Business Intelligence – February 2021
Given the challenges and uncertainties built into the 2021 economy, what is one thing that the federal or state government could do to help the construction industry in the new year?
Tom Iacoboni
President/CEO
Iacoboni Site Specialists, Inc.
My hope is that the Federal and State government stay out of the private sector and stop instituting regulations and requirements that are onerous on businesses. COVID has made operating a business particularly challenging.
It does no good to institute fresh requirements, such as doubling the minimum wage and OSHA fines, on businesses that are just trying to stay afloat. For instance, once you double the minimum wage, all other wage categories need to increase in the same way, making existing contracts unprofitable and creating runaway wage inflation.
Our government can help businesses the most by staying out of the way. Might be an impossible task to ask most lawmakers to do.
Tom Gnau
President
J. Vinton Schafer & Sons, Inc.
As I look forward into the new year, the one thing our government can do to help the construction industry is to continue funding essential projects. We rely on their support to keep our clients moving ahead with their plans for growth and for maintaining their facilities. The government is a crucial component to our business, and as long as projects stay on the docket and get approval from local and state governments, we can keep people employed.
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