony in your pocket then you could hire more tradesmen?

The way government can create construction jobs is by spending tax dollars on construction projects. The only way a construction company can hire more tradesmen is if their workload expands. The only way a contractor can make money is if there is enough work to go around and you don’t have to compete with low ball contractors who cut corners and cheat their employees.

Anonymous

I listened to the interview and I know guys like this and he is one of the problems. As a construction company that does provide health insurance and pension and pays my taxes I am forced to compete against contractors who don’t have a since of responcibilit towards their employees. They sluff off these cost to the general public.

As a contractor who only hires legal workers, I can tell you if you offer a decent wage and benefit package you have no trouble finding good hard working tradesmen. If you expect them to work for below minimum wage the only workforce you have left are the undocumented and what you are doing is exploiting them in your effort to compete with me. I have Vet’s comming to my office every week looking for work, we have an obligation to these young men and women and the contractor that was interviewed should be ashamed of himself.

As for knowing tax rates and the impacts of the medical insurance bill, it has been discussed at length. I would tell this contractor to simply contact the appropriate governmental agency and they will once again explain it to him. I can also say that as a contractor none of this impacts my ability to hire, we only hire tradesmen when we win bids and have work.

Being from the North I am somewhat upset that any of the stimulus money went to the South. They do not pay their fare share of taxes and continually demand that the Northern States subsidize them with our tax dollars. The only thing this contractor proved to me was the only way he can compete is by cheating. He didn’t even know what Davis Bacon wages are. By the way they are not set by the Unions but through a survey of wages in the area. Given the fact that Georgia has a Union density of below 3% I would find it hard to believe they have any influence in establishing Davis Bacon wages.