From Brookings: In March 2021, Congress passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).[1] ARPA delivered resources to mount a public health response to COVID-19; directed economic relief to workers, families, and small businesses; and provided fiscal aid to state, local, and tribal governments through the $350 billion Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery […]
From Builder Online: While off-site construction faces many challenges to more widespread adoption, panelists were bullish on the future of the sector during the “Off-Site Construction Challenges and Opportunities” panel discussion during the International Code Council/Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Off-Site Construction Summit. “We are seeing some movement in the acceptance of off-site […]
From Area Development: Businesses across the country, in communities large and small, have been challenged to find workers since well before the pandemic. As of November 2022, there were about four million more job openings than available workers, equal to about 1.7 open positions for every person looking for a job. To help employers with […]
From Pro Builder: In my experience walking dozens of residential construction jobsites a year, I am mystified by how difficult it is to get “buy in” from individual tradespeople to use personal protective equipment (PPE) to help ensure their safety. I believe most of the production builders we work with, as well as their trade […]
by Tom Finan, Executive Director/C0-Founder, Constuction Forum Two weeks ago Ron Unterreiner Founder of PEOPLE of Construction and Women-Owned Business Enterprises of Design & Construction (WBEDC) was bemoaning to a few of us in the industry the difficulty of getting people out in June to attend his Tabletalk program on cash flow planned for June […]
by Tom Finan, Executive Director/Co-Founder, Construction Forum Victor Frankel, Holocaust survivor and author of the book Man’s Search for Meaning, wrote, “The last of human freedoms is to chose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” The St. Louis Jewish community and the St. Louis construction industry, guided by a visionary museum exhibit designer, […]
Construction on the first of five planned distribution facilities at the $129 million Lakeside Logistics Center in St. Peters, Mo. is underway. Contegra Construction broke ground on a 490,000-square-foot distribution center for developer NorthPoint Development. The facility will be completed by the end of this year. Located on a 190-acre site at 16000 Spencer Road, […]
ASPE Metro St. Louis Chapter 19 and AGC of Missouri joined together recently to offer three “Estimating 100” classes on estimating for emerging contractors and three “Estimating 200” classes for emerging contractors and beginning estimators. Both 3-part classes were well attended. Subjects discussed ranged from those listed below and many others. Strategies to receive, evaluate […]
From St. Louis Business Journal: The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District on Monday gave a date for the retirement of its executive director and CEO, Brian Hoelscher. It said his current contract expires June 30, 2024. The Business Journal reported earlier this month that Hoelscher, who’s led MSD since 2013 and been with the organization […]
On June 16th at Maryville University, Construction Forum’s program featured the insights of Dafna Kaplan, an LA-based entrepreneur. Kaplan’s diverse background in product marketing, manufacturing, architecture, and construction have provided her with insight into ways in which the construction industry might apply collaboration and technology to increasing productivity and lowering costs. She is the CEO of […]
From NextSTL: A recent policy change at the Land Reutilization Authority (LRA), the city’s land bank, is concerning for a city seeking to reverse population loss and struggling to keep up with infrastructure liabilities rendered more difficult by the ever-present rip tide spreading out the region. When a property owner doesn’t pay property taxes and no one […]
From St. Louis Business Journal: Brian Kowert Sr., formerly a co-owner and chief operating officer of HBD Construction Inc. in Clayton, was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in prison and fined $100,000 for orchestrating a scheme in which participation in minority business enterprise programs was falsified. He pleaded guilty in January to two counts of […]
From St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Soon, the Statue of Liberty will be lifting her lamp beside the golden door of Sauget. Well, maybe not the Statue of Liberty. But certainly a Statue of Liberty. And it came from New York, too. Beginning in 1902, the statue was a familiar sight atop the roof of the Liberty […]
From Fast Company: When UX designer Bianca Pasternack applied for a design job this spring at a company working on climate change, she got a rejection email saying that they’d had 3,000 applicants. At the same time, she kept hearing about the massive shortage of electricians who are necessary to help the country decarbonize. She […]
From Leader Publications: Jefferson College officials will raise tuition next school year as part of its fiscal year 2024 budget, which was approved June 8. The budget also includes a large capital project – an addition to the Viking Woods housing complex. The college’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve the budget, which runs […]
From St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Officials are hoping to use millions in federal grant funding to offer voluntary buyouts to up to 100 homeowners in St. Charles County, but residents’ responses have been mixed. The county is slated to receive $15.7 million in funding from the Housing and Urban Development’s disaster relief fund to compensate residents […]
From New York Times: In January 1912, in the depths of a New York City winter, an unusual new apartment complex opened on the Upper East Side. The East River Homes were designed to help poor families fend off tuberculosis, a fearsome, airborne disease, by turning dark, airless tenements inside out. Passageways led from the […]
From St. Louis Business Journal: A St. Louis development company most known for its industrial work is proposing a new apartment complex in St. Louis County. TriStar Real Estate Acquisitions LLC, which is connected to TriStar Cos., plans a 218-unit apartment complex on on a nearly 19-acre property in unincorporated St. Louis County, near the […]
From Brookings: This March, the White House released an interactive map displaying the over $470 billion in private industrial investments announced since January 2021. These investments in semiconductors, clean energy, electric vehicles, and batteries are the result of a renewed economic and national security vision, as National Security Advisory Jake Sullivan argued in an April […]
From St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Tower Grove Park broke ground Tuesday on new basketball courts — bringing them back to the prominent south St. Louis park decades after their removal and, in the eyes of some, helping to make the park more racially inclusive. The park’s installation of two courts near the intersection of Arsenal Street […]
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