Our Blog - Surety Matters

  Sustaining the success of a construction business, despite the competition for skilled workers, means doubling down on efforts to keep your hard-won talent working for you. Frequent turnover is disruptive and expensive, making strategic…
Read Moreabout Retaining Workers

  Although there have been enrollment dips, and birth rates are down, the impetus to create state of the art, and healthy school buildings for the next generation remains strong. Billions of dollars are committed…
Read Moreabout K-12 School Construction Trends

  The American Society of Civil Engineers reports that the $550 billion allocated in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is preventing our infrastructure from deteriorating. However, without sustained funding efforts at the national,…
Read Moreabout Good News+Bad News=More Work Ahead

  Given the investment involved in finding, onboarding and retaining excellent employees, “one and done” interviews (“OK, start tomorrow”) are not the way to go, even if you are desperate and the candidate seems terrific….
Read Moreabout You’re Hired! Oops…

  What now? How dare they! All business leaders have the experience of unexpectedly getting slammed with an unexpectedly critical, and even nasty, email. What to do? Take a breath, walk away, and think carefully…
Read Moreabout Scathing Email?

  As incidents of extreme weather continue to make news around the country, it’s clear that many of our surface transportation systems are not up to the challenge. Increasing resilience in the face of everything…
Read Moreabout Extreme Weather: Transportation Resilience

  Are they all gone? Yes, no, maybe? While it’s true that dream sites on untouched land are scarce, that doesn’t mean there are no good building sites available. It does make it increasingly worthwhile to…
Read Moreabout Good Building Sites?

  Manufacturing construction remains strong. Interestingly, for example, though current demand for electrical vehicles lags, construction of the manufacturing plants needed to produce the batteries is hopping. Analysts say it’s all about taking the long…
Read Moreabout Manufacturing Construction: Batteries!

  Vacant office buildings became a thing–fast–during the height of COVID-19, and offices never really filled back up, or returned to “normal,” despite the hopes of employers and realtors. Around the country, construction is underway…
Read Moreabout Office Building Conversions