Engineering News-Record invited ABC 2017 National Chair Chuck Goodrich to speak from a contractors’ perspective for its Dec. 12 webinar, “The ‘Trump Effect’ on the Business of Construction,” which took a closer look at the impact, so far, of Donald Trump’s presidency. 

Goodrich, president of Gaylor Electric, Inc., explained the Trump administration’s regulatory rollback is giving construction companies more efficiency and they don’t feel like they are “under attack” from the federal government. According to Goodrich’s presentation, experts say President Trump is on pace to put out fewer rules than the “reigning deregulation champion,” President Ronald Reagan.

Goodrich also told the webinar audience the Trump White House’s executive orders to speed up the project permitting process and expand apprenticeship will allow companies to get more work done and start to shore up the labor shortage challenge the industry is experiencing.

Finally, Goodrich says construction companies like his are feeling confident about the current construction business climate under President Trump and he used the latest record-setting ABC Construction Backlog Indicator as part of his evidence.