The Construction Record Podcast – Episode 345: The “What is Normal Anymore” economic webcast

05/10/24 • 55 min

On this episode of The Construction Record PodcastTM, digital media editor Warren Frey compiles highlights from the recent Construction Economy Outlook Spring 2024 titled “What is Normal Anymore?” and held online on May 9.

The webinar, presented by ConstructConnect, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) featured ConstructConnect chief economist Alex Carrick and senior economist Michael Guckes, AGC chief economist Ken Simonson, AIA chief economist Kermit Baker and ConstructConnect vice-president of content acquisition Morgan Stinson and vice-president of product marketing Paul Hart.

Baker looked at recent trends in construction activity as well as the outlook for this year and into 2025 and Simonson examined construction employment as well as material and labour costs and how much the industry is spending.

Stinson gave an overview of bidding trends seen in ConstructConnect’s data and Guckes took a look at the summer starts forecast for construction, as well as project stresses and the continued influence interest rates on the economy.

Finally, Carrick did a deep dive on how demographic changes are shaping the economies of both Canada and the United States, as well as how upcoming election in both countries could affect the construction industry and overall economy and looked at rising costs.

You can listen to our recent interviews from the Vancouver Island Construction Association annual conference here and our episodes are available at the Daily Commercial News and Journal of Commerce websites, on Libsyn and at Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music’s podcast section. Thanks for listening.

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The Construction Record Podcast™ – Episode 344: Interviews from VICA’s annual conference

On this episode of The Construction Record PodcastTM, digital media editor Warren Frey has two interviews from the Vancouver Island Construction Association’s (VICA) annual conference held recently in Victoria, B.C.

The first interview is with MNP Consulting Services partner Susan Mowbray who gave attendees a look at the current economic situation on Vancouver Island and explained where opportunities for innovation would allow the construction industry to adapt to changing demographics and an increasingly shrinking labour pool. She added artificial intelligence (AI) is an opportunity for employers to both streamline what they do but also compete more effectively.

Our second interview is with Immigration, refugee and citizenship lawyer Sarah Goodman who spoke at the VICA conference about some of the pathways to hire skilled workers from overseas. She outlined not only well-known programs for temporary foreign work and pathways to permanent residency but also highlighted ways in which foreign workers with enough skilled trades experience in their home countries could obtain a Red Seal certification.

You can listen to our recent interviews with industry reaction to the recent federal budget here and our episodes are available at the Daily Commercial News and Journal of Commerce websites, on Libsyn and at Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music’s podcast section. Thanks for listening.

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The Construction Record Podcast – Episode 346: Kansas City design and CPKC Stadium

On this episode of The Construction Record Podcast, digital media editor Warren Frey talks to designers and architects in Kansas City about the design culture of the city and region and the challenges and successes of building CPKC Stadium, the first ever women’s soccer stadium in North America and the home of the Kansas City Current.

First, Warren interviews DLR Group principal and interior design leader Gretchen Holy and KC Global Design managing director Ashley McDonald about the vibrant and deep design culture of Kansas City, a modern city with deep roots in the U.S. Midwest as a commercial hub and link to both the west and east coasts of the country, as well as a hub for top U.S. design firms.

The second interview is with Generator Studio’s senior project designer Jill Monaghan and director of interior design Christina Franklin, the driving force behind design for the KC Current women’s soccer team’s CPKC Stadium. The stadium was purpose built for the team and is the first of its kind, which meant a more welcoming environment and adaptability to other possible uses for the structure, as well as consciously building a smaller stadium to better harness fan enthusiasm.

You can listen to highlights from the recent ConstructConnect, AIA and AGC of A economic webcast here and our episodes are available at the Daily Commercial News and Journal of Commerce websites, on Libsyn and at Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music’s podcast section. Thanks for listening.

DCN-JOC News Services