SUMMARY
Businesses in the construction industry face unique risks every day, from a wide array of sources. IMA’s Threats & Opportunities newsletter helps keep construction leaders apprised of events and actions in the political, economic, social, technology, legal and environmental spheres which may have a current or future effect on business.
This report provides updates at both the local and national level, including rankings of the actions’ potential impact on businesses in the construction industry.
POLITICAL IMPACT
Denver’s willingness to incorporate incentives into its effort to attract businesses appears to be working; the DFW area’s own municipalities are likely experiencing the same.
Texas appears to be graduating its college students with debilitating amounts of debt; the local governments and the Construction Industry may need to rethink how to incorporate these graduates into the State’s economy given the burden they will be carrying.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
This news about Denver outpacing Dallas as a “boomtown” raises the prospect that North Texas may enjoy a longer and more sustainable level of growth.
While North Texas’s undeveloped ranch land still is attracting investors, its outdated malls are also getting some much needed attention and remodeling.
SOCIOLOGICAL IMPACT
To help its residents and visitors cope with their busy lives, North Texas developers appear to be appealing to everyone’s desire to slow down and embrace Texas’s “rustic” allure.
Likewise, the design and construction of movie theatres is changing to adapt to the new demands of young professionals.
TECHNOLOGY IMPACT
The DFW area may also be experiencing the new trend in Denver: tech companies moving into downtown office space typically used by oil & gas companies and law firms; if so, the construction industry will need to pivot to accommodate the different design and engineering needs associated with shift.
This Wichita contractor and his success with social media may represent a new trend in how contractors get and retain business.
LEGAL IMPACT
With its own susceptibility to hail storms, North Texas’s Construction Industry might take note of this costly litigation pending in Colorado and consider how its own roofs might be designed and constructed to minimize the damaging effect of a hail storm.
North Texas’s development and construction community might also take heed of the ongoing saga and cleanup costs associated with the 2015 spill at the Gold King Mine in southwest Colorado which apparently polluted rivers in three states.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The Construction Industry is front and central to accommodating the growing use, storage and repair of bicycles.
An interesting article on the arguable environmental benefits of replacing concrete and steel with cross-laminated timber (CLT).