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A Better Foundation
Connecticut's construction industry is benefiting from more
government money and an improving economy
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Business New Haven
10/6/1997
By: Kirah Ramage
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New Haven County is keeping pace with the nation. Economic Digest shows construction contracts up almost 62 percent over 1996. In 1992, new construction was valued at $1.5 billion with renovations and conversions at $507.4 million. Compared to this year, says Bill Ethier, executive vice president of Home Builders Association of Connecticut, the state will see new construction at around $4 billion and renovations and conversions at $3 billion.
What's driving the construction boom? John Farnham, executive director of Associated General Contractors Connecticut (AGCC), says that, over all, it's the improved economic picture of the country and state.
Roads and Bridges
Sue Reynolds, director of communications for Connecticut's Department of Transportation, reports that a large amount of work is now being done in the Southwestern corridor, with projects on-going into the 21st century. Most of the work is on I-95, Routes 15 and 8, and all the work is road maintenance or improvements. “Connecticut hasn't built new roads since the early 80s,” says Reynolds.
However, this is not an over-all increase in work and monies spent across the state, says Paul Breen, assistant district engineer for the city of New Haven. But it does reflect the cyclical nature of road maintenance. In the late 80s and early 90s, the DOT focused its attention on the northern and central part of the state with great emphasis on the greater Hartford area.
Now the priority has shifted south. With the exception of five projects worth $300 million in the Bridgeport Corridor, the work is spread throughout the region and is being done by local companies. Projects in New Haven County include the Q Bridge work, and the I-95 West Haven/Orange/Milford project which covers eight miles of interstate. The project, which is almost complete, was contracted by L.G. De Felice Inc. of North Haven for $33.5 million. Other projects include the $48.8-million reconstruction of I-95 from Route 8/25 to Yellow Mill Pond Bridge being handled by White Oak Corp. based in Plainville and set for completion in September 1999. Breen says more projects are in the pipeline to be completed between 1999 and 2003 but have not yet been bid on.
Nonresidential Construction
Smaller construction companies such as C.J. Fucci Inc. of New Haven have seen an increase in work. According to company president Nancy Fucci, “Right now we're into ten on-going projects, where in the past we never had that many.” The projects, which range in cost from $500,000 to $1 million, include streetscapes for New Haven and renovations related to ADA (the Americans with Disabilities Act). Fucci says the company gets 95 percent of its projects from bids and that the increase in projects is in part fueled by state and federal money that has become available to towns.
Peter Stelma, a senior development officer at the Department of Economic and Community Development, says that much of the construction now being done in New Haven is from on-going projects approved by the state's Bond Commission two or three years ago. The state has helped fund projects such as the Shubert Performing Arts Center renovation and work on the New Haven Veteran's Memorial Coliseum. “We can look out our back window and see all this work being done. There is a lot of progress in New Haven,” says Stelma.
Larger jobs, such as the $50-million Ansonia 2001 five-school expansion program and Yale's $20-million renovation of its Sterling Memorial Library and $11-million construction of the new Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, are evidence that school construction and renovation is boosting the industry. Farnham says that the past severe economic situation caused institutions such as Yale to put off renovations and maintenance work. But they can't afford to do that anymore. He notes the Hill Regional School as an example of education funding coming in to fund new high schools and new middle schools and renovations of elementary schools.
Employment
The increase in projects has created the demand for more workers - laborers and craftsmen. According to the Connecticut Department of Labor, construction and mining jobs have increased by six percent, with those jobs making up three percent of the job force. The Connecticut Construction Industries Association claims record enrollment in apprenticeship training programs, and Farnham adds that there are a number of on-going efforts to bring resident workers into the crafts. These include pre-apprenticeship programs up to apprenticeships, which involve working towards being a journey person in the industry. The Painters Union has such a program called America Works.
Residential
While non-residential construction in New Haven County is growing rapidly, the housing market is making slow but steady improvement. Going against national predictions, permitted housing units are up 29.3 percent over last year, from 4,245 in July 1996 to 5,487 in July 1997.
“We're seeing a nice slow growth trend in Southern Connecticut,” says Bill Ethier, executive vice president of the Home Builders of Connecticut. “Which is best. Better than having a lot of speculation building and then the bottom falls out.” After a period where the association's membership dropped from 1,800 to below 800, Ethier says, “our membership is now at 850 firms who employ 44,000 people state-wide. So while it's nothing like it was before, we have stabilized.”
In 1990 there were 1.32 million housing units. An estimate of housing units based on permits issued as of July 1997 showed slightly more than 1.37 million units - a net gain of 51,047. The small number reflects the uniqueness of Connecticut's home building industry in that there are no large contractors, but many smaller firms which average 200 homes per year instead of 1,000.
Another important issue for all construction is land availability. “The reason housing is so expensive is the lengthy approval process. The association is constantly working to ease restrictions on land use,” says Ethier. “It's the major issue in construction.”
Overall
“Many construction projects have been on the boards for years but didn't have the funding to go forward,” says Farnham. “Now that the economy has picked up, funding is available. There's a lot of public money, as well as private, such as Bristol Meyer's or Miles Lab. Even Hartford is starting to look hopeful. This is as much work as we've seen in New Haven in a long time.”
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