RockBlog

2015 Economic Forecast

Posted by Steve Snodgrass on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am

Economic forecasters, like those who predict the weather, have a long history of being wrong. Like the weather, we’d all like to anticipate what the economic future will look like, but conflicting economic data and confounding economic events make forecasts difficult to rely upon.A negative event occurs that would logically seem to depress the stock market but results in triple digit gains, or a positive happening has the exact opposite effect. So take that as a ... Read More

• Business
• Construction Update
• Graniterock

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Are You a Good Risk for a Bond?

Posted by Steve Snodgrass on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am

Graniterock CFO Steve Snodgrass contributesanother article excerpted from the 1956 Engineering News-Record which shows how “the more things change the more they remain the same.”What makes a contractor a good risk for a bond? What makes you a poor risk in the eyes of surety companies? If you are the contractor, here are some of the things they will try to find out about you and your business.What Bond Do You Need?First, what type of bond ... Read More

• Business
• Construction Update

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The Economic Forecast for 2014

Posted by Steve Snodgrass on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am

Graniterock CFO Steve Snodgrass reports on the 2014 UCLA Anderson Economic Forecast Last year, UCLA described the 2013 US economy as “The Muddle Through Economy.” Growth was forecast to remain sluggish at about 2%. For 2014, Senior Economist David Shulman of UCLA describes the economy as a “Return to Normalcy, Sort Of.” He predicts growth to resume to more normal levels of 3%, an increase over the 2% growth experienced since the end of the Great ... Read More

• Business
• Construction Update

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Three Forms of Bond Protection

Posted by Steve Snodgrass on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am

Graniterock CFO Steve Snodgrass contributesanother article excerpted from the 1956 Engineering News-Record which shows how “the more things change the more they remain the same.”Although widespread use of surety bonds to protect owners, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers is sometimes regarded as a Twentieth Century phenomenon, the surety bond has a long history in the construction field. Records show, for example, that a gateway construction contract let in Rome in 106 B.C. provided that “whoever shall be ... Read More

• Business
• Construction Update

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What Causes Contractors to Go Broke?

Posted by Steve Snodgrass on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am

Now, as in the mid 1950’s, the United States is emerging from a difficult economy. Graniterock CFO Steve Snodgrass contributes the following article excerpted from the 1956 Engineering News-Record which shows how “the more things change the more they remain the same.” As the recession wanes and business activity increases, the author warns of more contractor financial failures and explains that the end of a recession can prompt increased competition and risky decision-making by unwary contractors. ... Read More

• Business
• Construction Update

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Ron Santo, 1940-2010, and Graniterock’s Clarence Thomas

Posted by Steve Snodgrass on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am

By Steve SnodgrassAfter reading that Ron Santo died recently, I felt compelled to share about what a great person Ron really was. I work with a gentleman at Graniterock that has diabetes, the same as Ron had. Both Ron and my coworker, Clarence Thomas, had their legs amputated below the knee and were about the same age.I was fortunate enough to arrange a meeting about five years ago between both men in the WGN booth at ... Read More

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