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Public works and government construction spending

Ken Simonson

"Federal stimulus dollars are clearly driving one of the biggest increases in construction spending the industry has experienced in a long time," says Ken Simonson, chief economist for AGC.

In a June press release on 2010 construction trends through April, Simonson noted that stimulus spending is driving increases in a range of public construction categories. "Compared to March 2010, spending on public drinking water supply facilities jumped 7.9 percent; public sewage treatment, 3.9 percent; and highway construction, 3.6 percent. Spending on other public transportation modes was flat for the month but soared 29 percent compared to April 2009."

Public construction looks good for the rest of 2010, says Jim Haughey, chief economist at Atlanta-based Reed Construction Data (RCD). "The federal stimulus money, at least for the balance of this year, will keep total government construction activity fairly steady," he says.

Haughey says state and local governments "have started to pinch their pennies" in response to tight budgets, but that momentum from stimulus funding will continue to drive public sector construction through the rest of 2010. RCD offers national, regional and local construction data, building product information, construction cost data and market analytics to construction industry professionals in the U.S. and Canada.

Randy Lebolo, president of Boynton Beach, Fla.-based Lebolo Construction Management, tells Govpro.com that a large contractor has invited his firm to bid on the contractor's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) projects in Florida. "Federal contracts are starting to pop up, especially as the closing of the fiscal year is approaching. I'm starting to see an increase in request for proposals on FedBizOpps.com and E-Buy. We are currently following several opportunities with a number of federal agencies. We have been informed, through conversations with the different agencies, that the jobs should be out for bid in less than one month," Lebolo says.

"Overall, we are very excited about the opportunities that are coming up in the second half," says Lebolo, who anticipates fewer state- and local-funded projects and more competition for the remainder of 2010. His company coordinates and controls design, budget, schedules and quality on a variety of construction projects.

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