Annual Report 2016

Message from the Chairman and the President

As construction activity in New York City reaches historic levels, how our industry does business takes on increasing importance. The more we build, the greater our impact on the City, and the greater our responsibility to clients, employees, and communities to manage work safely, ethically, efficiently, and more inclusively.

Raising the stakes even higher, the greater the workload the more visible and, therefore, more vulnerable we are to outside scrutiny that can affect our reputation and stature in the City.

So what can we do to meet these various responsibilities as well as maintain and broaden the public's confidence in the construction industry?

First and foremost, we must double down on our commitment to safety. An increase in worksite injuries and fatalities, particularly on nonunion jobs, has coincided with the recent surge in construction activity. The design, construction, and real estate industry must not treat these occurrences as unavoidable consequences of the building boom. Instead, all stakeholders must strengthen their efforts to ensure that workers are being properly trained and supervised and that best safety practices are being replicated at job sites throughout the five boroughs.

Our commitment to honesty and integrity must likewise be reinforced. While our industry spends considerable time talking about what we build, we need to spend more time talking about the values and ethics that should govern how we build. We must work harder to articulate the high standards of honest, ethical, and law-abiding behavior expected industry-wide and take the necessary steps to cultivate a workforce that understands them.

We also must work harder to attract, train, and retain a more diverse workforce. Aside from being the right thing to do, it's good for our industry. Research shows diversity breeds creativity and innovation while enhancing problem-solving in the workplace.

This makes more concerning a recent New York Building Congress finding that the already small number of women and non-Hispanic minorities in New York City's construction industry declined in 2014.

Fortunately, this decline is not irreversible. Our industry can help turn the tide by increasing our support of those organizations that promote careers in design and construction through a range of educational and mentoring programs for men and women of all ages, ethnicities, and educational backgrounds.

Finally, if we are to help meet the demands of a growing City, the building community must seek greater efficiencies in delivering projects. We need to stretch beyond our comfort zones to try new ways of doing things, from embracing new technologies and best practices to working with government to streamline procurement processes and promote alternative project delivery methods, such as design-build and public-private partnerships, to build critical infrastructure.

The building community has a collective responsibility to meet all of these challenges, and the Building Congress must play a leading role. No other organization can so effectively bring together the diverse sectors of the industry. If you are a member, you are encouraged to actively participate; if you're not a member, now is the perfect time to join. It is by working together that we will succeed in making how our industry does business as impressive and inspiring as what we build.