ENR ranks nation's top contractors
The status Michigan-based construction contractors large enough to make the Engineering News Record's annual list of top revenue-makers generally held steady from 2006 to 2007.

"The construction market for U.S. contractors is hot, and smart contractors now are enjoying a business environment that they hope for, but rarely experience," said the ENR article that accompanied the rankings. "There is enough work to go around to satisfy contractors in most markets, and there is enough security for them to focus on good business practices."

While Michigan's economy has generally lagged behind the rest of the nation, that trend isn't necessarily hitting the state's largest contractors.

Southfield-based Barton Malow, Michigan's largest contractor in terms of revenue on ENR's list, dipped from No. 37 in 2006 to No. 39 in 2007. Detroit-based Walbridge-Aldinger is No. 51 on the list this year, down 8 spots from 2006.

The rest of the top Michigan-based contractors for revenue on ENR's Top-400 list include Angelo Iafrate of Warren (#118, +17 from 2006); The Christman Co., Lansing (#149 +33); Granger Construction, Lansing (#213, +62); Rockford Construction, Grand Rapids (#227, -46); Roncelli, Inc., Sterling Heights (#296, -12); Pioneer General Contractors, Grand Rapids (#358, +1); George W. Auch, Pontiac #367, -81), and Clark Construction, Lansing (#374, -38).

John M. Olsen of St. Clair Shores, which dropped 40 places from 2005 to 2006 and was #294 last year, dropped from the ENR's Top 400 list this year.

Other construction contractors (and their 2007 rankings) that do a significant amount of business in Michigan include Skanska USA (#5); Washington Group International (#16), and Alberici (#55). Also on the list are The Boldt Co. (#98); Miron Construction (#134), and Lunda Construction (#190), which are all based in Wisconsin.

Nationwide, the top three contractors for revenue in 2007 are Bechtel, Flour and Turner Corp.



April construction slides 5 percent
The value of new U.S. construction starts fell 5% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $565.1 billion, according to a report released May 23 by McGraw-Hill Construction.

For the first four months of 2007, total construction was down 17% from the same period a year ago. Even with the exclusion of the downtrodden residential building sector from year-to-date statistics, new construction starts in the first four months of 2007 were down 3% from last year.

The year-to-date decline for construction starts reflects the comparison to the elevated activity in the first four months of 2006, which was just prior to the time when the single family correction grew pronounced.

"The weak residential sector continues to shape the pattern for overall construction activity," stated Robert A. Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction. "The rate of decline for single-family housing is not as severe as what took place earlier, but the level of activity is down substantially from the initial months of last year, and renewed expansion is not anticipated any time soon."

For the five major U.S. regions, total construction during the first four months of 2007 relative to last year was the following - the South Central, down 9%; the Northeast, down 14%; the Midwest, down 15%; the South Atlantic, down 18%; and the West, down 25%.