Financial professionals are critical to what is arguably the most important sector to economic growth — construction. CFMA aims to raise the profile of what our members do and the impact they have on the built environment.

Construction financial professionals impact the creation of society’s most valuable assets through their everyday decisions on investments, suppliers, and financial management.

This issue of CFMA Building Profits seeks to cover the many aspects of your role in the same way that our thought leadership, education, and certification seek to enhance your ability to span such a diverse portfolio of responsibility.

Economic Activity

The most recent results from CFMA’s CONFINDEX™ reflect the rising sentiment that slight headwinds are facing our industry. Macroeconomic factors of inflation and rising interest rates are pausing new projects while also impacting margins on existing ones. While certain markets continue to thrive, in general, our industry is experiencing some uncertainty going into the new year. Those expectations influence the decisions being made today.

Labor woes affecting several other sectors also weigh on our industry. That may ease what has been the number one economic issue for construction — workforce development. Demography is destiny, and construction’s demographics reflect an aging workforce across professional, technical, and skilled labor. Attracting new entrants across all those areas is imperative for the long term.

The Construction Financial Professional’s Portfolio

The general direction of the economy and workforce development are only two of the many impactful issues that are on the minds of construction financial professionals.

As many of you know well, your portfolios often include supplier management, risk management, technology, and human resources. CFMA’s role is to connect like-minded professionals who can share their best practices across these diverse areas of responsibility. Our commitment is to equip you to recognize the macro and micro issues from the very start of your journey.

In this issue, you’ll find thought leadership on mitigating risk across the construction life cycle — from choosing a partner to remediating claims as well as what it truly means for our industry to be diverse and inclusive.

As we think about CFMA’s future, it’s been invaluable for me to learn about your own futures as individuals, companies, and the industry as a whole. Recognizing these very issues that you face daily helps us be a better organization, and profiling what you do daily helps us promote construction financial management as a career for the next generation.

Our Job Is to Listen, Learn & Lead

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so many of you right from my start at CFMA — from attending the 2023 Annual Conference to the many meetings and regional conferences I’ve enjoyed being a part of since. My time has been spent listening to our members, learning what we need to do to advance the industry, and leading our efforts in raising the profile of construction as a career choice.

I’ve borrowed the concept of listen, learn, and lead from our DEI+ Committee, which is hard at work instilling that culture into CFMA as well. My commitment to you is to ensure we do that consistently as a team and as an industry.

Enjoy this issue, and let us know how we can make membership in CFMA the most sought-after community for construction financial professionals. 

Copyright © 2023 by the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA). All rights reserved. This article first appeared in September/October 2023 CFMA Building Profits magazine.