No longer is commercial construction the cash cow contractors counted on in the early 2000s.

Numbers show new commercial and industrial construction in the Shreveport-Bossier City area is down to its lowest level since 2006, when revenue was at $117.3 million, according to statistics from the LSU Shreveport Center for Business and Economic Research. In 2009, revenue was $123.9 million.

This article is shared by Birchrunville Pennsylvania commercial contractors.

The latest revenue numbers for 2010 show construction is down only 1 percent from 2009.

Chuck Penn, president of the Shreveport Chapter of the Associated General Contractors, said the statistics are misleading.

Massive government spending has kept the industry afloat for more than a year. Penn estimates government projects on the local, state and federal level make up 75 percent of contractor business right now.

“We usually have a balanced market,” Penn said. “We need more investment from the private sector.”

Banks are hesitant to lend, and business owners are hesitant to build, he added.

Robert Taylor, CEO of the Louisiana Bankers Association, agreed.

He said federal regulators are especially paying close attention to commercial lending. A high volume of commercial real estate loans in a bank’s portfolio has been a factor in bank failures, Taylor said.

“The banks are responding to that attention and being very careful of what they are doing,” Taylor said.

“The banks are under an obligation more than ever before to make sure they lend money to customers who are fully able to repay the loan.”

But banks aren’t the only ones slowing everything down. Taylor said there has been less demand for commercial real estate loans.

“The demand’s not there,” he said. “It’s a lot lower than it used to be.”

Meanwhile, contractors expect activity to slow down for the rest of the year and through the first two quarters of 2011.

Penn said the outlook is not bright, but it’s a lot brighter than states like Nevada and California.

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