OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — With spring construction season starting up, concrete companies are seeing a consistent stream of business.
3 News Now heard reports that people are wanting concrete work done at their homes and offices but can't find anyone to do the job. It turns out it's more these companies are in high demand more than anything else.
Companies we talked to today said they're doing fine with the amount of concrete available and they're not experiencing a shortage. However, they said due to the long winter, work got pushed back until April which is keeping them busy.
Lance Jordan, the chairman at Stephens and Smith Construction in Omaha says the biggest issue with the industry isn't lack of concrete or lack of supplies, but the lack of labor.
"Well I think all of us are experiencing a real labor shortage," Jordan said. "We're all having a hard time of getting skilled people to do the work. During the housing recession people got out of the business. The concrete business is fairly labor-intensive and people don't like to do the manual labor that's involved with it."
Jordan said his company isn't worried about not finding business but losing business due to not having the man-power to support the demand.
"I'd always like to have too much work than too little work but it's a problem," Jordan said. "We have customers that we do repeat work for and we want the ability to do the work for them and not tell them that we can't get to them."
A main component of concrete is portland cement. Ash Grove Cement, a major cement manufacturer in Louisville, said production is moving smoothly.
Companies said the recent flooding in Nebraska didn't negatively affectthe concrete industry. Flooding didn't damage concrete production and business has increased as repairs are continuing throughout the state.
