Gains in ENR’s New York and New England prime contractor regional ranking pale in comparison to the growth shown by listed companies in the two years since the outbreak of COVID-19. But if there is another economic slowdown, executives at companies on both lists say lessons learned during the pandemic can help them overcome potential obstacles.
“During the construction downturn, reputation and quality of service become more important than ever,” says Lance Franklin, co-CEO of New York City-based Triton Construction Co. try to mitigate risk during lower periods.”
The 50 New York and New Jersey companies ranked on this region’s top contractors list reported a total of $28.2 billion in revenue in 2023, up from $27.3 billion in 2022. This total was an increase up 7.1% from the previous year, when the top 50 had revenues of $25.5 billion in 2021. But the data still showed lingering impacts from the pandemic as the top 50 companies in the 2020 survey report about $27.1 billion in revenue in 2019.
Graph by ENR
Triton, ENR New York’s 2023 Contractor of the Year, performed well in this year’s rankings. At No. 20, the company’s $445.74 million in revenue was up 12.43% from the $396.46 million reported in last year’s survey.
But Franklin still says his company is “concerned about the short term,” adding that the private construction market “has been a consistent and powerful economic engine in New York for a long time. Replacing it with something else doesn’t it will be easy.”
He says that “until there are adjustments in interest rates and/or reductions in the price of land to boost real estate investment, we do not expect significant improvements in new large-scale private sector opportunities.”
Shawmut Design and Construction, No. 31 among New York regional contractors and No. 4 in the New England rankings, is building the Health Sciences Center at the University of St. St. John’s Vincent in Jamaica, Queens.
Photo courtesy of Shawmut Design and Construction
New England forecast
The 31 companies participating in the New England regional rankings reported combined revenue of $15.7 billion in 2023 for work performed in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. The 34 companies ranked last year had revenue of $15.5 billion, up just 0.19% from the previous year’s survey, when the top 34 reported about $15.5 billion in total revenue in 2021. This was up 27% compared to the $12.2 billion reported by the same number of companies in the previous year’s ranking. The top 35 companies in the 2020 New England rankings, based on 2019 data, reported $12.4 billion in revenue.
Kevin Sullivan, executive vice president of the New England region for Boston-based Shawmut Design and Construction, says the company anticipates “a steady pipeline of projects through 2025, reflecting the current stability of the market in New England.” .
ARCO Design/Build Industrial, #19 in the ENR New York Top Contractors rankings, was the architect and contractor for the Bronx Logistics Center.
Photo by JJC Drones
The region’s education sector “continues to present significant opportunities,” he says. Both higher education institutions and K-12 public schools “have recognized the profound impact that modernized facilities can have on student well-being, academic achievement and community engagement.”
Shawmut was No. 4 in the New England rankings with $969.57 million in revenue, up 30% from last year’s $745.66 million. In the New York region, Shawmut’s $225.90 million in revenue ranked it #31. Last year, when Shawmut was ranked #30, the company posted regional revenue of 191, 43 million dollars. The company attributes its growth in New York and New Jersey to larger projects and expansion in the commercial, life sciences, education, culture and health sectors. Shawmut previously worked primarily on hotel, restaurant and retail projects in the region.
Other companies working in the New York region are optimistic about its resilience. Rob Steigerwald, CEO of ARCO Design/Build, is “optimistic about the market outlook for the next few years.”
Graph by ENR
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has struggled to indefinitely halt a planned congestion pricing program that would have added vehicle tolls across a wide swath of Manhattan, leaving in question about $15 billion that would go toward funding traffic projects. Still, Steigerwald likes his “proactive stance on job growth and economic development.”
In this year’s New York survey, ARCO was No. 19 with revenue of $528.22 million after climbing to No. 11 on last year’s list with $680.82 million from income The firm had also ranked No. 18 the previous year with $395.51 million in regional revenue.
“The types of projects envisaged in this environment require a contractor [to] anticipate and manage complexities early in the process,” says Steigerwald, whose company specialized in building light industrial projects during the pandemic e-commerce boom. “We’re ready to continue our legacy of 30 years in light industry and manufacturing to support and drive regional growth in line with the state’s vision for economic expansion.”
