{"id":1004202484,"date":"2018-01-05T03:48:47","date_gmt":"2018-01-05T11:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004202484"},"modified":"2022-12-08T10:18:20","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T18:18:20","slug":"construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction Firms Welcome 2018 With Confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Barbra Murray<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1004202491\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1004202491\" data-attachment-id=\"1004202491\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/kenneth-simonson-associated-general-contractors-of-america\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"800,620\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Kenneth Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Kenneth Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Kenneth Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg?w=800\" class=\"wp-image-1004202491 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg\" alt=\"Kenneth Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America\" width=\"300\" height=\"233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg?resize=300,233 300w, https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg?resize=768,595 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1004202491\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kenneth Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The construction industry has entered 2018 with expectations of a successful year ahead, according to a survey by the Associated General Contractors of America and Sage Construction and Real Estate. Most notably, construction firms anticipate demand for construction services to continue on the upswing across the board.<\/p>\n<p>Construction firms have reason to be confident. <em>\u201cThis optimism is likely based on current economic conditions, an increasingly business-friendly regulatory environment and expectations the Trump administration will boost infrastructure investments,\u201d<\/em> Stephen Sandherr, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America, said in a prepared statement.<\/p>\n<p>AGC and Sage queried more than 1,000 construction firms of varying sizes from across the country for the survey. The numbers tell the story, starting with the 75 percent of respondents who indicated that they will expand the size of their staff this year. Another notable figure: 44 percent. Survey participants revealed fervent enthusiasm about the ongoing demand for construction services, with a net positive reading\u2014the percentage of respondents who expect a market segment to expand vs. the percentage who expect a market segment to contract\u2014of 44 percent, marking the highest net positive reading since AGC began conducting the Outlook survey.<\/p>\n<p>While construction firms anticipate growth across all property sectors, they do have their preferences. They\u2019re most keen on the private office market sector, which garnered a 22 percent net positive reading. The transportation\/retail and warehouse\/lodging segments each had a 21 percent net positive reading, while both the multifamily and public building property types recorded a 16 percent reading. Federal construction brought up the rear with an 8 percent net positive reading\u2014but positive is positive.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI was impressed that contractors are optimistic about every type of project, including federal work that has not increased on net in several years,\u201d<\/em> Kenneth Simonson, chief economist with the Associated General Contractors of America, told <em>Commercial Property Executive<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>High Hopes, With A Few Worries<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s a rare forecast that is 100 percent sunny, and findings from the AGC\/Sage survey are no exception, as construction firms remain realistic about challenges. In their bid to increase headcounts, 82 percent of survey participants predict that efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-worker-shortage-puts-clamp-on-construction-hiring\/\">recruit construction employees<\/a> will become more difficult or remain as challenging in 2018. A notably lower 76 percent of survey respondents expressed this concern in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Participants noted additional apprehensions. <em>\u201cWhile workforce issues remain their top concern, many contractors are also worried about competition and the impact of decisions made in Washington on their operations,\u201d<\/em> Simonson said in prepared remarks. Thirty-nine percent of survey respondents indicated that growing competition for projects is a concern going into 2018, and 28 percent pointed to potential increased federal regulations as a troubling issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Challenges aside, the message from the construction industry remains clear. As noted in the survey conclusion, <em>\u201cContractors expect 2018 to be an even better year for the construction industry than 2017.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to a new survey by the Associated General Contractors of America and Sage Construction and Real Estate, the construction industry has high expectations for a successful year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":969,"featured_media":1004202491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21782,21808,23891,21742],"tags":[34654,38535,38754,38534],"class_list":["post-1004202484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-development","category-featured","category-national","category-latest","tag-associated-general-contractors-of-america","tag-ken-simonson","tag-sage","tag-stephen-sandherr"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.4 (Yoast SEO v24.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Construction Firms Welcome 2018 With Confidence - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Construction Firms Welcome 2018 With Confidence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to a new survey by the Associated General Contractors of America and Sage Construction and Real Estate, the construction industry has high expectations for a successful year.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Property Executive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-05T11:48:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-08T18:18:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Barbra Murray\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/\",\"name\":\"Construction Firms Welcome 2018 With Confidence - Commercial Property Executive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-05T11:48:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-08T18:18:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d1edda962dd3af55af8a203870f9fc32\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":620,\"caption\":\"Kenneth Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Construction Firms Welcome 2018 With Confidence\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Commercial Property Executive\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d1edda962dd3af55af8a203870f9fc32\",\"name\":\"Barbra Murray\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9a36d5070adb56de135886aa49db0452b319180ff050dbd70770fd33a3e63774?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9a36d5070adb56de135886aa49db0452b319180ff050dbd70770fd33a3e63774?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Barbra Murray\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/author\/barbra-murray\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Construction Firms Welcome 2018 With Confidence - Commercial Property Executive","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Construction Firms Welcome 2018 With Confidence","og_description":"According to a new survey by the Associated General Contractors of America and Sage Construction and Real Estate, the construction industry has high expectations for a successful year.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/","og_site_name":"Commercial Property Executive","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive","article_published_time":"2018-01-05T11:48:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-12-08T18:18:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":620,"url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Barbra Murray","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cpexecutive","twitter_site":"@cpexecutive","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/","name":"Construction Firms Welcome 2018 With Confidence - Commercial Property Executive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg","datePublished":"2018-01-05T11:48:47+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-08T18:18:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d1edda962dd3af55af8a203870f9fc32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg","width":800,"height":620,"caption":"Kenneth Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/construction-firms-welcome-2018-with-confidence\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Construction Firms Welcome 2018 With Confidence"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/","name":"Commercial Property Executive","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d1edda962dd3af55af8a203870f9fc32","name":"Barbra Murray","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9a36d5070adb56de135886aa49db0452b319180ff050dbd70770fd33a3e63774?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9a36d5070adb56de135886aa49db0452b319180ff050dbd70770fd33a3e63774?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Barbra Murray"},"url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/author\/barbra-murray\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/01\/Kenneth-Simonson-Associated-General-Contractors-of-America.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004202484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/969"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004202484"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004202484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1004202495,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004202484\/revisions\/1004202495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1004202491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004202484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004202484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004202484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}