On the heels of a "horrendous" report about unemployment rates in the construction industry, contractors said Friday that stimulus money is providing plenty of funds for road projects but has been slow to boost others.
Christian Zimmermann, president of New Hampshire-based paving and asphalt company Pike Industries, was featured prominently in a conference call organized by the Associated General Contractors of America that included five other firms.
Zimmermann said Pike has received 12 stimulus jobs worth a total of $80 million. The extra work has allowed him to save or create 250 jobs, about one-quarter of the company's work force. About 100 of those employees are going through the hiring process now, he said.
"Back in August of last year, we had already been downsizing our organization from 2006, and we were looking at further cuts," said Zimmermann, whose public support of the stimulus plan has landed him a seat at a roundtable with Vice President Joe Biden and quotes in the likes of Time magazine. "Our state has led the way, I believe, in getting jobs out on the street."
Belmont-based Pike Industries employs about 1,200. The company is a major road builder in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.
Some of Zimmermann's counterparts, specifically those who specialize in bridge or sewer projects, weren't as upbeat, saying stimulus funds have been slower to trickle down to them. |
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