Publication: Charlotte Business Journal, September 11, 2024

The construction industry faces many ongoing challenges regardless of market sector or business size. Procurement issues, inflationary pressures and trade labor shortages continue to impact us and are among our biggest opportunities to manage to ensure project success. These are strategic initiatives for us to concentrate on because these global issues are not going away anytime soon.

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and all the global trade disruptions and depleted inventory that followed has created a heightened emphasis on managing the procurement of materials and equipment, including transportation logistics, from all stages of the point of sale and delivery process to avoid delay to projects.

Understanding the inflationary pressures within the industry during design development can help in the decision-making process, such as when to order equipment and what type of material makes the most sense to stay within project budget parameters. All of this must be provided to clients in real time so they can be educated enough to make informed decisions on their projects and avoid delays caused by inadequate cost control forecasting.

Having an adequate pipeline to recruit and retain talent throughout the industry, especially in the trades, continues to impact the industry’s growth. Retaining that talent by offering training and upward mobility from within the organization must be a priority for a firm’s success.

In addition, our industry must broaden its inclusion and outreach. We have significant opportunities in the trades for an individual to make a good living, contribute to society and have a wonderful retirement plan at the end of their career. Furthermore, these skills can be used in many aspects of one’s life.

Our task is to broaden that message and get it out to younger generations to create a level of excitement about having a career in the construction industry. In doing so, the construction industry will likely leverage new technology to become more productive, thus building efficiencies within the industry.

Tackling these challenges also requires a strong network of industry, trade and community partnerships.

1. Local industry and subcontractor partnerships. Start by partnering with your clients, design partners, trade contractors and suppliers early in the project planning and development process. This will help to maximize the client’s budget while ensuring compliance with regulatory, security, safety, quality, scheduling and sustainability requirements.

Emphasis should be made on working closely with trade contractors and supply partners to anticipate industry trends that may affect project labor or material availability and provide valuable guidance on what needs to be done for a project to be successful. For example, there may be more optimal times to pour concrete on a project that considers potential disturbances to the public, subsurface conditions and delays in extreme weather conditions.

These relationships are also important in the planning stages to determine safety conditions, constructability concerns and site logistics.

2. Community institutions and schools. Workforce development is a significant challenge in the industry. Ensuring you have personnel who work safely and efficiently while delivering quality products is an ongoing challenge. There are many opportunities to address this issue, starting with schools and institutions from pre-K to college and beyond.

Partnerships with community colleges, associations and construction management schools are important to developing a skilled workforce. UNC Charlotte has an excellent construction management program and York Technical College in Rock Hill offers a strong trades workforce development program.

At the state level, there is a need for more focus and funding for trade education. Decades ago, trade programs and shop classes were removed from high schools. Partnering with high schools to reintroduce these programs and fund initiatives that help meet the needs of regional workforce demands while preparing students for postsecondary success is crucial.

Poettker is passionate about mentoring youth and young professionals in the construction industry. In late 2023, our company launched its NextGen program to connect students to hands-on construction learning opportunities in the communities where they live, learn and play.

3. Associations and professional development. Carolinas AGC and ABC of the Carolinas have robust workforce development programs to engage the younger generation in trades. Beyond workforce development, these associations assist companies with safety and quality control guidelines, programs and best practices.

Safety and employee engagement awards drive company values and hold teams accountable. Accolades reflect employees’ dedication to making safe decisions and the effectiveness of training and oversight.

At the end of the day, forming new relationships and strengthening existing ones is the key to navigating both short-term and long-term industry challenges.

Contact our team to learn more about our relationship-driven approach at poettkerconstruction.com/southeast.

From early development planning to transforming your facility, Poettker Construction’s approach of relationship-building, team collaboration and financial transparency brings immense value to their clients, business partners, commercial real estate developers and institutions in search of resilient and flexible real-estate portfolio growth solutions.

Keith Poettker is the CEO of Poettker Construction Company and chairman of its board of directors. As CEO, Poettker is responsible for the culture of the business as well as the overall strategic vision of the company. Poettker’s management style is based on servant leadership founded on mutual respect, professionalism, integrity, safety, quality and a dedication to supporting company and individual goals and growth aspirations.