Despite the headwinds of higher interest rates, labor shortages and inflation, many firms in the 2024 ENR Southeast Top Specialty Contractors ranking found ways to bolster their businesses and boost revenue last year. The 60 firms that participated in this year’s survey reported a total of $8.1 billion in 2023 revenue in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Puerto Rico—up more than $1 billion from last year’s ranking. Among the top 25 firms, revenue reached a combined $6.18 billion, which is up 17% from last year.

Chart by ENR

Institutional, Public Sector Opportunities

Ackerman Plumbing tallied a record year in 2023 with $74.83 million in revenue—a nearly 70% spike from 2022. Eric Ackerman, president, attributes part of that improvement to the launch of a new service division in 2022. Even after a remarkable 2023, Ackerman says the company is on pace for another record year in 2024.

Ackerman attributes the bulk of that growth to the strength of its public and institutional work. “We have experienced an uptick in aviation, health care and municipal projects,” he says. “We do not see any slowdown in our markets and expect a strong backlog for the next few years.”

The firm’s activity in aviation, in particular, has taken off. The firm is currently working on multiple projects at Sarasota International Airport, Tampa International Airport and Orlando International Airport.

“We have not seen this type of activity in this market previously,” Ackerman adds.

The firm’s recent growth came despite struggles in the commercial sector, where project delays affected material costs and reduced margins. Still, the firm saw some of its most notable work in the commercial sector in 2023, including The Residences at St. Regis at Longboat Key, Fla.—a high-end project that replaced a long-stalled redevelopment of the property.

The company also worked on 400 Central in St. Petersburg, Fla. Topping out at 515 ft, the project—led by Suffolk Construction—is the tallest residential building on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The $400-million project, which broke ground in October 2022, topped out in May.

Like most contractors, Ackerman says the firm’s biggest struggle is finding enough qualified labor. “We are a union plumbing contractor, so we hire our workforce out of the local unions located throughout Florida,” he says. “Wages need to rise to attract new talent. The available pool of workers is aging out. More people are retiring than entering the workforce. This needs to change.”

Ackerman Plumbing is working on the 46-story, 515-ft-tall multiuse tower 400 Central in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Photo courtesy Ackerman Plumbing

Labor Issues Linger

Brett Clark, vice president of Dunn Building Co., agrees that workforce availability remains the greatest struggle for specialty firms. “Everywhere I go, it is the same, ‘We need more people.’”

While Clark says the company has been successful at maintaining its management teams, craft employees are the “difficult piece of the puzzle” on projects. “We are actively involved in sponsoring workforce training programs around the state,” he says. “We also participate in job fairs at the high school level. With the amount of attrition due to an aging workforce, [it] will be extremely important to stay active in recruiting and retaining for many years to come.”

Dunn Building’s revenue dipped to $109 million last year from $117 million in 2022. Clark says he saw 2023 as a successful year, particularly in the face of a few projects being postponed. “We maintained a steady and mostly profitable book of projects,” he says. “We were also able to secure some awards that would carry backlog through 2024 and into 2025.”

Clark says the company has been particularly active in aviation/aerospace, heavy manufacturing, automotive and federal. “These markets have been the main source of activity for the past several years and appear to be very important moving forward,” he says.

Part of the company’s success is credited to repeat customers, which accounted for about 70% of its work last year. Two of its largest customers are building materials manufacturer James Hardie and automotive company Hwashin. Dunn Building’s largest project last year was a new manufacturing facility in Dublin, Ga., for Hwashin. The design-build project with architect Ghafari Associates includes multiple buildings that will support the warehousing, fabrication, painting and logistics for automotive parts for the electric vehicle market.

Chart by ENR

This year, Clark says that in addition to economic challenges, the market is also experiencing some added anxiety from the upcoming presidential election. Still, the firm’s sales outlook has improved. “After a slower than anticipated stream of opportunities in early 2024, it seems to be gaining some momentum as we approach the third quarter. A lot of the projects that we are involved with will continue despite the economy. Most of these are expansions of existing industry. I think there is still a little hesitation in some of the newer projects due to some of the current predictions in the financial markets.”

Looking ahead, Clark is cautiously optimistic. He notes that activity in the Southeast continues to remain strong. “Market condition has been very good for Dunn for several years now,” he says. “I believe if we can get the economy on some stable ground and avoid a major recession, we could potentially see these good markets get even better.”