Practical Approaches Help Experienced Brands Navigate The Labor And Materials Shortage

While the construction industry has seen some improvement since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, there are still lingering issues including labor and material shortages. Construction companies are facing not only a lack of skilled workers, but also difficulty retaining their current workforce.

According to a February 2022 study by Associated Builders and Contractors, the construction industry will need to hire 650,000 workers to stay on pace with the demand this year. This puts foremen and other higher-ups in a difficult position — wondering if they should consider less experienced laborers to meet the demand —  which would increase risks on the construction site. 

Additionally, the supply chain disruption is making it challenging for companies to source materials, causing severe project delays, increased shipping costs and sometimes the need to work with lower-quality equipment. In response to these issues, Dennis Kane, CEO of KANE Construction, said that companies need to recognize the warning signs and adjust accordingly. 

KANE Construction has provided construction services in life sciences, healthcare, real estate and other industries in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore areas for over 25 years. 

Bisnow spoke with Kane about how the business has adapted during the pandemic, how it's facing the labor and materials shortage and how it has managed to thrive for the last two-and-a-half decades.

Bisnow: How did KANE maneuver at the height of the pandemic?

Kane: At the onset of the pandemic, we were working on longer-term schedules, which was a positive for us. It gave us the time we needed to implement Covid safety protocols while focusing on completing the task at hand.

As we moved into 2021 client relationships made the difference. Our clients were looking for companies that demonstrated they had the situation under control. We were able to demonstrate this. While we had a few early site shutdowns due to infections, the protocols we implemented worked and we went a year until anyone on one of our sites tested positive.

Bisnow: How is KANE adapting to the ongoing issues currently facing the industry? 

Kane: We have not had to deal with any of the ‘please come to work issues’ you see reported in other industries. We are a medium-sized firm with over 30 dedicated employees and an average tenure of nine years per member at KANE. Additionally, we had the technology to be fully remote in place before any of this occurred.

However, materials lead time is another issue. Our work is predominantly interiors, so we know the critical path items to look for and those that take priority. When you talk about the economics of getting into a space on time — the clients and our design partners can make tough decisions and change if need be.  We rely on our own experience and our trade partners to identify workaround ideas and to our clients for pragmatism to ensure we can get the materials we need to make the move-in date.

Bisnow: How does KANE stand out compared to the upper-middle to high-end construction companies? What's the impact KANE brings to the table?

This is a great market for tenant improvement contractors like us. Even though we have a lot of competition, we have a robust market with deep resources in the DMV as a result. Our philosophy has always been to have integrity and use our knowledge for the collective benefit of the project.

For us to be successful in the construction business, we need to identify the risks, communicate a strategy to mitigate them and deliver on time. Also, getting involved early in pre-construction helps tremendously. When you care about everyone on the team being successful, it helps you create longevity in this industry.

Bisnow: Is there a big project that KANE is working on now?

Kane: We are putting the finishing touches on the $7M Harriett Tubman Cultural Center, formerly Harriet Tubman High School, in Columbia, Maryland. The high school opened in 1949 and was the last segregated school in Howard County. We're helping to repurpose the facility into a place to help commemorate its historical and cultural significance to Howard County. 

We are very excited about the 12,500 SF steakhouse in Tysons for which we have a contract and are going through pre-construction now for 801 Chop House. 

And we have three tenant projects for Johns Hopkins, a client for 20 years, that total about $7M in various stages.

Our backlog is larger than it has ever been and it's more diverse than our historical office interior niche, so that will help us navigate the market disruption going forward. 

Bisnow: How has KANE stood the test of time in its 25 years?

Kane: We have clients that have trusted us for over 25 years. We enjoy a very loyal team that we believe in and treat with respect. KANE’s ‘family first’ approach helps us keep our staff loyal. It works both ways. Two members just celebrated their 20th anniversary with KANE, while three others hit the 17-year mark.

We’ve built a solid reputation based on integrity and consistency, which has earned us the trust of small and large companies. While revenue is an important factor, we’re more concerned about the quality of the individual we hire to help us create a stronger team.

Never would I have imagined when we opened our street-facing office on Montgomery Lane in Bethesda in 1997 that we would go on to build headquarters for some of the biggest names in the region — law firms, banks, defense contractors, life science, hospitals and academia. I’m confident we will be here another 25 years.

This article was produced in collaboration between Studio B and KANE Construction. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.