As the Shell Franklin project in Monaca gets underway in earnest, with the expectation of having 1,000 workers on site at year’s end, another major manufacturing project has already passed that milestone. In Berkeley County, WV, Fluor Corp. is building the new Tabler Station plant for Proctor & Gamble. The plant will be 1 million square feet under roof and involves a $500 million investment for its first phase. Workforce is going to peak at 1,500 this summer, according to P & G. Because of conditions in the DC/Baltimore market, the Tabler Station project is having a bigger impact on Pittsburgh-area contractors than the aforementioned Shell cracker.

That’s in part due to the fact that Bechtel and Great Arrow Builders are inclined to self-perform much more of the project than originally hoped. But DC-area contractors have also thus far been too busy in their own backyard to show as much interest in the P & G plant, which is located less than 3 hours southeast of Pittsburgh off I-81. Thus far, trade packages have been awarded to Pittsburgh-area contractors Mascaro Construction, Mosites Construction, McKamish Inc., Lighthouse Electric and Yates Construction, which has been working within the region at WVUH Ruby Hospital (and teaming with Pittsburgh contractors). Kinsley Construction from York has also landed a building. None of the packages have been large to date but expectations are that as the contracting continues throughout this year and next that multiple regional contractors could end up with $25-50 million in volume. For some of Pittsburgh’s contractors working on the project, that kind of volume could affect how they respond to projects in their own backyard.

In other project news, St. Clair Hospital short-listed PJ Dick, Mascaro and Yates for interviews this week for its $80 million expansion. The team of NEXT Architecture and Franjo Construction are working on Uber’s expansion into an additional 90,000 square feet in the Crucible Building in The Strip. The City of Pittsburgh Planning Commission OK’d 3 major office projects this week: Murland’s 90,000 square foot office on Forbes Avenue (to be built by Mascaro); RDC’s 105,000 square foot office on Smallman at 12th Street; and the $9 million repurposing of the former Art Institute’s building on the Boulevard of Allies, which M & K Wilkow is developing.

The PA Dept. of Labor released April employment data that showed Pittsburgh’s employment rose by 5,900 jobs from March and unemployment rose from 5.1% to 5.3%. Unemployment was down significantly when compared to April 2016, when the percentage of unemployment was 5.8%. Some of the decline is, unfortunately, a result of a shrinking workforce but there is also an upward trend that is positive. CBRE released an analysis of employment growth last week that showed that job growth has reached 0.45% since October 2016 and 0.71% since January. CBRE cited gains in restaurant/hospitality, financial services and especially in technology. The chart below shows that job growth in scientific research and development in Pittsburgh has far outpaced the rest of the U.S. over the past three years. Let’s hope this trend holds.

According to Pittsburgh Today, unemployment fell in March from 5.6% to 5.1% over the past 12 months. The bad news was that there were more than 10,000 fewer people in the labor force compared to March 2016. That’s an indication of the power of the demographic challenge facing Pittsburgh over the next five years.

On the national scene, yesterday’s report on new unemployment claims found 238,000 new claims were filed in the last week, the lowest in 17 years. The national unemployment rate is now 4.5 %

In project news, UPMC selected Turner Construction as CM for the $111 million Hamot patient tower in Erie. Construction is expected next year. CM selection is expected in a few months for the $100 million-plus UPMC South and for the $150 million-ish UPMC Mercy Ophthalmology center.

University of Pittsburgh has been bidding flurry of projects recently. Allegheny Construction Group was low on two projects last week. Allegheny was low on the Frick Fine Arts at $309,000 (although an alternate could flip the job to Facility Support Services) and on the 7500 Thomas Blvd. print shop at $548,500, edging out Rycon at $552,000.

Small businesses, which are the drivers of the business economy, are entering 2017 with a renewed sense of optimism. Whether it’s the belief that a Trump Administration will drop regulations or roll back Affordable Care Act, owners of small businesses are responding to surveys about 2017 in a significantly more upbeat manner than they did in recent years. If that optimism survives the first few months of transition, that is a very good thing for construction. More small companies grow than big ones and that means more expansion and new construction opportunities.

There is growing excitement in Pittsburgh about the impact of the Shell cracker project but its effect on 2017 will be mild compared to the years that follow. According to Bechtel, it’s estimated that “only” around 1,000 workers will be on the site by the end of 2017. That’s a fraction of the 6,000 that Bechtel still says will be needed during the following two years, when most of the plant facilities are brought on site.

One construction buyer that has come back into the market is the General Services Administration. The GSA manages the federal government’s property and has been all but missing for the past decade. The agency currently is seeking qualifications for a 3-step best value process that will occur next spring for $20 million in renovations to the federal courthouse Downtown. GSA is also looking at sites in Butler/Beaver/Lawrence to locate a 400,000 sq. ft. records warehouse. Here again, if the Trump Administration can deliver on promises to stimulate spending on construction, GSA may become a regular buyer in the region.

Some projects that are active in Pittsburgh include the new $25 million Waters Senior Living community underway in Marshall Township, which is being built by Continental Building Co. The PA Builders Exchange reports that the $28.7 million Latrobe Elementary School is due Feb. 16. Pitt took alternates that made TEDCO Construction the successful contractor on the $3.4 million Barco Law Library. Rycon Construction is starting work on converting the 65,000 sq. ft. Latitude 360 into a Main Event entertainment complex. Rycon is also the CM on a 20,000 sq. ft. renovation to Mellon Pavilion’s second floor at West Penn Hospital. That’s mainly an MEP upgrade.