Specialty contractors in the Mountain States face another good-news, bad-news scenario next year: plenty of work available in most markets and an ongoing struggle to find enough qualified people to do it.

The 2016 Best Projects competition in the Mountain States featured nearly 100 entries.

A research team at the University of Colorado in Boulder is using liquid crystal technology, widely known for its use in smartphones and flat-panel HD televisions, to create a transparent, solid film for windows that could significantly improve energy efficiency in buildings.

Denver International Airport has selected a consortium—led by Ferrovial Airports International Ltd., Madrid, which also operates airports in Europe and the United Kingdom—to begin negotiating a public-private partnership to improve the airport’s Jeppesen Terminal.

When Terry Jacobsen showed up for this first day of work with the Idaho Transportation Dept. in April 1959, he wasn’t thinking about starting a career in the transportation industry. He was barely 20 years old and just needed a job. 

Layton Construction, Salt Lake City, and Hensel Phelps Construction Co.,  Greeley, Colo. are the 2016 Contractors of the Year in the Mountain States region.