Tag: business: Page 52

Business

Another worker shortage compounded by the energy boom could delay construction of $1.3 billion Dallas hospital

Construction officials with a Dallas area hospital say their project is losing workers and bidders to stiff competition from the oil and gas industry as well as higher paying construction jobs elsewhere in the state. “Houston and West Texas are taking labor away from many of our projects,” Lou Saksen, senior vice president over the $1.3 […]

April 24, 2014

Business

Obama prepares to send $302 billion highway bill to Congress, but will it be enough?

President Barack Obama is preparing to present his proposed $302 billion, four-year transportation reauthorization bill to Congress. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced on the DOT’s Fast Lane blog that the president plans to send a draft of the legislation to lawmakers, though no specific timetable has been presented. “Soon, the Obama Administration will do exactly […]

April 24, 2014

Business

Earth Day is dead: the EPA’s fall from a scientific organization to a manipulable political tool

I don’t see why people feel compelled to celebrate Earth Day—which was yesterday if you were fortunate enough to avoid the phony phenomena of a day of brainless, bumper-sticker sentiments. For one, Earth Day isn’t real news. It’s what Daniel Boorstin years ago called a manufactured news event. They wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for […]

April 23, 2014

Business

Watch our 2014 Contractor of the Year box a guy who outweighs him by 100 lbs. in the Golden Gloves

You don’t get very far in the construction business without a competitive spirit, the ability to duke it out, to hang in there for the count, give as good as you get. In the case of Equipment World’s 2014 Contractor of the Year, Jeremy Hiltz, of Ashland, New Hampshire, those words are more than metaphors. […]

April 22, 2014

Business

February brings typical downturn for number of new, used construction machines sold

As is typical during the month of February, financed sales of new and used equipment took a dip from January figures, according to information released by Equipment Data Associates. EDA, a division of Randall-Reilly, which produces Equipment World, tracks and reports Uniform Commercial Code-1 filings on financed equipment. There were 4,286 new financed units sold […]

April 21, 2014

Business

Despite slow start to 2014 and concerns, top construction economists forecast growth in spending and jobs

The outlook from respected economists in the construction industry continues to be mixed as all the elements for growth are there but several factors could limit or hurt the industry’s ongoing recovery. Bernard Markstein, chief economist at Reed Construction Data, Kermit Baker, chief economist at the American Institute of Architects and Ken Simonson, chief economist […]

April 17, 2014

Business

How the latest Obamacare update affects your business

The employer mandate under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)—a.k.a. Obamacare—originally required companies with 50 or more full-time employees to offer affordable health care coverage to employees and their dependents (an employee’s child younger than 26 years old) by 2015 or face big fines But now, in the mandate’s second delay, these companies […]

April 17, 2014

Business

United Rentals cites strong start for 1Q, will add $750 million in fleet this quarter

United Rentals says it will bring in $750 million in fleet in the second quarter, the result of a strong 2014 start, with “notable year-over-year growth in rates, time utilization and volume,” according to CEO Michael Kneeland. The company announced first quarter results Tuesday, saying rental revenue had increased 9.7 percent year-over-year. Total revenue was […]

April 17, 2014

Business

Obama, Biden announce $600 million initiative to close skills gap through job training and apprenticeships

Today, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden announced a $600 million initiative that seeks to equip more workers with the skills needed to fill thousands of open but specialized jobs. The initiative will be funded by existing Labor Department funds. The first part of the initiative is $500 million in competitive grants intended […]

April 16, 2014

Business

Home starts up 2.8% in March, builder confidence up slightly

Home starts rose 2.8 percent in March due to an increase in single-family homes, signaling what many analysts hope to be an end to construction slowdowns caused by the harsh winter weather. U.S. home starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 946,000 from February’s revised rate of 920,000. February’s figure was revised upward […]

April 16, 2014

Business

Americans would rather pay more taxes to fund infrastructure over national defense or health care

If given the choice, more Americans would be willing to designate taxes to infrastructure than to national defense or health care, according to the results of an April 2014 Reason-Rupe poll. Released last week, the survey results feature telephone responses from 1,003 adults throughout the U.S. who answered questions on a variety of topics, including […]

April 10, 2014

Business

Fort Hood shooting shows why kinship is key to great leadership

I spent the early part of this week writing about our 2014 Contractor of the Year for the May issue of Equipment World. So when the news came that a troubled young soldier opened fire at Fort Hood on Wednesday, killing three people before taking his own life, I couldn’t help but note the contrast […]

April 4, 2014