The Construction Industry Round Table (CIRT) in conjunction with APCO Worldwide have collaborated on an Op-Ed that focuses on the role of the design/construction community for the nation’s recovery from the pandemic and shutdown. In the context of the current pandemic, the construction industry is not only a critical industry segment to measure the recovery of the nation. It is also in the perfect place to assist in getting the economy back on track. To that end, the opinion piece lays out two essential elements regarding the role of design in recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic:
(1) The A/E/C industry is a good barometer of the overall economic activity/prosperity. This is because it serves a broad cross-section of markets, including private and public sector; [APCO’s Insight Survey indicates that 95 percent of the U.S. public thought it very or somewhat important “for the U.S. to continue to invest in its infrastructure” emerging from the shutdown]; and
(2) The A/E/C industry is labor-intensive with good paying jobs and career paths. Many of these do not require four-year college degrees. They are also decentralized and scattered across the nation in communities of all sizes and backgrounds. [The same APCO Insight Survey found: 90 percent of Americans agreed “apprenticeships & credentialing programs can lead to good paying jobs and career paths.”]
In addition, the editorial points out that many of the leading industry companies have elevated safety to the highest levels. Doing so creates a cultural paradigm shift that enables its managers, employees, and projects to “seamlessly adopt COVID-19 health and safety best practices and protocols.”
About the Construction Industry Round Table
CIRT is a national not-for-profit business association. Chief executives from both the leading design and construction firms doing business in the U.S. and globally are members. CIRT’s mission is to be “a force for positive change in the design and construction community. To learn more about CIRT, please visit www.cirt.org.
