St. Louis-area home building picks up in June Permits up from '09 but still well off mid-decade pace Read more Based locally and working internationally, McCarthy BuildingCos. and Alberici Corp. got through the recession's first year ontheir deep backlogs of commercial construction contracts.But now St. Louis' Big Two of general contracting expect leanertimes ahead as they cope with the worst economic downturn indecades.Commercial construction is a lagging economic indicator, meaningthat recessions hurt general contractors later than most companiesduring tough economic times. Thus general contractors are among thelast to recover when the economy improves."Once owners start to build something, it's very rare that theystop a project," said Greg Kozicz, Alberici's chief executive.As a result,www.saleabercrombieclothes.com, Alberici had a "very significant backlog" of workfor 2006, 2007 and early 2008 even as the economy cooled, andcompany revenue grew steadily, reaching $1.3 billion in 2008.Completion of some projects and a smaller backlog of new jobs willmean a slight revenue drop this year, Kozicz said."And we think '11 will be softer than '10," he said.Alberici currently has about a year's worth of jobs in theworks, down from 18 months in more normal times."When the economy was roaring along at its peak, we were closerto two years," Kozicz said.Whether commercial construction is in rebound mode is unclear,he added. The U.S. market is unique because of public stimulusspending, said Kozicz, adding that for the first time in Alberici's90-year history, government work makes up a "disproportionate"share of the company's business."On the surface, the numbers look like recovery," he said. "Butlook at the mix of work and you get a question mark,New Era batman hat. The governmentjust can't spend money indefinitely."By far the region's largest construction company is McCarthy,which had more than $3,Kansas City Royals Hats Kansas City Royals Hats Be ready Budget for both e.1 billion in revenue last year. Even thoughthat amount was down $380 million from 2008, the company had itshighest gross margin ever in 2009, said Derek Glanvill, McCarthy'spresident and chief operating officer,Ferragamo Varina Flats."We still had a lot of good work in the pipeline," he said. "Thebad years are yet to come. If we could stay flat over the rest of2010, '11 and '12, that might be a good thing. That would befavorable not only for McCarthy but for the entire industry."With projects in more than a dozen "core markets" spread across40 states, McCarthy's U.S. business has benefited from arecession-produced 30 percent plunge in the cost of construction,Abercrombie Mens,Glanvill said."The second thing is that the pent-up demand is starting to comeslowly, with more aggressive owners starting to build," hesaid.Absent "creative financing,New Era sales New Era sales Attacking Social Security," hotel and office constructionremains slow although public university construction is 'steady"despite the budget stresses felt by many states,New Era MLB Hats, Glanvillesaid."There are some bright spots but they're few and far between andnot in our traditional market of major cities," he said.To help deal with the lean times, McCarthy is venturing intosmaller cities and bidding on jobs that it would have passed on inbetter economic times,New Era Philadelphia Phillies Hats."Before, if there were four projects, maybe we'd get two,"Glanvill said. "Now, if there are 10 out there, maybe you swallowhard and go after eight and maybe, if you're lucky, get one."Len Toenjes, president of the Associated General Contractors ofSt. Louis, said most construction companies of all sizes arestruggling to get over the recession.A few big projects �� such as the St. Louis Art Museum expansion,the Mississippi River bridge �� are helping spur a slow turnaround,Toenjes said. Regardless, some area construction companies arelooking for work farther from home."We're going to see more of a national footprint in ourconstruction industry," he said. "Now that we've learned to workout of town, I think there's going to be more of a tendency tofollow a type of work or a client regionally or across thecountry." Mccarthy, Alberici,Abercrombie and Fitch Down Jacke wholesale Swarovski Artists, including Brubeck, wi, Construction, Recession, Associated General Contractors, Tim Bryant