Stimulus funding boosts construction projects, but

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Stimulus-funded projects are one of the few bright spots for theconstructionb industry, along with energy projects and militar base realignment work, Simonson said. The unemployment rate for the construction industry is more than19 percent, double the rate for the econom y as a whole, he Road repair projects can be awarderd quickly compared with other types of construction projects, Simonso n said, which is why so many paving creww have found work. There’s still a lot of stimulues money that will be spent on wateer andwastewater projects, he noted. Plus, the and the have releasecd long lists of construction projects that will be awardedx in thecoming months.
Simonson’s associatiomn gathered a handful of contractorsw for a conference call touting the benefitsz ofstimulus work. Christian Zimmerman, president of Pike Industriedsin Walpole, N.H., said his company has addede 100 workers thanks to the dozen stimulus contractsa his company has landed. These contracts also enabled his company to avoids laying off more than100 workers. “Most of the jobs we’rd getting are paving jobs,” Zimmerman Don Laskey, president of in Coos Bay, said his company was glad to geta stimulus-funde paving contract even though the compangy won’t make a lot of money on it.
His companyg is trying to improve its management to compensate for the lower profit marginand “comwe out on the other end of it as a betted company,” he said. Simonson said some water and wastewaterr projects are being delayed because the stimulus bill requirews the useof American-made steel, iron and equipment in stimulus-funded projects. Laskey, whose company also builds water-treatmentf plants, said vendors have told him that a lot of the materialw needed for stimulusprojectsd aren’t even made in the United States any “That’s what’s really sad about the whole situation,” he The cited the problems the “Buu American” provision are causinyg for stimulus projects in a June 2 letterd to members of Congress.
Federal agencies are balancingthe “Bu American” provision with obligationes the United States has under various trade but many state and local governmentse are not, the chamber noted. As a result, even some U.S. manufacturerw are being barred from stimulud projects becausethey “rely on globak production chains that integrate components from U.S. and foreign the chamber noted. “It is often impossiblew to avoid sourcing at leasty a portion of their content fromother countries.” The chamber urged Congress to reject “Buy American” provisions in futurwe legislation.