HUDSONVILLE — With a significant number of available jobs in the U.S. and persistently low national unemployment, companies looking for workers will struggle in 2019.

West Michigan construction industry executives believe some of their recent worker training efforts have started to pay off. 

Anirban Basu thinks West Michigan’s real estate and construction industry has a pretty solid outlook for 2017. The chief economist for the Washington, D.C.-based Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) views the region as having a strong job market and plentiful access to capital. Basu — who is also president and CEO of Baltimore-based economic consulting firm Sage Policy Group Inc. — spoke with MiBiz following his annual presentation in early December to the Western Michigan chapter of ABC. 

Stakeholders in West Michigan’s commercial real estate industry continue to express cautious optimism for the foreseeable future, despite the emergence of some headwinds. 

West Michigan’s construction executives hold to the notion that the region’s industry will continue to accelerate for the foreseeable future, despite increasing concerns of a broader economic slowdown. 

Despite a number of recent global and national industry reports pointing to potential slowdowns in the construction sector, West Michigan contractors say they remain busy and confident for the foreseeable future.