Published Nationally
Southeast Edition
ยฎ August 15 2018 Vol. XXXI โข No. 17
โThe Nationโs Best Read Construction Newspaperโฆ Founded 1957.โ 470 Maryland Drive โข Ft. Washington, PA 19034 โข 215-885-2900 โข Toll Free 800-523-2200 โข www.constructionequipmentguide.com
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Turner Mining Group...
Social Media: Inspire the Next Generation TCC-500 Experience Leads to Purchase in Knoxville...8
Plateau Excavation Inc. Hosts 35th Anniversary Celebration...16
Workforce development โ two words traveling around the heavy equipment industry like wildfire. Retirements are accelerating and the pool of motivated and qualified people from the next generation is small. Uncertainty is plentiful as executives and managers work to get a grip on the issue and mull over potential solutions. How can we, as an entire industry, attract talent thatโs seemingly disappeared? Why arenโt young people interested in our work? Are there any promising solutions? An apparent solution, according to Turner Mining Group of Indiana, is marketing and social media. While marketing has traditionally taken a backseat to moving dirt, Turner Mining Group places it front and center in its effort to recruit the next generation. Most amazingly, this is more than just theory. Its new marketing is working and it has an impressive team of twenty somethings working at operations across the country to prove it. Turner Mining Group is a mine services contractor located in
By Aaron Witt
CEG CORRESPONDENT
see TURNER page 68
Aaron Witt photo
Turner Mining Group is a mine services contractor located in Bloomington, Ind., operating in quarries and mining facilities across the country.
Tax Reformโs Impact on the Construction Industry By Giles Lambertson CEG CORRESPONDENT Liebherr Officials Celebrate Groundbreaking of New HQ...70
Table of Contents ..............4 Attachments Section ............ .................................... 35-39 Truck & Trailer Section ........ ....................................40-42 Recycling Section ......49-63 Business Calendar ............86 Auction Section ..........88-89 Advertisers Index ............90
The economy will boom โ or only the rich will get richer! These were the competing political views as U.S. lawmakers sat down last year and thrashed out an overhaul of U.S. tax policy. In January, a new set of tax laws was on the books. Half a year later, while the political back and forth continues, the impact of tax reform on the economy in general and the construction and heavy equipment industries in particular seems generally positive. โTo be sure, we will never know conclusively about the role of tax changes on the economy,โ J.D. Foster said in May. The senior vice president and chief economist of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce conceded that different perspectives on tax law will persist. โWhether the economy slides into recession or goes on a 10-year run of historic growth, neither tax reformโs opponents nor defenders will be able to prove beyond a doubt whether tax reform made a difference,โ said Foster. Nevertheless, he said signs of positive impact
were popping up like springtime greenery. They included contractors and companies who immediately provided bonuses to employees on sheer anticipation of increased revenues. CEOs who began to augment their heavy equipment fleets to take advantage of new depreciation schedules. Money banked overseas being voluntarily repatriated in response to more favorable corporate tax rates. Associated Equipment Manufacturers and Equipment Dealers Association conducted a survey of members, again in May, for insight about the tax lawโs impact. The consensus of dealers and manufacturers was that the lower corporate tax rate and quicker equipment depreciation schedules were driving up demand for their products. โWe always believed that tax reform would lead to additional investment in construction and mining equipment, and that belief has been confirmed,โ said Trey Googe, president and chief operating officer of Yancey Bros., the Georgia company that bills itself as the nationโs oldest Caterpillar dealer. Yancey was one of the companies giving employees a bonus ($500) shortly after passage of
the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. โAlthough it will take some time for all of the benefits of the tax reform law to fully materialize, there is no doubt that it has positive impacted business confidence and driven economic growth,โ said Googe. In Millersville, Md., Reliable Contracting Co. President Jay Baldwin believes the new tax structure โis going to be of great value. One hundred percent depreciation on equipment in year one, things like that make a lot of difference.โ In Baldwinโs case, he and his executives so far this year have authorized spending more than $5 million on heavy equipment, including 10 dump trucks, a backhoe, a dozer and a loader. Itโs almost too much of a good thing. Baldwin said the company is prepared to invest even more in equipment, but is having trouble finding it. โWe canโt get the equipment. Manufacturers canโt make them as fast as we want them,โ he said. Reliable Contracting is a $100 million-a-year company still recovering from the collapse of the construction economy 10 years ago. see TAX page 84