Architects, contractors feel the weight of the slowdown - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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Contractors turn to architectural firmsx to gauge how much work they have to look forware to and this year that pipeline of work isextremely “Workload for architects is really the canar y in the coal mine for the constructioj industry,” said Walter P. Palmef III, president and CEO of the General Building Contractors Associatio nin Philadelphia. “Some architectural firms are down to threr daysa week, laid off the majority of thei r staff and several architectural institutions graduating five-year architects that have nowherr to go to get a job. That presents a rippling effecr that comes across theconstructiojn industry.
Our entire board of directors tell me 2010 is goinf to be much worse than A convergence of developerw delaying projects orhaltingf them, and lenders still not funding developmentss has put a squeeze on architects and The construction industry has alreadh been hit with a 12 percenf decline in employment in the five-county regionh between 2007 and the first part of this according to the Bureau of Labor Man hours are off by about 25 perceng from last year’s high, Palmer Architects were extremely busy between 2003 and 2007 with last year considereds a peak, according to John Claypool, executive director at the Philadelphiaw chapter of the American Instituted of Architects.
Firms had a fairly long line of business racked up for the Claypool said. But no more. Some architectural firmws have already beenearly casualties. SPG3, which was involved in retail and has slashed its staff and launchede amajor restructuring. Ted Agoos, co-foundet of , saw the first six monthz of last year asthe firm’s best, but this year is Doing a mix of projects and not focusiny on one area has helped. “Everyonew is busy, but it’s the big projects that give Agoos said.
The firm has takenj on smaller, shorter projects to sustain the It also cut down thework “The challenge we face as an industr is everyone is burning off backlog as fast as they can replenis it,” said Terry Steelman at Ballinger, a Philadelphiwa architectural firm. “That is all goinfg to trickle down to theconstruction industry. We think 2009 has clearlyu been a challenging year and 2010 is goinf to be a very challenging year unless things star t to happen and start to happen Contractors find they need to quickly adjustto survive. “Ourr theme for this year is to analyze and adapftto achieve,” Palmer said.
Already contractors are engagin g in a bidding frenzy over any project thatcomes up. Contractord are undercutting bids just to win work and inothe situations, major constructing companieas are bidding on minuscules projects that were once the territory of smalol firms. “Where there used to be two or threw bidderson projects, now there are 20 and 30,” Palmert said. has “rightsized,” cutting 20 percent of its office andfielr staff, said Steve Pouppirt, president. Clemens hasn’t gone after work for no profit just to keep Pouppirt said. Emily Bittenbender, managing partner of , formec two new divisions as a way to ginup business.
“Wwe have to adapt to this environment,” Bittenbender “People are so optimisticv that it’s going to turn aroundc soon, but my concern is we’re lookingy out a couple years.” Bittenbender started a sustainable program-managemeny business to assist government agencies seekinb stimulus funds for projects but which lack the staffr to support andoversee them. The other new business is a carpentry unit that will go aftetr federal contracts as a Architects are also venturing into new Ballinger ramped up writing grant applicationse for institutions seeking stimulus fundstargeting research.
These grants requirre a schematic design of what they intend to do withthe