Miss. architects aren’t hurting as much as elsewhere
JACKSON, Miss. — When architects Michael Grey Jones and Joey Crain attended American Institute of Architects meetings in Washington, D.C., they were struck by the horror stories their colleagues from across the nation were sharing.
“We heard horror stories in Washington,” said Joey Crain, a principal of Eley Guild Hardy Architects of Biloxi and Jackson and president-elect of the Mississippi chapter of AIA. “One of the larger firms had to let 80 people go. It’s all anyone talked about, and it gave me the sense that, as a state, we weren’t quite so hard hit. … Of course, some would argue we didn’t have as far to fall.”
But, he said, the state isn’t hurting nearly as bad as architects are in Los Angeles, New York or Miami.
“As a profession, we tend to be the canary in the coal mine,” Crain said. “We’re the first hit, and we’re still waiting for that surge of work to signify the end of the recession.”
A benefit to the recession for architects is more competitive bidding for work among contractors, he said.
“The silver lining is that we have more contractors and subcontractors, which drives the construction cost down,” Crain said. “It’s not like before the storms when labor and materials were at a premium and we saw some of the highest bids we’ve seen.”
Jones, who is the current AIA president, also noted the increased competition.
“We’re competing against 10 people instead of five,” he said.
Recovery work on the Gulf Coast has also helped soften the blow for some firms.
“Obviously, this year is nothing like the post-Katrina bubble we had with rehabilitation and repair work,” Crain said.
But projects such as the Biloxi High School expansion, work for the U.S. Department of Defense and the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art’s Center for Ceramics have kept his firm busy.
“There is reason for optimism,” Crain said. “I believe we’re through the worst, and next year may return to being a growth year.”
Robert Zander is past president of the Mississippi AIA and is a partner in Jones-Zander Ltd.
His firm has been sustained through work for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Yazoo City, Greenwood and Clarksdale, Miss.
The work includes replacing roofs and air-conditioning systems and rehabilitation of apartments.
“This housing typically takes a lot of abuse, and we’re bringing them back up to livable standards,” he said. “We’re upgrading up to 20-year-old equipment and material.”
“If it hadn’t been for HUD or stimulus work, we would’ve seen a slowdown ourselves.”
Jones said architects are struggling statewide, and smaller firms have had to impose layoffs.
“Architects are the first ones in a recession and the first ones in,” he said.
Stimulus and other government contracts have helped some firms sustain themselves, and Jones said he’s hopeful additional stimulus money will be given to schools for construction, noting that that helps school children and affects businesses as well.
Additionally, the AIA has begun taking payments on yearly basis to help those struggling with dues.
“We’ve hung in there with the rest of them,” he said. “We’ve pulled together as an organization to help each other.”
