An optimistic EDC boss, Elizabeth T. Arnaiz, rallied
members of the city’s construction community during the annual Anchin State of
the Construction Industry breakfast.
With funding from the government’s recently approved $1.2
billion infrastructure package, Arnaiz said New York is poised to build back
bigger and better.
And with major employers consolidating their
operations in the city, she said the construction industry has a vital role to
play in the city’s re-emergence from the COVID pandemic as a smarter, safer
place to live and work.
“Companies are cementing their commitment to New York City from Google to Tik Tok to Regen Lab. It’s time to reimagine our future and jump start our economy,” said Arnais, who served as the keynote speaker of the event held at Club 101. “If I’ve learned anything over the past year, it’s that we cannot have good economic health without public health.”
Anchin presented the conference in co-operation with the New York Building Congress (NYBC), the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACEC New York), and the Subcontractors Trade Association (STA).
Speakers included Johnny Evers, president and CEO of
ACEC New York, Greg Kelly, president and CEO of STV Group; Julia Murphy, managing
principal and USA + Canada East Practice Leader for SOM; and Elizabeth Velez, president
of the Velez Organization and chair of the New York Building Congress.
Topics included the use of data to optimize safety and
efficient project delivery; sustainability; advances in transportation and; the renewed
focus on hiring within communities where construction is taking place.
Phillip Ross, Anchin partner and Leader of their Architecture & Engineering and Construction Industry Groups, said: “The construction industry is…becoming more sophisticated through the use of building technology and big data, which informs smarter, safer and more efficient project delivery, and these projects are transforming skylines as well as providing new opportunities in our neighborhoods.”
