This audio is automatically generated. Please let us know if you have any comments.
With more than 600 employees and $1.2 billion in revenue by 2022, Samet Corp. is North Carolina’s largest general contractor by revenue, according to the 2022 ENR 400.
Founded in 1961, the Greensboro-based company has six offices in the Southeast, primarily in the Carolinas and Georgia. The company offers multifamily, education, healthcare, technology and high-rise projects throughout the region.
Here, Samet CFO Doug Beane talks to Construction Dive about the region’s economic health, booming project areas and what he envisions for 2024.
The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.
CONSTRUCTION Immersion: What sectors do you see doing well in your region right now?
Doug Bean: Multifamily continues to be in high demand as people continue to move to the Southeast. We’re also seeing a lot of demand for public works, albeit somewhat dampened by interest rates right now. We have seen interest from police and fire stations, but also from educational buildings such as schools.
We expect institutions and multi-family to rebound as interest rates change.
And also in the life sciences area we’ve seen strong interest in the Raleigh/Durham region. We haven’t seen that much of an increase in data centers yet, but there is talk of more projects moving in that direction. We predict they will likely be in the Hickory, North Carolina area where Google’s last center was built.
Doug Beane
Authorization granted by Samet Corp.
What is the job market like in your region? What are some of the recruitment challenges?
We are getting more opportunities in terms of construction management as other builders have had to slow down. So, as a result, we’ve been seeing opportunities for very talented people.
On the skilled workers side, it seems to still be in very high demand. Specifically, we’re still having problems with electrical and plumbing subs, as those areas have trouble getting skilled labor.
What are the biggest issues in your projects right now?
We are still seeing very long lead times with electrical and HVAC. More recently, however, we have seen a slowdown in the availability of Sheetrock. To help combat this problem, Samet is purchasing equipment in advance, going so far as to purchase two replacement air conditioning units that are stored in warehouses. We are also buying Sheetrock directly as much as we can to help subscribers who are having trouble getting it.
What do you foresee for the rest of 2024 and beyond?
I think we will see some slowdown in the third and fourth quarters because of higher interest rates affecting developers. Once interest rates come down, it will take some time for these projects to get back on line and back on the market.
We’re starting to hear a lot from multifamily projects now that if interest rates come down next quarter, they’ll want to be the first to market in 2025.
