About ten years ago, during the real estate boom, construction contractors and almost every facet of the American economy linked to construction industry were experiencing substantial profits and a backlog of work and/or orders. When the real estate market crashed, demand for construction plummeted. When owners wanted to build, they often experienced significant difficulty financing new construction projects. The combination of a flat or decreasing economy and a tightening financial market had a significantly negative impact on nearly every facet of the construction industry. Recently, however, the construction industry has rebounded nicely. Even better news for the industry is that trends continue to show current and projected growth.

The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reported earlier this month that its Chief Economist Anirban Basu forecasts a steady recovery among the U.S. commercial and industrial construction industries in 2015. Mr. Basu forecasts nonresidential construction spending will expand by roughly 7.5% next year. “The segments that will experience the largest growth in construction spending in 2015 include power, lodging, office space and manufacturing. The public sector will see far more sluggish growth in construction spending. However, this fits a multi-year pattern with private nonresidential spending exceeding public nonresidential spending by 28% in 2014, up from 15.6% in 2013." Basu was quoted in the ABC publication Newsline.