Electrical Association

From the Chair: Finding Opportunities--the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Written by Eric Seanger

The Good

Doug Jaeger, Chief Executive Officer of Adolfson & Peterson, expects to see opportunities in the areas of:

• Power/renewable power is being fueled by government goals for a reliable energy supply; green construction; independence from Middle East energy by increasing renewable sources (wind, solar, biomass, etc) in the US; and protecting the infrastructure of the grid. This is expected to lead to a tremendous amount of construction for companies who prepare to do this kind of business from substations to nuclear plants.
• Health care/hospitals as US citizens age and technologies develop.
• Education/schools will be improved and built based, to a significant degree, on what the Federal government does with stimulus funds.

The growth rate for "construction put in place" is projected to be 10% in the power sector followed by 5% to 10% in the manufacturing according to the recent FMI Market Overview. Office, retail, residential and community buildings such as churches will experience various levels of continuing weakness in the near future.

Increasingly subcontractors and general contractors will build teams who frequently work together on projects. That teamwork is used to increase productivity, reduce costs, and deliver high quality. The relationships will be forged through technology and trust. Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is a cutting edge way of maximizing accuracy and efficiency. Adolfson & Peterson has started requiring the subs they work with regularly to become proficient in this process. The American Institute of Architects offers a guide to IPD at www.aia.org/contractdocs/AIAS077630

Chad Kurdi, head of the Electrical Department at Dunwoody, says they are using REVIT software to teach design students to work together on the architect's design so that plans from the engineers and subcontractors can be integrated into a three dimensional virtual building. This is an effective way to avoid mistakes and coordinate for the most efficient construction process.

The Bad

Because of the depressed valued and foreclosures on business and residential properties, investor value is high. The bad news is that it comes as a result of a deep recession that has driven unemployment in MN above the national average and it will be 2012 by the time we get back to the peak levels of employment experienced in 2008.

The Ugly

There will be a drastic shortage of electricians when we emerge from this recession. Due to negative publicity and the short term shortage of jobs, young people are shying away from the construction trades. Qualified instructors are being let go as trade schools dedicate space once used for construction to other careers. Students entering the electrical trade in 2010 cannot take the journeyman exam until 2015 at the earliest. The consumer as well as contractors will benefit by encouraging people to go into the electrical field. It's a great career in that it is difficult outsource to another country.

"A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties," according to President Harry Truman.

Thanks to Dale Yohnke, Sarita Woods, Gary Brusacoram, and Michael Lamb for putting on another great NCEL Summit. A number of industry people attended and received excellent ideas (some mentioned in this article) about how to "make opportunities out of difficulties."