Planting Seeds for the Future - Articles

Fall is for planting. That’s something I’ve often heard from landscapers and gardeners over the years. I’ve also heard it a lot from my wife who loves to garden. I’ve found it to be good for planting new trees in our yard and establishing bushes for the upcoming spring. But why talk about it here? I believe that fall is a great time for planting the seeds of what you and your companies want to do for the upcoming year.

In the pages of this CFMA Building Profits issue, you will find thoughts and suggestions that you can implement in your business and career to help your company grow or alert you to things for which you should prepare. This issue also has some economic data and forecasting that you and your companies should be considering as 2024 comes your way. It’s a very good time to prepare yourself for the new year.

Many of you are budgeting for the upcoming year and are faced with some uncertainty as to whether or not there is a recession on the horizon. Taking stock of your company’s resources, pipeline, and currently available opportunities is a prudent exercise. We may not be able to predict the future, but we can certainly plan for it.

Having chosen “A Mountain of Opportunities” as the theme for the 2023 Annual Conference, I’ve become more cognizant of how planning for our future starts with identifying and looking at how to take advantage of the opportunities available to us.

Whether planning for good times or difficult ones, we can always make ourselves and our companies better. We must start with an understanding of where we’ve been, what we do well, and what we struggle with; then, look at where we want to be (both aspirationally and realistically).

As we go through the fall, I like to see how we did with our prior year’s plan and what we have executed so far. One of the toughest things I have been hearing about from others in the industry is the difficulties with staffing — this has been a huge struggle since the pandemic. Implementing the knowledge from this issue’s DEI+ article might help you, as making our companies more inclusive and diverse will only help us grow our industry.

I would also like to mention an area of safety in which we can all take part. At CFMA’s 2023 Annual Conference, there was a memorial exhibit for workers who lost their lives as part of their work on our highways.

With the current amount of infrastructure work going on in the country, I ask you to please heed the adjusted speed limits. Also, spread the word to your friends and family about the importance of taking extra care when driving through these zones so that all of our fellow construction workers can make it home each day to be with their families.

Please enjoy the articles in this issue, and enjoy a wonderful fall season!