
Scaling Your Skills: The Path From Expert to Enterprise Builder
By Anne Lackey
February 18, 2025
Imagine a carpenter you know whose custom work has earned a stellar reputation. Attention to detail is extraordinary and clients marvel at the craftsmanship and constantly refer the carpenter to others.
Perhaps he likes the idea of expanding from an individual operation into a b...

Construction Materials Prices Increase 1.4% in January, Up 40.5% Since February 2020
By ABC
February 17, 2025
WASHINGTON, Feb. 13—Construction input prices increased 1.4% in January compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input pri...

ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator Increases, Contractors Remain Confident
By ABC
February 13, 2025
WASHINGTON, Feb. 11—Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator increased to 8.4 months in January, according to an ABC member survey conducted Jan. 21 to Feb. 3. The reading is unchanged from January 2024.
View ABC’s Construction ...

2025 Small Business Outlook for the Construction Sector
By Ben Johnston
February 13, 2025
2024 will be remembered for many things. One on hand: strong consumer spending and stock performance; low unemployment; rate cuts; an artificial intelligence craze; the election. On the other: high house prices and mortgage rates; stagnant wages; labor shortages. Both the positiv...

Pressing Questions: Construction Leaders Address the Decade's Top Concerns
By David McMillin
February 6, 2025
As the construction industry rounds the halfway mark of the decade, the rearview looks a bit blurry. In just five short years, a global pandemic upended the way the world works, a supply-chain crisis sent material costs soaring and social justice protests forced leaders to reexam...

From the Ground Up: How ABC Keynoter Saved Himself From Financial Ruin
By Grace Calengor
February 5, 2025
For Erik Wahl, an all-American boy from Seattle, failure was never an option. Raised in what many would refer to as a traditional learning environment, Wahl was praised for getting straight As, earning a business degree, marrying a wonderful woman and having three wonderful child...

A Man With a Plan: 2025 ABC National Chair David Pugh
By Grace Calengor
February 5, 2025
“I was absolutely fascinated from day one by all things construction,” says David Pugh, partner in the construction practice for national law firm Bradley Arant Boult and Cummings. With a grandfather successful in the foundry business, a father with a storied career at Chicago Br...

Nonresidential Construction Spending Down 0.2% in December; Data Centers and Manufacturing Make Up 94% of Spending Increase in 2024
By ABC
February 4, 2025
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3—National nonresidential construction spending decreased 0.2% in December 2024, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending tot...

Overlooked Assets: Year-Round Tax Tips From a Construction Accountant
By Phillip Ross
February 3, 2025
For most construction firms, working with an accountant is often limited to matters for the year-end financial statements and tax returns. This has become such a routine practice that it’s easy to forget that accountants have the potential to be valuable year-round financial stra...

Accelerated Learning: Phelps Turns a 12-Story Office Into a School in Six Months
By Ken Budd
January 31, 2025
Like a student cramming for an exam, Phelps Construction Group faced a tight deadline. The Denville, New Jersey-based company was hired to renovate a space for Kindle Education, a tuition-free public charter school with about 460 students grades 6-12. The new location, for stude...
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‘Strong Fundamentals’: Reviewing Deloitte's 2025 Engineering and Construction Outlook
By Michelle Meisels
Deloitte’s 2025 Engineering and Construction Outlook highlights key areas that will impact the industry in 2025, including approaches that engineering and construction firms may consider as they plan for the upcoming year.
Business

A National Chair’s Work Is Never Done: A Farewell Interview With Buddy Henley
By Grace Calengor
Buddy Henley reflects on his year of service as 2024 ABC National Chair, and prepares for another great year ahead and to pass the baton to David Pugh.
Business

Construction Futures: January 2025 Economic Roundup
By Construction Executive
While construction backlog, spending and overall momentum slowed in the first month of the year, contractor confidence is unyielding.