‘Cautious, but optimistic’
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By Margot Lester | for The Level
For Marty Schuma, this is an exciting time to be in construction, despite some of the challenges and trends. In fact, his company, Dick Anderson Construction, recently acquired commercial construction specialists Chanen Construction Company, in a move to expand market reach and services offered. We asked the Helena, Montana-based president and CEO why he’s feeling optimistic about the industry.
What’s one word you’d use to describe the current environment?
“Opportunity”—in certain sectors. Those opportunities are mostly for companies building mission-critical infrastructure like data centers, manufacturing facilities that are coming back to America, healthcare facilities with new technologies and replacing aging infrastructure. There are also opportunities for individuals, whether it’s people just entering the industry or those who have been with us a while, who are working on projects and expanding their skills. This is an exciting and dynamic time for our industry.
What’s exciting you right now?
Our industry is becoming more competitive as new projects decrease. I think this is a short-lived industry dynamic. The reduced work creates a situation where the culturally and experientially great firms must up their game. We have to think, compete and develop unique solutions again. The market has been too fat for too long. It wasn’t good for owners/developers, contractors or subcontractors.
What are you doing to up your game?
I’ve been in the construction industry since 1992, and I’ve seen a lot of changes that put a greater focus on taking care of workers with better training and tools, and increased safety measures that make our job sites accessible to anyone who wants to join the industry. We also provide on-the-job training and an excellent benefits package, including 100% employer-paid health insurance for them and their families, a 401(k) and profit sharing and paid time off. For too many years, construction wasn’t even on the radar for many people, so I am happy to see attitudes shift as more people discover they like working with their hands and have pride in a job well done.
How do you talk to stakeholders about prevailing challenges?
We tell our clients the same thing we tell our team: We’ve been building America for 50 years and have faced many challenges, from the pandemic shutdown to supply chain shortages. Challenges like this are manageable with proper planning, collaboration and communication. Yes, we could see cost increases, but that’s always a factor in the construction industry.
What do you see ahead in the last half of the year?
We are very bullish about the second half of 2025 based on comments from our last meeting with the chairman of the Minneapolis branch of the Federal Reserve and [that] our ties to the business and local leaders in the communities we serve are currently cautious but optimistic.
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The Level is curated and written by Margot Lester and edited by Bianca Prieto.
