Annual Report

Annual Report 2007

An Industry Evolves

As the City and the region are transforming, so too is the New York building industry, which is helping to fuel the economic growth both in its physical work and its overall benefits to working New Yorkers.

“Like no other sector of the economy, the benefits of a productive building industry continue to be felt long after the work is complete, often generations later,” said Building Congress Chairman Dominick M. Servedio, who also serves as Chairman and CEO of STV Group, Inc.
“From infrastructure to development projects, the industry produces a short-term economic boost while also creating stronger communities and greater capacity for long-term growth.”

The building industry, the Building Congress Bedrock of the Economy report found, generates $60.8 billion in annual gross revenues and accounts for 275,000 private sector jobs.

We can look forward to a future in which our particular expertise in infrastructure development will be critical to our region's continued economic and social well-being. Anthony E. Shorris Executive Director The Port Authority of NY&NJ

The report also found that three in every four building industry workers both live and work in New York City, including 72 percent of all construction workers. In addition, 47 percent of all building industry workers were born abroad. Of those, 69 percent who arrived in the United States in the 1970s are now citizens as are 44 percent who arrived in the 1980s. And in a sign that the industry is able to regenerate itself to meet the added challenges of a booming economy, the Building Congress found that the average age of today’s construction worker has dropped to 40 years. Ten years ago, the average age for a construction worker was 51. Overall, most industry employees range in age from 30 to 50, with the highest proportion of workers between the ages of 35 and 39.

As New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., said at a January 2007 Building Congress forum, “It is clear that the construction community has been at the forefront of making New York the great City that it is. Behind every building, every bridge and every structure are countless hours of labor coupled with great creativity.”