Navigating the Current Economy for Business Growth and Success

Is your company effectively positioned for the future? The struggling economy has challenged every construction executive to be more creative in order to survive. Steve Forbes is front and center when it comes to assessing the challenges that businesses face. Based on his experience as a widely respected business expert, Forbes will provide insights and strategic advice for business growth and success during these difficult times.

The New Norms in the Construction Industry: Building for Success in the Decade Ahead

To make the necessary transitions and move your company forward, your business needs to be organized properly. Rick Dutmer will share about the new norms in the construction industry and show you how to research these shifts by identifying the drivers and market changers that will impact the norms for the future. Part of the assessment process involves examining your own leadership strengths and your employees’ skills, so you can be staffed with the right talent in the areas of predicted growth. You’ll learn how to build talent, regardless of the current economic headwinds, and balance long-term goals and initiatives with the always pressing desire for short-term profit.

Futurist Perspectives on the Construction Industry

Andrew Zolli will inspire in you innovation, show you hurdles and unveil shifts that can go unnoticed in your day-to-day business operations. He will share lessons and examples that are presently defying boundaries with concepts and areas that include localized manufacturing, crowd sourcing, decentralization, micro factories, capacity building, raw commodities, technology, sustainability and global society. You’ll return to the office with a strategy for change and new ideas about repurposing existing structure, rethinking how complex systems work and reinventing ways to educate and empower your employees to build, design and innovate.

The Domestic Economy

Economists Barry Asmus and Anirban Basu look beyond quarterly updates and political rhetoric to expose the key economic factors and lessons learned that foster sustainable business growth. They’ll examine and explain the data that dramatically affect the construction industry, covering topics such as quantitative easing, lease renewal, interest rates, financing, regional variations, construction material prices, deflationary pressures, permanent expensing, and energy costs.

Industry Trends in Insurance and Surety

Learn about and define a strategy to navigate difficult construction projects and unexpected delays by identifying trends in alternative delivery methods. Understand how liability and risk management trends are affecting business resilience. And hear how the elections impacted geographical carriers and rates and the expected outlook.

Industry Trends in Integrated Project Delivery

Take a 360-view of IPD and the trend toward the broad integration of related technology and processes. Consider what the industry will look like in with future with IPD. For those already using IPD, plug into a more dynamic network with even bigger opportunities. For emerging users, experts will address how companies with restricted budgets can strategically adopt IPD.

Retail/Office Sectors

Though the retail and office sectors are different product types, both have similarly changed and are incorporating new approaches. Examine market data that help explain why transactions occurred and how they are important to business strategy. Plus, learn how the changing political landscape and year-end results are impacting transactions and closings.

Healthcare Sector

Medical facility services are shifting. Emerging trends include a focus on sustainability, energy efficiency, better care and streamlined facility operating costs. Identify the medical services that are moving to out-patient centers. Learn about the changes in diagnostics, treatment, the patient care experience and implications for construction, design and function. Hear about capital improvements trends for aging medical facilities.

Warehouse/Distribution Sectors

Examine trends in warehouse and distribution building design, locations, distribution sizes and construction costs. Learn about new construction developments for regional hubs and distribution centers, as well as regulations and how they work. Hear about ports, transportation and key factors to these areas of opportunity. Determine how this location-driven market offers value creation opportunities for savvy contractors.

Energy and Industrial Sectors

Examine the four primary investment drivers in the U.S. refining industry and learn how these will impact the next 10 years of construction. Some specific areas that will be addressed include product demand, oversupply, export potential, feedstock opportunities and regulatory requirements.

Multi-Family Sector

Hear about the impact of the recession on multi-family construction, as well as production, absorption, rent and vacancy rates, and various economic performance and forecast figures related to the sector. On top of these factors, learn about the major regulatory and legislative issues impacting the industry. The discussion will help contractors enter and exploit the most promising segments of multi-family housing.

Education Sector

Even though the economic downturn dramatically affected the higher education sector at both public and private institutions, there are areas of opportunity. Among them, the education market is exploring ways to take advantage of BIM and the evolution of project delivery models. Hear about various education sector trends and ways to leverage this knowledge to grow market share.

The Political Argument Today

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and Newsweek essayist George Will is the country’s most widely read political columnist and foremost conservative voice. You’ll hear an insightful presentation with penetrating and incisive commentary on the political scene. Will, a highly sought after political commentator, will update you on the consequences of the recent mid-term elections and provide insights into what this means for the construction industry. Plus, you’ll get a glimpse into what the future holds for Washington policy makers and American society.