Daniel Fulcher, Travelers on the Carolinas Construction Industry

GroundBreak Carolinas is pleased to share thoughts and insights from key leaders in the construction industry from North Carolina and South Carolina. Daniel Fulcher, Travelers Bond shares his thoughts on the construction industry:

What are your thoughts on the Carolinas Construction economy in 2019?
We are projecting growth in 2019 however at a noticeably slower growth rate than we have seen over the last few years. Even so the Carolinas will still outpace National averages fueled by population growth and a relatively friendly business climate. The growth on a real basis (net of inflation) is being choked a bit by rising costs in construction inputs including materials, wages and lost productivity as reliance on less experienced or unskilled labor has increased in the current environment. This will continue into next year. Currently backlogs are generally healthy and 2019 should be another good year for everyone, but top lines for most companies will likely start to level out as the lack of available labor in concert with macro-economic factors will be a governor on growth.

Daniel can be reached at: dfulcher@travelers.com.