NASA awards construction
contracts to small Florida firms
Florida Construction News staff writer
The National Aeronautics and
Space Administration has recently
awarded Multiple Award Construc-
tion Contract Two (MACC-II) con-
tracts to 20 small businesses and
four large firms across the United
States, six of which are from Florida.
Construction contracts included in
the regionalized Indefinite
Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract
vehicle are awarded in six cate-
gories: woman-owned small busi-
ness, historically underutilized
business zone, service-disabled vet-
eran-owned small business, 8(A)
Business Development Program,
small business, and full and open un-
restricted awards.
4 – FALL 2017 — Florida Construction News
The contracts, which are antici-
pated to cost not more than $3 bil-
lion over an eight-year ordering
period, are part of the U.S. Small
Business Administration’s efforts to
help small, disadvantaged firms to
compete in the construction market.
Florida firms that have been
awarded contracts are ELCI Con-
struction Group Inc. from North
Miami in women-owned small busi-
ness awards; ESA South Inc. from
Cantonment, Advon Corporation
from Tallahassee and Firewatch Con-
tracting of FL LLC from Tampa in
service-disabled veteran-owned
awards; and Silver Mountain Con-
struction from Jacksonville and CCI
Energy and Construction Services
from Shalimar in 8(A) awards.
Project work includes, but is not
limited to, alteration, modification,
maintenance, repair, demolition, de-
sign-built and new construction of fa-
cilities at Stennis Space Center in
Mississippi, Johnson Space Center
in Texas, White Sands Test Facility in
New Mexico, Kennedy Space Center
in Florida, Marshall Space Flight Cen-
ter in Alabama, and Michoud Assem-
bly Facility in Louisiana. With
approval of the Stennis procurement
officer, other NASA centers may also
use MACC-II.
NASA says firms awarded with
contracts have been carefully evalu-
ated with the following factors put
into consideration: technical accept-
ability, past performance and price.
HURRICANE IRMA
Hurricane Irma’s wide path to impact
outlook for Florida construction
By Richard Branch, senior economist,
Dodge Data & Analytics
BEDFORD, MA - The one-two
punch of hurricanes Harvey and Irma
have wreaked havoc across the Gulf
Coast in September. Once all the dam-
age is tallied, Harvey is likely to be the
costliest storm to impact the U.S.
Irma’s path through the Keys, then up
the west coast of Florida, took it away
from a direct hit to Miami. And while
the storm itself was as wide as the en-
tire state, the turn to the west likely
lowered the severity of damage in
terms of total dollars.
Estimates from Moody’s Analytics
places the total cost of Irma in the
range of $60-90 billion – a significant
event that will certainly impact the re-
gion’s economy, but still below Har-
vey’s expected destructive toll of
more than $100 billion.
In the initial aftermath of the storm,
more than 60 percent of Florida was
without power. With estimates rang-
ing in weeks for full restoration, many
businesses will be closed resulting in
a short-term loss in income, higher un-
employment insurance claims, and an
overall slowdown in economic output.
The combined impacts of Harvey and
Irma are likely to have a negative ef-
fect on both third and fourth quarter
employment and GDP data.
Irma’s wide path could also pro-
foundly affect construction starts in
Florida, a state that has seen signifi-
cant growth since the recession. In
2011, starts in Florida reached a cycli-
cal low of $22.8 billion. By 2016, total
construction starts in the state
reached $55.1 billion, with broad-
based growth in residential and non-
residential buildings, as well as public
works and utilities.
Prior to Irma, 2017 had been shap-
ing up as another strong year for
starts in Florida. Through the first
seven months of the year, non-resi-
dential building starts had risen 32
percent from the same period of
2016, while public works and utilities
starts were 21 percent higher. Resi-
dential building starts were up a more
modest one percent year-to-date
through July. Based on historical data
through the second quarter of 2017,
Dodge Data & Analytics had predicted
Florida’s total construction starts
would rise nine percent for the full
year to $60.3 billion.
That forecast is now under review
as restoration and repair efforts begin.
Water and sewer facilities, as well as
roads, will be the initial driver of recon-
struction growth in the coming
months. An initial round of federal
disaster relief should be quick to