INDUSTRY Q&A;
Photo by Mark A. Steele Photography Inc.
So how has business been over the past year overall?
It has been pretty good overall. We're still in some obvious tough economic times, but we're tracking where we think we should be and hope to see a strong holiday.
Has the economy been as bad as advertised? As we have defined our core customer and refined our set strategy, we have seen a positive response from our customers and are seeing things come around a bit, both in our business and in the overall construction business. Construction turned sooner than I expected. I didn't think we'd see a bump until after the elections and into 2013. But today, we are experiencing a rise in construction costs, which is a good sign.
What do you see as some of your biggest opportunities moving ahead?
I'd say it is creating a more flexible prototype or poten- tially a smaller version of it. It's both an opportunity and a challenge, and we are working to make those adjust- ments where we see fit.
What are some of the lesson you've learned from the economic times?
On the estimating side of the business, construction costs are moving all the time, so the most difficult thing is to provide accurate estimates. A moving target makes things very volatile. I believe it's going to continue to be a challenge, especially with a recovery coming. Today, estimating feels more like an art than a science.
24 Commercial Construction & Renovation September/October 2012