I just read an excellent blog post titled Construction Industry: Light at the End of the Tunnel in which William Graves describes some reasonable optimism for the commercial construction market. It’s a short post and worth the read.

The most interesting aspect was the realization of how wounded many industry players are. Design professionals, GCs, trade contractors and most everyone else have suffered through several rough years. Some have taken projects below costs and now have to finish them, paying for the privilege of doing their job. These walking dead often fall over just as the recovery is beginning. They are often so far in the hole that some new work, even at a small profit, just won’t be enough.

So we all need to be vigilant about how we work and who we select as our team members. It’s a great time for collaborative projects, but only with strong teams.

If you work for a company, take some time to think about how their strengths and weaknesses coming into this new economy. Now is the perfect time to be making a change for a better position with a better company. As my wife often reminds me…Timing is Everything.