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Majority of Construction ESOPs Not Significantly Impacted by COVID-19

by Prairie Capital Advisors, Inc. on

Prairie Capital Advisors, Inc. (“Prairie”), a leading middle-market investment bank, recently released its ESOP Construction Industry Survey. Prairie works with owners of private construction businesses across the country, providing advisory services to support their growth and ownership transition strategies. Many of its clients in the construction industry have decided on an ESOP as part of their ownership transition strategy. Prairie’s goal in surveying ESOP-owned construction companies is to gather insightful feedback and to gain a better understanding of industry benchmarks, trends and other meaningful market factors impacting them.

Selected Findings

  • 67.6% of survey respondents report that their ESOP has not been significantly impacted by COVID-19.
  • 23.5% of survey respondents say that COVID-19 has impacted the culture of their ESOP, mainly as a result of staff working remotely.
  • 50.0% of survey respondents report that 2020 project profitability decreased as a result of the pandemic, while 44.1% note no change in profitability in 2020.
  • Over 50.0% of survey respondents reported their biggest operational concern for 2021 was increased competition.
  • 71.0% of companies surveyed said results of the presidential election would have no impact to business opportunities.
  • Over 60% of survey respondents reported they plan making investments in 2021, key investments being training, technology andequipment.  

“Having worked with many ESOP construction companies throughout the U.S. and over the years, we’re excited to share insightful industry trends impacting our ESOP construction clients,” commented Franco Silva, Director at Prairie. Rocky Fiore, Chief Operating Officer, added, “This survey allowed our team to develop a greater understanding of the relationship between construction activity, ESOPs and the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey results will provide our construction clients with improved visibility across the industry during this time of uncertainty.”

View the complete survey results.

About Prairie’s ESOP Construction Industry Survey

Respondents to the survey were of varying demographics, including revenue size, services provided, end markets served and the maturity of their ESOP. Since 2020 was a unique year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey incorporated questions aimed at gathering the impact COVID-19 had on the industry and Prairie clients’ ESOPs. The report discusses how the industry performed in 2020, the influence of the market on ESOPs, some specific effects of COVID-19 on Prairie clients and the outlook for 2021.