The U.S. construction industry is entering a period of increasingly uneven growth. While overall construction spending is declining, several important market segments continue to expand, creating a widening divide between contractors positioned for growth and those facing a more challenging environment. According to FMI’s latest 2026 North American Engineering and Construction Outlook, total U.S. construction…
Business
SeamonWhiteside Celebrates New Permanent Home for Raleigh Office in Cary, Driving Regional Job Growth and Community Development
SeamonWhiteside (SW+), a full-service site design firm with offices throughout the Carolinas, announced it is opening a permanent home for its Raleigh office at 1225 Crescent Green, Suite 240, in Cary, North Carolina. The firm celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Town of Cary followed by a grand-opening event. Since establishing its Raleigh team…
New Book, Miracle Road, Traces Collaborations behind Research Triangle Park
When Governor Luther Hodges stood before 600 business, government, and academic leaders in Raleigh’s Sir Walter Hotel on January 9, 1959, he announced that funds had been raised to build a research park in an area locals described as nothing but “possums and pines.” Few in that room imagined that 67 years later, Research Triangle…
Nearly 40% of Planned Weekly Work on Construction Sites Isn’t Delivered
The Buildots Intelligence Lab today announced the launch of its inaugural Global Construction Benchmarks Report, which establishes a new type of benchmark based on anonymized, aggregated data from hundreds of global construction projects across five verticals. According to the report, in a typical week: just 29.3% of construction activities actually start on time, 52.8% of…
Can ChatGPT Do Construction Takeoffs? New Data Says Not Yet
New benchmark tests how accurately AI can read blueprints, measure spaces and produce the numbers contractors use to bid. Leading AI models, including ChatGPT and Claude, scored just 2% to 34% accuracy on a new benchmark that tests whether AI can read real construction blueprints. Called Construction’s Last Exam (CLE), the benchmark from Miami-based Togal.AI…
Markets
Reconview Expands Manufacturing Campus to 23,000 Square Feet with New Facility in Locust, N.C.
Reconview today announced the completion and opening of a new 18,000-square-foot production facility located on its campus in Locust, North Carolina. The addition brings Reconview’s total operational footprint to 23,000 square feet, significantly scaling its manufacturing capabilities to meet surging market demand. The new facility follows a two-year construction process led by general contractor DA…
Caterpillar to Invest $1 Billion in North Carolina to Expand Cat Compact Manufacturing Capacity
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) intends to invest approximately $1 billion in North Carolina to expand manufacturing capacity for products that support its growing Cat CompactSM business, helping customers gain faster access to the machines they need to solve tough jobsite challenges and build homes, infrastructure and communities. The investment includes plans for a new modern manufacturing…
Massive Airport Construction Projects Finally Pay Dividends, but Not All Improvements Yield Equal Results
Crowded terminals and jam-packed flights are not typically the best recipe for a positive airport experience, but the JD Power 2026 North America Airport Satisfaction Study,SM released today, suggests the nation’s airports are finding ways to defy the odds. Thanks in large part to dozens of major airport capital improvement projects finally reaching completion, overall…
Thompson Thrift Expands National Footprint to 25 States with the Development of The Whitmore at Ingleside in South Carolina
Thompson Thrift, a full-service nationally recognized real estate company and one of the nation’s leading multifamily developers, today announced that it will develop The Whitmore at Ingleside, a new 327-unit Class A multifamily community located within the Ingleside master-planned development in North Charleston. This marks Thompson Thrift’s first development in South Carolina and expands the…







