LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Being a contractor is never easy. Even in the best of times, it’s a business that demands precision, foresight, and grit. But being a contractor since 2020? That has been something else entirely.

You have faced one of the most turbulent, unpredictable stretches in modern construction history—year after year, challenge after challenge.

• 2020 brought the unthinkable: a global pandemic and a statewide shutdown of the construction industry.

• 2021 demanded that you work through the pandemic, navigating evolving health mandates and workforce disruptions while keeping projects moving and people safe.

• 2022 delivered crushing supply chain issues and historic price escalation on materials—steel, lumber, concrete, you name it—testing your margins and your patience.

• 2023 saw a surge in interest rates, a cooling real estate market, and a credit squeeze that delayed or derailed planned developments.

• 2024 was about recalibration—finding footing in a “new normal” where nothing feels especially normal.

• And now in 2025, you’re contending with a global trade war, new tariffs, and escalating tensions in the Middle East that could drive up oil prices and compound inflation pressures yet again.

Construction is an industry that thrives on stability—predictable inputs, steady demand, and clear pipelines of work. Over the last five years, you've had anything but that. And yet, through it all, you’ve continued to build—like a sailor in a storm, knowing the only way out is through. So, you’ve kept moving, project by project, learning, adjusting, and finding a way forward.

From where I sit at GBCA, I’ve had the privilege to witness your resilience firsthand. You’ve adapted your businesses, embraced innovation, expanded safety practices, and invested in your teams. You’ve found ways to make progress, even when the wind was directly in your face. And you’ve done it all while upholding the high standards that define union construction in this region.

Despite everything, the industry is not broken—it’s battle-tested. And while we can’t say the turbulence is behind us just yet, there are real reasons for optimism. As the saying goes “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” The conditions today aren’t identical to past downturns, but the echoes are unmistakable. Over the last 20 years, all past cycles have taken approximately three years from that peak to reach the bottom of a cycle. The most recent peak of basic trade building labor hours in the Philadelphia region occurred in 2023. Indicating that we are approaching the low point of the current construction down cycle. A full construction cycle—peak to trough and back—tends to play out over five to seven years. By that logic, we could see a market turn around begin as early as 2026.

Government investment in infrastructure continues. Cities like Philadelphia are doubling down on housing and development. And construction technology is finally delivering on its promise to make building smarter and more efficient.

Whether this is the bottom of the cycle or simply one more bend in the road, I believe the turn is coming—and when it does, GBCA members will be ready to lead it.

Sincerely,

Benjamin J. Connors, Esq., CAE President & CEO

General Building Contractors Association