A Good Future for Construction.

ABM STAFF

This year was a great year for the construction industry and more of the same is expected in the year 2000.

"It was an excellent year," said Royce Rock, business manager with Carpenters Local No. 1281, which represents about 1,000 union members. "There were a lot of union jobs; we reached nearly full employment for most of the year and there was a good mix between private and public money."

During 1999 schools were built, as were apartment complexes. There was work at both Anchorage and Fairbanks international airports. There was plenty of roadwork, construction at Kulis Air National Guard Base, beginning development of a Wal-Mart in Eagle River and a Fred Meyer in Anchorage. There were private jobs, work at Alaska Regional and Providence hospitals, the construction of hotels.

"2000 will be awful close to the same, just a different nature," said Rock. "There are a lot more big projects." The downtown prison, near the current Cook Inlet facility, is one such project, coming in at $65 million. A new Dimond High School will be built, with construction cost estimated at $60.1 million. Expansion at Providence Hospital will bring in another $30 million to $35 million in construction dollars. A new fire station in downtown Anchorage is on the books at $8 million to $9 million. More work will be done at Anchorage and Fairbanks international airports, with work at the Anchorage airport being the single most important state construction project for the year 2000, in terms of economic impact, according to the experts. There are also a number of smaller airport projects around the state.

"The military brings money to the state," said Rock. "Ted Stevens brings money to the state. The school district has ongoing projects. Private stores (are coming in). We're a growing state and will continue to grow."

Neal Fried, a labor economist with the Alaska Department of Labor agrees with Rock's assessment. "Construction traditionally is a hard one to (forecast), particularly on the private side," said Fried. "But in this decade of the '90s, it has been one of the most predictable industries of all.

"Employment numbers remain relatively positive and have begun to creep up over time and we're still showing growth in that industry, the latest by 1.5 percent. It's not a lot of growth, but stronger than the overall economy. But certainly not booming."

He said highway funds are ratcheting up and are growing significantly over past years. Alaska's share of...