For some Southeast contractors—but definitely not all—2011 proved to be a year of definite recovery. That's one of the insights resulting from ENR Southeast's latest Top Contractors ranking, which will publish in the publication's July 2 issue.
 
The results indicated both positives and negatives, though. For starters, only 91 firms participated in this year's survey, down from last year, when the magazine ranked 110 firms. (And our Top Contractors ranking published in 2009 included 175 firms.) That kind of decreased response usually indicates that some firms may not be willing to share their revenues, due to the fact that business may be down considerably.
 
Partly as a result of that decreased participation, total revenue for the ranking was actually down slightly. This year, the 91 firms that participated reported a collective $16.3 billion in 2011 revenue from projects located in the Southeast region of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. A year ago, the 110 ranked firms reported a cumulative $16.9 billion.
 
While that cumulative number is definitely a downer, on a per-firm average, there's an upside. For instance, using last year's ranking, dividing the overall revenue figure of $16.9 billion by 110 firms results in a per-firm average of $153.6 million. This year, that math equates to an average of $179.25 million.
 
There were other upsides, too. Six of this year's top 10 posted year-over-year gains. Additionally, for those six firms, the percentage increases ranged from a low of 10% to a whopping 80.5%.
 
But big percentage gains were found outside the top 10 as well. Within the top 25, for instance, one firm posted an 86% jump, and another moved up 35%. Further down the ranking, one firm more than doubled its previous year's revenue total; another shot up 59%; and still another improved by 47%. Several more firms with double-digit percentage gains dot the rest of the ranking.
 
Now, in a more "normal" construction market, this kind of widespread, high-percentage gain improvement would probably be less likely. Obviously, most of these firms now reporting increases have taken a tumble in recent years, and are now moving back up the charts, so to speak.
 
What these numbers indicate, however, is that at least some Southeast contractors are beginning to find a way back. While industrial and data center work comes to mind as one sector that's possibly fueling some of these increases, it's definitely not the only reason. One contractor explained that their increased revenue was due to an increased amount of work in the retail and higher-ed markets, for example.
 
In addition to the actual ranking—which you'll have to wait to see—the July issue of ENR Southeast will have more insights about this year's survey results, along with perspective from industry players. For now, here's the list of firms who participated in this year's ranking and will be included in the upcoming ranking.
 
ANF Group, Inc.
Archer Western Contractors, Ltd.
Astaldi Construction Corporation
Auld & White Constructors
Austin Bridge & Road, LP
Balfour Beatty US
Barnhill Contracting Company
Batson-Cook Company
Blythe Development Co.
Brasfield & Gorrie, L.L.C.
Catamount Constructors, Inc. 
Certified General Contractors, Inc.
Charles Perry Partners, Inc.
Choate Construction Company
Clark Construction Group
Coastal Construction Group
Creative Contractors Inc.
Crowder Construction Company
Current Builders
D.H. Griffin Construction Co., LLC
Duffey Southeast, Inc.
Duke Construction
Edifice, Inc.
Encore Construction Company, LLC
Evergreen Construction
Flatiron Construction Corp.
Flournoy Construction Company, LLC
Gilbane Building Company
Hardin Construction Company, LLC
Haskell
Hathaway Construction Services, Inc.
Hawkins Construction, Inc.
Hensel Phelps Construction Co.
Hoar Construction, LLC
Holder Construction Company
Hunt Construction Group, Inc
JE Dunn Construction Company
Juneau Construction Company, LLC
JWR Construction Services, Inc.
Kajima Building & Design Group, Inc.
Kaufman Lynn Construction
KBR
Kiewit Corporation
KMD Construction, LLC
Landmark Construction Company, Inc.
LeChase Construction Services, LLC
Lend Lease
Link Construction Group, Inc.
Lusk & Company, Inc.
M. B. Kahn Construction Co., Inc.
M. J. Harris 
MCM
Myers & Chapman, Inc
O'Neal, Inc.
Odebrecht Construction, Inc.
OHL USA, Inc.
Owen-Ames-Kimball Company
Panattoni Construction, Inc.
Parrish Construction Group, Inc.
PCL Construction Enterprises, Inc.
Prince Contracting, LLC
R. C. Stevens Construction Co
Renfroe Construction Co., llc
Robins & Morton
Rodgers Builders, Inc.
Samet Corporation
Shiel Sexton Company, Inc.
SIKON Construction Company, LLC
Skanska USA
Southside Constructors, Inc.
Suffolk Construction Company, Inc.
Superior Construction Company SE
T. D. Farrell Construction, Inc.
The Beck Group
The Conlan Company
The Harper Corporation - General Contractors
The Hubbard Group, Inc.
The Lane Construction Corporation
The Saxon Group, Inc.
The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
The Yates Companies, Inc.
Thomas Construction Group
Traylor Bros., Inc.
Turner Construction Company
ValleyCrest Landscape Companies
VCC
Walbridge
Wharton-Smith, Inc.
Winter Park Construction (WPC)
Zachry Holdings, Inc.