The Chinese curse, "May You Live in Interesting Times," has been used by a number of economic forecasters during recent presentations on the prospects for 2008. These are interesting times. One of the most unusual aspects of the construction industry at this time is the fact that although housing is down and not expected to rebound in the immediate future, the overall economy is still strong and looks like it will continue to be so for the coming year.

Mark Vitner, senior economist for Wachovia Bank, startled the attendees at the recent Reed Construction Data Economic Outlook for 2008 when he started his presentation by stating that the housing market wasn't down but rather that it was down in specific areas and not everywhere. This is true. Housing is going great in some markets while in others it is down and expected to be down for some time to come.

Perhaps the single most significant point raised during this conference was the fact that due to the size of our country and its diversity, making a single-statement projection for the construction market is not going to apply. Office building construction is expected to be up, but not everywhere; industrial construction is expected to be up, but not everywhere; institutional construction is expected to be up, but not everywhere. The picture becomes obvious, construction is a dynamic market and what applies in one market area does not apply universally across the board in all marketing areas. The data from this year's Buyers' Intentions Survey bear this out: slightly over 80 percent of the survey participants do their work within 140 miles of their home base. To further support this premise, nearly 90 percent of the respondents buy their equipment from an equipment dealer.

For the record, overall the construction industry is doing well and looks like it should for some time into the future. The general U.S. economy is expected to grow around 2 percent in 2008.

Our annual Buyers' Intentions Study helps us get a picture of what you, the contractors, are planning for the coming months and also helps us determine what you think is going to be happening in our industry. Over the years it has proven to be a reasonably reliable barometer of the construction industry's economic climate.

According to this year's survey, the majority of the respondents believe that the economy will remain stable with a relatively high percentage — 23.8 percent — believing that there will be some increase. The contractors who believe in the strength of the construction economy, while not as high as last year, is still a very positive 13.1 percent. Slightly more than a quarter of the respondents are expecting a decline.

Last year we saw the interest in new equipment go up significantly. The trend continues with slightly more than 65 percent of our participants' fleets being purchased as new equipment.

What is going to be purchased in 2008? Once again, on top of the list it's computers and computer software and this is no surprise as our industry becomes more computer integrated. The emphasis is on management software as well as estimating packages. The days of "guesstimating" a job are gone. The software available to help you do your estimating and manage your projects makes a difference in how well you do after the job is done.

Trucks are a constant and this year is no exception. Almost 49 percent of our respondents are expecting to buy light to medium-duty vehicles (to 26,000 GVW) and nearly 26 percent and going to be investing in the larger, over 26,000 GVW units. Trucks have never been a big rental item and this year is no exception. There has been a major effort on the part of the pickup truck manufacturers to attract the attention of this market. Virtually all of the players have recently introduced new vocational pickups or are getting ready to. Toyota's new Tundra, Chevy's heavy-duty Silverado, GMC's Sierra, and Nissan's Tundra have been trying to get your attention with vehicles designed to meet the more rigorous demands of the construction market. Ford's new F series is on its way and don't overlook Sterling's entry into the top end of this market.

A couple of interesting items are generators and air compressors. Both are typically high rental items but both are showing up high on the list of equipment to be purchased in 2008. Technology, GPS and lasers, remains in the top 10 list.

Backhoe loaders and hydraulic excavators are cited as the No. 1 and No. 2 machines of choice in the next 12 months.

Online activity has become a critical part of doing business. There's no escaping the need for being able to access the Internet and take advantage of the limitless information available online. Do you remember what life was like before the Internet? It's really difficult to remember what it was like before e-mail. Technology has become so much a part of our personal and professional lives that we take it for granted. Try and get through a day without your cell phone or your computer. It's really hard to do.

The thing about technology is that it forces us to change at a faster pace, get more done with less, and improve our efficiencies and accuracy. Technology, when applied and used properly, can be a tremendous asset. While many aspects of our world are changing, some things remain the same. Construction is among the oldest professions in existence. It is in a constant state of change always ready to meet the demands and challenges of a new day. We hope some of this information will help you make 2008 the most successful year of your career.

The survey was conducted using subscriber e-mail addresses from the circulation of all 14 Associated Construction Publications (ACP) magazines. Surveys were completed online as hosted by the regional publications' website, www.acppubs.com. The responses were exported into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and tabulations were performed using Excel's data analysis tools. These results were used to report the percentages in the following charts. For the purpose of this study, all responses are reported as a national aggregate.

All contractors who are subscribers with known e-mail addresses were eligible to participate, opening this year's survey to a population of 17,792 construction professionals who were contacted by e-mail to complete the survey. In all, 160 respondents completed the survey.

The following results in both text and graphic format highlight the issues from the survey. The early questions ask about the demographic profile of the individual respondents and the firms for which they work. This information provides an overview of the respondents who participated in the survey. The middle section of the questionnaire asks about equipment buying decisions, both present and future. From this section, next year's forecasts regarding equipment — from types of equipment desired to means of acquiring the equipment — are generated. Finally, the last section of the survey asks comprehensive questions surrounding the use of the Internet for business purposes. With the growing ease of using the Internet, knowledge about how other construction industry professionals are using this additional research and purchasing tool is summarized. Together, the three sections combine to provide a profile of construction industry professionals throughout the country who are making decisions about equipment purchases with information technology assistance via the Internet.

This year's survey results indicate a cautious approach to 2008 with most respondents feeling the market will remain stable. Many of the current fleets still reflect signs of ownership, although the rates of ownership have decreased from last year and the use of leases has increased.

This year, the respondents from businesses with an annual contract volume in the over-$10-million category created the largest group, yet another increase from last year. Over 38 percent of respondents were also either the owner of their company or the president, although this year the single-largest response category was managers. Equipment purchase plans for 2008 include many of the same machines that have been listed in previous years, with the addition of six new items to the top 10 list.

There is no denying the growing importance of the Internet. When respondents were asked about business activities and purchases online, every category experienced increases this year. Frequency also remains high, again growing from last year as more construction professionals leverage the Internet to improve their businesses.

Remaining cognizant of the environment in which construction professionals work, the intent of this survey is to help highlight the changes that are moving the industry so that businesses can react to these influences and focus activities to help them operate profitably. Competitive strategies can then be effectively derived from such market and industry knowledge.

Your comments and suggestions regarding this Buyers' Intentions Study are appreciated. You can mail or e-mail us.

Mail: Associated Construction Publications, 30 Technology Parkway South, Suite 100 Norcross, GA 30092

E-mail: agelaude@reedbusiness.com or gsitek@reedbusiness.com