Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • April 29, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 13 the industry might help companies bridge slower years more comfortably than they have in the past. "Construc- tion is one of the least digitized industries in the country, right behind agricul- ture," Greenwald said. "There's been a tremen- dous surge in the industry in the last year, the investment in technology is just exploding." Better cost controls, project-man- agement methods and business-de- velopment standards will lead to less waste and fewer delays, she said. "Any efficiency you can capture with new technologies, whether it's with software or 3D printing or robotics, any productivity you can recapture, it's real money," Greenwald said. She said the slow economic recov- ery seems to have caused many of Connecticut's constructions firms to look elsewhere in the Northeast for work more frequently than they had in the past. "A lot of them are looking to Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts and expanding their reach to diversify geographically," Greenwald said. "But we have great construction companies that are local to Connecticut or are local arms of national companies. The people I interact with take very seri- ously their role in supporting econom- ic growth in the state." Kurt Montagno, president of Mont- agno Construction in Waterbury, said his company is still down about five of the 25 staff positions it had before the recession. He said the funding chal- lenges in Connecticut give plenty of reason to look to neighboring states for more work. "We haven't hit our stride, the work in the state has been somewhat spotty," Montagno said. "The economic climate in the state has really put a damper on development work. There is a worry on our part about what's coming down the pike, because we're not seeing a lot of private construction either. It's worrisome, it really is." Montagno said his company built a lot of skilled-nursing facilities in the 2000s, but they weren't being funded during the recession. "In 2011, when the recovery began, we saw a mix of public and private work that looked like it had been pent up during the recession," he said. "It was the toughest period I've ever gone through. We had to cut staff, we had to cut salary, we went through every line item in our overhead and had to cut to the extreme, and we did come out of the recession." FOCUS >> Slow Rebuild continued Nancy Greenwald, Executive Director, Construction Institute, University of Hartford Construction jobs in CT 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 Jobs 68,100 68,600 56,700 47,900 50,500 51,900 52,900 53,700 56,600 60,300 58,300 58,200 60,700 68,100 68,600 56,700 47,900 50,500 51,900 52,900 53,700 56,600 60,300 58,300 58,200 60,700 Source: CT DOL Quality Construction + Butler Manufacturing = Repeat Customers www.borghesibuilding.com © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. 2155 East Main Street • Torrington, Connecticut 06790 The Belknap White Group, Hartford, CT | 2012 | 15,300 sq. ft. Northeast Beverage, Orange, CT 2006 | 97,000 sq. ft. Contact us at 860-482-7613 or visit us on the web. As a plan sponsor, don't let your fiduciary responsibility get hung up solely on fees. Our ar cle on benchmarking can help you discover why periodically reviewing your plans is an important step to take to ensure they con nue to be relevant to your company and its employees. Let our experts show you how your defined contribu on plan ranks against similar plans with a FREE benchmarking report. Learn more at hhconsultants.com/benchmarking DOES YOUR COMPANY'S RETIREMENT PLAN STACK UP?

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