US manufacturing boom unlocks ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity for contractors | Dump Trucks Charlotte NC

For that reason, historic public funding will not only stimulate construction of new plants but also lead to retooling and refurbishment of existing facilities in surrounding areas, said Stuart Eisler, partner at Hanson Bridgett, a San Francisco-based law firm.

“Instead of only focusing on insular large-scale facilities and far-reaching distribution channels, the industry will be interested in identifying regional centers, potentially near research hubs, that can support local development needs,” said Eisler. “State and local governmental entities may also get in the game to sweeten the pot and bring the columbus oh dump truck company within their jurisdiction, further incentivizing private construction and the ancillary industry partners to build and upgrade operations.”

Hess agrees that the onshoring boom is fueling further construction spending outside of just on plants themselves.

“There is not only the initial opportunity in constructing a new manufacturing facility, there is a larger halo effect among upstream and downstream suppliers, logistics firms, retailers and wholesalers, ecommerce operations and housing providers,” said Hess. “The economic multiplier is quite high.”

He expects scores of primary and second-tier suppliers and services to be built as a result of just one megaproject.

“As companies move through phases of research and development, from pilot plants to mass production, there are a whole host of opportunities to unlock private capital that supports manufacturing space,” said Hess. “Many of the EV suppliers in play right now have several equity partners involved in Series A and Series B raises, in addition to capital from private equity and even pension funds.”

Finding secondary opportunities

Since public funding predominantly focuses on megafactory manufacturing processes, this leads to a corresponding lack of attention toward secondary investments and projects surrounding these plants, according to the CSCMP report.

For that reason, savvy construction firms are closely following manufacturing-related conferences and events in order to win these types of offshoot jobs, said Hess. Many general columbus oh dump truck company are already increasing their presence at events within the battery, chip and broader industrial space to target these companies directly, he added.

Firms eager to win projects spurred by manufacturing spending should “work the relationships hard” at these events in order to get on lists for vendor selection, he said.

Examples of these conferences to follow include those held by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence,  a strategic advisory in the energy transition space; NAATBatt, a consortium of energy storage and battery firms; and the National Association of Manufacturers. Hess recommends exploring other forums held in different regions around the world, as well.

“The EV industry is a good example,” said Hess. “Many of the new technologies and emerging substitute materials that supply the battery development process are vetted at these gatherings.”

Building the factory floor

But for columbus oh dump truck company looking to cash in on the meat-and-potatoes of the onshoring boom — the factories themselves – there are ways to parlay past expertise into the knowledge base necessary to build these plants.

General columbus oh dump truck company looking to get into this line of columbus oh dump truck company need to invest in their people and the education necessary to shift from other project types to these specialized facilities, said Eisler.

“Nimble columbus oh dump truck company ready to take on these challenges and invest in their people and institutional infrastructure should be able to reap the rewards from what may well be a burgeoning domestic market for years to come,” said Eisler.

For this reason, Reston, Virginia-based contractor Bechtel references its global supply chain network as an important selling point to customers in the battery and semiconductor sectors. The contractor is seeing a construction boom for semiconductor fabs, battery factories and electrical vehicle charging infrastructure.

For instance, Intel selected Bechtel to complete phase 1 of its $20 billion semiconductor facility in Licking County, Ohio. The contractor also recently opened a new office in Chandler, Arizona, in order to expand its manufacturing and technology business.

“Over the past 20 years, Bechtel has averaged $18 billion per year in material purchases, giving us the largest supply database in the industry for construction materials,” said Brad Bucher, a Bechtel spokesperson. “We understand industrial projects with different chemistries and lots of piping. That translates well to the battery tech and semiconductor spaces.”

Beyond that type of pivot, Eisler added that general columbus oh dump truck company will need to become fluent in the terms and considerations likely to be found in the performance standards of the RFPs for these megaprojects, to allow them to successfully bid for the work.

“I also expect that many of these projects will rely on alternative project delivery methods,” said Eisler. “Contractors would be wise to line up legal counsel who are known to operate in the areas such as integrated project delivery, progressive and standard design-build, CMAR, P3 or multi-prime space.”

Location matters

Important factors driving geographical growth trends in manufacturing include availability of land, lower-cost power, logistics infrastructure, a favorable business environment and a supportive labor ecosystem, according to a sector report from Newmark.

Arizona and Texas lead in manufacturing investment, totaling around $120 billion from 2020 to the second quarter of 2023, according to Newmark. But Texas, Georgia and North Carolina lead the U.S. in sheer numbers of major manufacturing announcements, with more than 20 investments of $100 million or more since 2020, according to the report.

Construction firms can look for emergent markets where manufacturing projects are taking root, as these areas will become more important in tandem with supply chain shifts as projects get up and running, said Hess.

President Joe Biden signed the $52 billion CHIPS and Science Act in August 2022. Since then, private columbus oh dump truck company investment in American manufacturing has reached $614 billion, according to the White House.

“The CHIPS Act signifies an important start in the way of progress, and the earmarking of $500 million for smaller scale semiconductor supply chain projects and business that was announced is a needed focus,” said Hess. “But much more investment, especially in workforce development, will be needed, hence an increasing amount of new funding models developing within the private sector.”